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/nb930318

Text File | 1993-03-18 | 65KB | 1,447 lines

(NEWS)(GENERAL)(HKG)(00001)

Hongkong - High Speed Printing From Printsoft 03/18/93
WAN CHAI, HONG KONG, 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- COL Ltd, the Hong Kong
distributor for Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems high-speed
printers, has been appointed local distributor for Printer Resource
Software Ltd, producers of the powerful printing package, Printsoft.

The Printsoft agreement will enable COL to provide high-speed printing
for any hardware platform from mainframes to PCs, and from
virtually any vendor. It formalizes an understanding between the two
companies which has enabled COL to deliver Printsoft to a number of
Siemens Nixdorf users in Hong Kong.

"Before our agreement with Printsoft, Siemens Nixdorf printers could
be used only with an IBM or IBM-compatible host mainframe or
minicomputer," said Dennis Persson, marketing manager for printing
products at COL. "Printsoft makes it possible for users to offload
data from any mainframe on to a 33 MHz 386 PC equipped with a 370
channel board."

Printsoft also enables data to be offloaded to a remote PC, allowing
printing to be carried out at any site, whether in the same building
or in another country.

According to Persson, the new agreement could help COL to double its
printer sales. "Selling printing solutions to high-volume print shops
is an important part of our business," he said. "This agreement
enables us to go after a far bigger market than just the IBM shops."

"To date we have installed five systems using Siemens Nixdorf printers
and the Printsoft software," said Mr Persson. "Without Printsoft, four
of those sales would not have been so straightforward."

COL's Siemens Nixdorf high-speed laser printers operate at speeds from
50 to 240 pages per minute and are ideal for users with high-volume
requirements. Customers include banks, insurance companies, utilities
and government.

In addition to enabling users of non-IBM hardware to take advantage of
the advanced features of COL's Siemens Nixdorf laser printers,
Printsoft can improve the performance of users upgrading from impact
printers. Printsoft can take data streams designed for impact printers
and change them to a format that can be used by a high-speed laser
printer.

"Previously users had to modify their software and printer drivers to
accommodate the increased performance of a laser printer," said
Mr Persson. "Now, using Printsoft, they can simply install an upgraded
printer and start printing."

(Brett Cameron/19930316/Press Contact: Peter Fishwick, COL, Tel: +852-
798 4798;HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00002)

Hughes LAN Systems Develops ATM Application 03/18/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Hughes
LAN Systems and Parallax Graphics claim to have developed the
first application to harness the potential of asynchronous
transfer mode (ATM) technology.

The application, designed specifically for ATM technology,
utilizes ATM multicast distribution of full motion, near-broadcast
quality video, using Hughes' ATM-based Enterprise Hub as the
video switch.

In announcing the development, Joe Kennedy, president and chief
executive officer of Hughes LAN Systems, said: "ATM is obviously
exciting in theory, but everyone is concerned that it won't be real
until the applications are out there to exploit it. By delivering
high-performance video to the desktop with an application
designed specifically for ATM networks, we're one step closer to
commercial availability of ATM."

The companies demonstrated the technology at the recent Interop
show. The demonstration consisted of a single, real-time video
source being multicast to five Sun Microsystems SPARC-10
workstations through an ATM network of three Hughes LAN
Systems Enterprise Hubs. The 7-Mbps digital video signal
consisted of full video frames of 640 by 480 pixels in two
interlaced fields, compressed, and transmitted at 60 fields per
second.

"The ability to multicast real-time video is an important
industry milestone and demonstrates one of the many features
of high-speed, cell-based systems," Kennedy said.
Each SPARC-10 workstation was configured with a Parallax
XVideo board for video processing and a Fore Systems ATM
network interface card for connecting to the Enterprise Hub
over an ATM Forum-compliant 100-Mbps TAXI User-to-Network
Interface (UNI). TAXI is one of four ATM UNIs defined by the
ATM Forum.

John Ricketson, vice president of sales and marketing for
Parallax Graphics, claimed: "The distribution of real-time digital
video that is fully integrated with a Unix workstation display
and nearly indistinguishable from live, analog video is a
significant industry event."

Ian Stokell/19930316/Press Contact: Rebecca Hettema,
415-966-7460, Hughes LAN Systems)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00003)

Public Utilities Update -- Optimization Easier, Safer 03/18/93
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Fifth
Generation Systems announced an update to its Public Utilities
preventative maintenance and recovery software program for the
Macintosh. The company says this new version, 1.0.1, makes it
easier and safer for users to optimize their boot disk and
fixes minor bugs.

Previous versions of Public Utilities required users to boot
from an emergency disk before they could run the tools to
optimize their boot disk due to the dangers involved with
working with files that might be open. Optimizing a disk
involves moving files stored physically apart from each other
or "fragmented" into closer proximity so they can read more
quickly. Defragmenting open files places the data in those
files in jeopardy. Fifth Generation Systems says it solves that
problem by not working at all with files that are open in the
new version of the optimizer.

The company says it has also added an Emergency Disk Builder to
create an emergency disk with the correct enablers for the
Macintosh IIvx, Powerbook 160, Powerbook 165c, Powerbook Duo
210, Powerbook Duo 230, or the Quadra 800.

Current registered users may obtain the updated version 1.0.1
by calling Fifth Generations technical support or sales. There
is no charge for the update.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930316/Press Contact: Jan Johnson, Fifth
Generations Systems, tel [phone] ext 5321, fax 504-295-
3268; Technical Support 800-766-7283, Sales 800-873-4384)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(HKG)(00004)

Hongkong - Low Fax Rates To Europe 03/18/93
WANCHAI, HONG KONG, 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Hongkong Telecom CSL has
announced new prices for its Surefax 100 Auto Retry service
that will enable customers to send faxes to six European
countries for less than the cost of a standard IDD call.

The new charges, which apply to the UK, Germany, France,
Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy, mean customers can
avoid redialling busy numbers, track their fax messages, and
receive call status reports while simultaneously save on the
cost of the transactions.

According to Mr Mike Lee, manager of Surefax services, Auto
Retry can be achieved by simply dialling an international
faxline access code 0062 instead of 002.

The new Auto Retry rates are approximately 10 percent lower
than IDD and no service charge will apply.

The Auto Retry service is popular for calls to countries
like India and China, where the number of lines is limited
and numbers are often engaged. The service not only redials
automatically, it reports back periodically to the user so
that message status can be tracked.

"Companies lose a lot of man-hours simply through having
staff watching to make sure that their faxes get through,"
says Lee. "We hope this special offer will show them just how
much time and money can be saved by using Auto Retry."

(Brett Cameron/19930209/Press Contact: Brian Paterson, EBA,
Tel: [phone];HK time is GMT + 8)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEL)(00005)

India - Space Agency Gets Inmarsat Contract 03/18/93
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- The Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO), and Antrix are the two Indian
companies to have been awarded the contract to develop low
earth orbit (LEO) satellite by the London-based satellite
company Inmarsat for its proposed global satellite telephone
service.

The other firms in the consortium to develop LEO include, Alcatel
(France), Alenia (Italy) and Deutsche Aerospace (Germany). The LEO
systems will comprise small satellites orbiting at about 1,800 kms
above the earth.

Inmarsat is planning three satellite constellations for the Inmarsat-
P project for handheld phones. These are geostationary satellites,
intermediate circular and the low earth orbit. Major satellite
companies are in the fray to develop satellites for the three
constellations.

The Inmarsat contract also involves research and development work on
key engineering issues related to the proposed handheld phone
service.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930318)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00006)

India - Semiconductor Industry Stunned By Budget 03/18/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- An anomaly in the Union
budget proposal, which taxes raw materials for the
semiconductor industry at 75 percent, while semiconductors
bear an import duty of 50 percent, has brought the domestic
semiconductor industry to a standstill.

According to a spokesperson of the Electronic Component Industries
Association (ELCINA), the Department of Electronics of the
Government of India had pledged to chipmakers that diffused silicon
wafers, which are imported by the semiconductor industry, would be
taxed at a lower rate than the finished product. It has not
been done.

The semiconductor sector has been struggling against large
scale import of under-invoiced semiconductors, and feels this
latest indignity is a mortal blow. The spokesperson said
urgent steps must be taken to redress the anomaly as otherwise
it will be cheaper to import finished semiconductors, thus
killing the Rs 15 billion (around $50 million) domestic industry.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930318)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEL)(00007)

India - Radio Paging Headache 03/18/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Coming as it does in
the wake of the cellular scandal (in which the Department of
Telecom was taken to the courts by the companies that missed out),
the bids for radio paging tenders, which were opened on
Tuesday, may prove to be another headache for the Department of
Telecommunications of the Government of India.

The licence fee quoted by 17 bidders for 27 cities ranges
from a low of around Rs 200,000 (around $6660) to over Rs 1
billion (around $3.3 million), for a three-year period.

As an industry source says, "If the licence fee amounts are accepted
at face value, it may be difficult for some of the major players in
the telecom sector...to stay in the race." He was referring to
the Tatas, the single biggest industrial group in the country
operating a steel plant, truck manufacturing facilities and
heavy investment in the IT area. One of the Tata companies is,
in fact, IBM's partner in India. Other companies that might be
affected are BPL, a tie-up with Sanyo in consumer electronics,
RPG, and even foreign multinationals like Hutchinson and
Motorola.

According to the tender documents, most of the smaller companies
have quoted the highest, while the bigger companies are
somewhere in between the lowest and highest bids. For
example, for Bombay city, BPL has quoted Rs 750,000 (around
$25,000) while the highest bid is by one Efsjoy Telecom --
over Rs 1 billion (around $3.3 million).

If DoT rejects the highest bids on the grounds of lack of experience,
it may find itself embroiled in a legal battle, as was the case with
the cellular deal. While the debate of the what and how of the
parameters of selection may continue to rage, it is interesting to
look at the economies of scale of providing such a service.

Is it feasible to pay a fee of over Rs 1 billion (around $3.3
million) in three years to DoT? DoT has made it clear that there will
be at least four operators per city and no company will get more than
10 cities. DoT has also fixed the rates to be charged from
subscribers. Companies have to charge Rs 1,500 (around $ 50) per
month, per subscriber.

Industry sources say that an operator can hope to get around 40,000
subscribers in three years. This means that the maximum revenue that
can be earned in this period will be Rs 1.3 billion (around $4.3
million).

"How can you think that the operators will give nearly 70
percent of their total earnings as licence fee to DoT?" wondered an
industry insider. For the investment too is quite huge. Companies
will have to have huge establishments for running these services.

The only answer seems to be that the operators are willing to take a
loss, initially, to get selected. But this means that from the fourth
year, they will ask DoT to reduce the licence fee. So even if revenue
is the only consideration, the question remains if DoT will really
gain in the long run.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930317)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEN)(00008)

PC Rentals A Big Business 03/18/93
CRANBURY, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- A firm that
specializes in renting personal computers and peripherals estimates
the annual market for rentals at $500 million, and is growing at a
35 percent annual rate.

Anthony Meduri, president of PCR Personal Computer Rentals, says the
proliferation of computer equipment that has come with the decline
in prices has also spurred demand for rental equipment. "Even the
business that is well-equipped with computers needs additional
computers for meetings, seminars, training classes, conventions,
trade show, special projects and seasonal peak work loads," says
Meduri.

Another growing segment of the market is rentals to employees who
are at home on sick or maternity leave. Meduri says many employers
would prefer to rent computers, printers, and modems for employees to
use in their homes, rather than bring in temporary employees.
Businesses also rent computers to replace equipment being repaired,
or they rent to try out different makes and models before deciding
on a specific system to purchase.

Meduri says even manufacturers of computer software and peripheral
equipment often rent computers to demonstrate their products at
trade shows. PCR says it's the official vendor of numerous
trade shows nationwide. The company provides a toll-free number for
rental inquiries, and says it can provide whatever equipment is
needed, usually within one day, anywhere in the US. It rents laser
printers, PCs, large screen monitors, CAD/CAM systems, and
projectors that attach to computers for use in making group
presentations. The company rents equipment mode by IBM, Compaq,
Apple, Epson, and Hewlett-Packard, and provides pickup and delivery,
setup, and maintenance.

Meduri says there are some basic questions you should ask when
considering rental. These include inquiring about the selection of
machines available, how soon can the equipment be ready, is it
tested prior to being rented, and is support and maintenance
provided. He also says you should provide the rental firm with
specific information regarding delivery, give them contact names and
phone numbers, and make them aware of any limitations on when the
equipment can be delivered.

"There's always a short term need for computers and peripherals. But
a lot of people who have this need are unaware that they can rent.
So we have an untapped market," says Meduri.

(Jim Mallory/19930317/Press contact: Tracy Fisher, S&S Public
Relations for PCR, 708-291-1616, fax [phone]; Reader contact:
PCR, 609-395-6828 or 800-922-8646)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00009)

Word For Word 5.2 For Macintosh 03/18/93
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Mastersoft has
announced that it will ship the latest version of its document
conversion program Word for Word - Macintosh in April.

Bob Caplan, Mastersoft product marketing manager, says the upgraded
program will include a set of translators that take advantage of
Apple Computer's new Macintosh Easy Open extension. East Open acts
as a translation manager, says Caplan, and has been licensed by
Mastersoft for inclusion with version 5.2 at no charge to the user.
He says use of Easy Open will provide access to the Mastersoft file
format translators to over 95 percent of existing Macintosh
applications.

The new release will include both stand-alone and Mac Easy Open
interfaces. Using the Mastersoft stand-alone interface, System 6
users will be able to convert bi-directionally between more than 50
supported formats. Caplan says that provides more than 2,500
translation combinations. You can even translate the contents of an
entire folder with one mouse click.

System 7 users will have access to the Easy Open interface, and can
double click on a document from the Finder to open a dialog box
listing the applications and/or translators that can open the file.
Word for Word - Macintosh version 5.2 has a suggested retail price
of $149. Registered owners of previous versions of the Mac program
can upgrade for $39.95.

(Jim Mallory/19930317/Press contact: Robert Caplan, Mastersoft,
602-277-0900, fax [phone]; Reader contact: Mastersoft,
602-277-0900, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00010)

 ****Uniforum Keynote - Unix Versus Microsoft 03/18/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Willem
Roelandts, VP & general manager of HP's computer division,
the largest Unix vendor in the industry, is glad that Unix
represents democracy in the operating system world.
There are so many players in the Unix market that no one
vendor -- even USL, the owner of Unix -- controls it.

Roelandts contrasted this with the autocracy of the
Microsoft-controlled DOS and Windows operating systems during
his keynote address to the Uniforum '93 conference at Moscone
Center in San Francisco this week.

This theme was played out by many other speakers throughout the
conference. It's clear that a major goal of Unix evangelists is
to clearly enunciate why that system is superior to the technologies
emerging from Redmond, Washington.

The democracy of Unix will win out in the end, thinks Roelandts,
because the users have more control. Roelandts spoke just before
the ground-breaking announcement from HP, OSF, SCO, UI, Sun and
other major Unix vendors that they had agreed to bury the hatchet
and define a single standard for Unix applications based on
Motif. Underlying operating system versions, such as OSF, SVR4
and others, will still have their differences, but the new API
(application program interface) supposedly will hide them.

Unix is the only operating system that goes from the desktop to the
mainframe, allowing companies to run the same applications on a wide
variety of platforms. Because it is the preferred OS of innovators,
it's also the platform where new things often show up first, said
Roelandts.

He feels that based on his decades of experience, he is sure that
any new OS (operating system) takes 3-5 years to be stable and
really usable, so he is not frightened of claims that Windows
NT will take the world by storm.

The Unix universe has not been perfect, of course, and the many
players have fought and hurt themselves. You still can't buy
shrink-wrapped software for Unix. Porting is becoming easier,
but it is not yet painless. Unix groups, such as OSF, have
taken innovative steps to speed up the standardization process,
and many standards have come to market far more quickly than has
been usual in the past. He cited the fiber channel system
initiative as an examples. (It allows 1-gigabit local area
networking from multiple vendors.)

Hardware is following its usual trends. RISC chips are speeding
up 75% per year, and HP has released new matchbox disk drives.
Roelandts predicted that a 1-gigabyte matchbox disk drive
would sell for $100 by the end of the decade.

He concluded by saying he believes the industry will split into
two parts -- providers of information utilities, and providers
of information appliances. He likened this to the auto industry and
other mature industries where the suppliers of hardware and fuel have
become quite disparate.

Uniforum continues through March 19.

(Brad Templeton/19930318)


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

Perot Follows Clinton Online 03/18/93
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Ross Perot has
followed President Bill Clinton online. His United We Stand
America group has launched a referendum on government reform with
ballots available on major online services like Prodigy,
CompuServe and GEnie.

For Perot, the online world is just one part of his publicity
effort. The Dallas billionaire has bought 30 minutes of NBC TV
time to promote the referendum, which could boost membership
sales in the organization, which go for $15 per year. He has also
placed copies of the questionnaire in TV Guide, and sent them to
newspaper offices and TV stations, asking them to print it as a
public service. Clinton, Gore and members of Congress got their
ballots hand-delivered.

Among the questions, a call for $2 in spending cuts for every $1
in tax increases, a failed goal of OMB head Leon Panetta in the
current budget, a constitutional balanced budget amendment, and
the elimination of foreign lobbying. Most of the questions are
worded in such a way as to encourage a positive response, which
is what United We Stand will look for in publicizing the results.

Clinton's plans have been limited by the technology available in
the White House. He has retained old campaign accounts on
CompuServe and America Online, and promised to have his staff
answer messages left on MCI Mail. Trouble is, the replies, for
now, will come on paper. The White House would love to put in
more PCs and modem connections, but budget restrictions are
hampering the effort, and accepting donations could be seen as
corrupting.

During the campaign, the Clinton people answered e-mail
messages directly and distributed campaign documents over
the Internet. Clinton's nom de keyboard on America Online is the
rather obvious "Clinton Pz." The White House can also be reached
on CompuServe at 75300,3115, and a forum with speeches and
proclamations is available with the command "Go White House."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930318)


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

FCC Supports Spectrum Auctions 03/18/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- As expected, the
Federal Communications Commission maintained its support of
auctions for doling out 200 MHz of new spectrum being made
available by the US military.

The decision practically assures that the auctions will happen,
as they are part of the Clinton budget now moving through
Congress. Separate legislation is still needed, and Congressional
Democrats have opposed auctions in the past, but they are
expected to go along with the President. The auctions will
fulfill a major goal of former FCC chairman Al Sikes, now an
executive with the Hearst newspaper group, and of former
President George Bush. They, however, were unable to get
Democratic support for the idea. Auctions are expected to raise
$4 billion over the next 5 years in the President's economic
planning.

Private groups are also backing the auction bill, on which
hearings were recently held in the Senate, except with some self-
serving reservations. The bill has already passed the House,
where opposition to it was previously centered. The National
Association of Broadcasters, for instance, wants to be exempt
from paying for its frequencies. McCaw Cellular is among the most
ardent boosters of the auction, hoping its deep-pocket
relationship with AT&T will help it win microwave frequencies for
data services and microwave-based PCN phone networks. The one
danger in all this, of course, is that small companies without
much money will be excluded from bidding. Sikes hoped to protect
their interest with "pioneer's preferences" based on their risk-
taking investments in new technologies, but big players also
filed for such preferences, sometimes on flimsy grounds.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930318)


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

Qualcomm Wins Korean CDMA Allies 03/18/93
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Qualcomm,
facing opposition at home in its attempt to make its Code
Division Multiple Access scheme a standard for digital cellular,
won major support from Korean manufacturers.

Goldstar, Hyundai, Maxon, and Samsung all signed agreements for
the joint development of phones and other equipment based on
Qualcomm's CDMA technology, paying preliminary fees of $5
million. Korea has already said it will go to digital cellular
under the CDMA scheme.

CDMA sends bits through a complete calling channel, while the
competing Time Division Multiple Access, or TDMA, system divides
a calling channel into parts and sends the bits on the narrow
frequency bands. Interdigital Communications, which owns key TDMA
patents, acquired SCS Mobilecomm last October for its CDMA patent
portfolio, which includes a scheme called B-CDMA, which sends
bits through the entire 25 MHz frequency band allocated to a
cellular carrier, instead of merely sending it through a narrow
calling channel. InterDigital says its scheme makes CDMA
compatible with TDMA, but it is also fighting Qualcomm's
standards-setting efforts before the Telecommunications Industry
Association, saying it infringes on its SCS patents.

Korea hopes that, by working with Qualcomm, it will get a
powerful cellular system of its own and also acquire the
technological expertise needed to turn CDMA into an export
market. The Electronics and Telecommunications Research
Institute, or ETRI, of Korea, said the four manufacturers will
assign 20-30 engineers to Qualcomm's offices while development
goes on, while another 100 work in Korea.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930318/Press Contact: Qualcomm, Thomas
Crawford, 619/597-5715)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TOR)(00014)

IBM Researchers Create Virtual Reality Tools 03/18/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Researchers at
IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center say they have created a
system that makes it easy to use virtual reality for practical
applications in science, medicine, engineering, architecture,
education, and business. They described the software at a
technical conference.

The system is a toolkit for building virtual-reality simulations
in many fields. It is designed to be easy enough to work with
that someone outside the computer field, such as an architect or
engineer, can learn to use it, said IBM spokesman John Osmundsen.

Virtual reality is the name for an advanced level of simulation
that aims to create the illusion of being inside -- and
interacting with -- a real or imagined environment. So far it has
been seen mostly as an emerging entertainment technology, but IBM
is promoting it as having other uses. Virtual reality might be
used to "walk through" proposed buildings before they are
actually built, for example.

One person can use the toolkit on a single computer, or it can be
scaled up for many users on networked computers. According to
IBM, this means groups of workers in different locations can work
on projects cooperatively in shared virtual worlds.

This distributed simulation capability and the focus on making
the software easy to use mean it needs one of IBM's RISC
System/6000 workstations to run. Osmundsen said that while
virtual reality tools for personal computers exist, they don't
offer the power of the IBM software.

IBM's toolkit is experimental at the moment. Osmundsen said the
technology is advanced enough that it could be commercialized,
but could not say whether IBM will do so in the near future --
that is not the research laboratory's concern.

IBM's Virtual Worlds Group was formed in 1989 at the Thomas J.
Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights and Hawthorne, New
York, to build useful virtual laboratories. The group approached
that goal in stages, creating a series of virtual environments: a
simple handball game, a model of a vortex in a turbulent fluid,
and a simulated environment in which two or more people could
interact through virtual objects.

The VR Toolkit is the culmination of the group's efforts so far,
group member Chris Codella told the Virtual Reality Systems '93
meeting. He said software like IBM's will come increasingly into
demand as more and more engineers, designers, physicians,
scientists, and others want to build simulations of their
real-world work.

(Grant Buckler/19930318/Press Contact & Public Contact: John A.
Osmundsen, IBM, 914-945-2392)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00015)

Softimage In European Deals 03/18/93
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Animation software
vendor Softimage Inc., has announced two agreements with European
companies, giving the company rights to rendering technology that
will complement its Softimage Creative Environment and a
three-year exclusive distribution agreement for Italian-made cel
animation software.

Softimage announced a technology acquisition and research and
development agreement with Mental Images GmbH & Co. KG of Berlin,
allowing Softimage to incorporate the German firm's rendering
technology into the Softimage Creative Environment.

The deal provides for the two firms to work together to further
enhance the rendering software. Carolyn Archambault, a Softimage
spokeswoman, said her company plans to offer the technology,
probably as an add-on option for the Softimage Creative
Environment, by this fall.

Softimage also announced an agreement with SBP S.p.a., an
audiovisual production firm, and software developer Itaca S.r.l.,
both of Italy, giving Softimage exclusive three-year
international distribution rights to the Italian firms' CIAK 2D
cel animation software.

Softimage will also get 50-percent ownership of CIAK if it
achieves certain minimum sales targets.

The CIAK software is meant to automate the production steps of a
traditional 2D cel animation studio. Its five software modules
handle the input, inking, compositing, creating, animating, and
recording steps of traditional cel animation. Softimage said
CIAK can also be used with the Softimage Creative Environment.

CIAK is available immediately through Softimage's distributors
worldwide.

The Softimage Creative Environment is software meant to speed up
design and animation by letting users, including those without
previous computer experience, create and visualize complex,
photo-realistic designs and animations.

(Grant Buckler/19930318/Press Contact: Carolyn Archambault,
Softimage, 514-845-1636)


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

 ****Windows NT Beta Testing Complete 03/18/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Microsoft
Corporation says it has completed the second round of beta testing
for the Windows NT operating system, and the test results have been
distributed to the 70,000-member software developer community for
review.

Windows NT is designed as a high-end, scaled implementation of the
current Windows program, with the same user interface. NT is also
supposed to offer features such as multitasking, greater security,
support for both 16-bit and 32-bit Windows applications, fault
tolerance, and integrated network support. A single set of fonts
and printer drivers are provided for both 16 and 32-bit
applications.

Other NT features include a hardware auto-detect, including SCSI
(small computer system interface) adapter cards and network cards,
designed to make installation easier. NT will retain the existing
system settings, groups and associations when a user upgrades from
Windows 3.1 to Windows NT, with previously used applications being
immediately available to the user. Improved network support
includes faster file and print sharing, 32-bit mail and scheduling,
and support for object linking and embedding. Also supported are
network DDE (dynamic data exchange), Windows Sockets, Named Pipes,
and NetBIOS support for distributed computing. Each of the software
developers who receive an update to the Win32 SDK will also receive
a Software Compatibility Test kit to test applications for
compatibility with Windows NT.

Microsoft says it is working with other industry members to provide
additional network connectivity, including Novell, Digital,
SunSelect, and Banyan. Windows NT supports a wide variety of
hardware platforms, including single CPU, Intel-based PCs;
multiprocessor desktop systems and advanced multiprocessor servers
such as Sequent's Symmetry; and RISC processors like the MIPS R4000
and R4400; and DEC's Alpha AXP. The company says Windows NT is
compatible with 268 printers, 44 SCSI devices, 12 display adapters,
23 network adapters, and more than 800 hardware platforms.

Microsoft is also shipping the pre-release version of Windows NT
Advanced Server, the server edition of Windows NT designed for
creating client-server applications in heterogeneous environments.
According to Microsoft Advanced Server includes improvements based
on feedback from some 55,000 developers who have licensed the Win32
Software Development Kit, value added resellers (VARs), and
corporate customers.

"Microsoft expects the reaction from developers for this version of
the beta to be positive," a Microsoft spokesperson said. Windows NT
was expected to ship in early 93, but company officials have
stressed that Microsoft will take whatever time it takes to ensure
the product's quality. A Microsoft spokesperson told Newsbytes that
Windows NT will make its formal public debut at the COMDEX trade
show in May, with the product shipping by the end of the second
quarter.

The second version of NT is supposed to run 16-bit Windows
applications up to three times faster than the first beta release,
while local file system performance is reportedly increased by as
much as 11 times. Performance of the SQL Server for Windows NT is
also reportedly improved, running up to three times faster than SQL
Server for OS/2.

(Jim Mallory/19930318/Press contact: Microsoft Public Relations,
206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00017)

Zeos 486-Based "Liteline" PCs 03/18/93
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Zeos
International has announced a new line of four personal computer
systems based on Intel's 486SX microprocessor that the company says
are designed to appeal to network and home office users.

The Liteline systems start at $1,395 for a 25-megahertz (MHz) system
and $1,495 for a 33MHz unit. The company says the Liteline PC's
microprocessor can be upgraded to the Intel Overdrive chip. Two
3.5-inch and two 5.25-inch drive bays are provided to accommodate the
addition of peripherals such as an internally mounted CD-ROM drive
or tape backup.

Buyers have the choice of a system equipped with 4 megabytes (MB)
of system memory and a 130MB hard drive, or 8MB of memory and a
210MB hard disk. All units are equipped with a 64 kilobyte (K)
cache, 512K or 1MB of video memory, and a 101-key keyboard. The
standard monitor is a non-interlaced 1024 by 768 resolution 14-inch
color SuperVGA display with .28 mm dot pitch. Non-interlaced
monitors refresh the screen by painting every line on every pass
down the screen, and have less noticeable flicker than interlaced
monitors. Zeos says network interface cards are available as an
option.

Rick Apple, VP of Marketing at Zeos, says the entry level systems
are positioned against similar low-end units from Compaq and
Dell. "The new Zeos Liteline is absolutely perfect for those seeking
low cost network nodes or smaller office desktop or home systems,"
according to Apple.

(Jim Mallory/19930318/Press contact: Rick Apple, Zeos Int'l,
612-633-5877, X1096; Reader contact: Zeos Int'l, 800-423-5891 or
612-623-9614)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00018)

Unix Vendors Ally Against Windows NT 03/18/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- In
the face of what could turn into intense competition from
Microsoft's new Windows NT operating system, six major
Unix vendors have allied together, pledging to develop common
standards for Unix and a compatible graphical user interface.
The move is also designed to give users of Unix more flexible
network protocols.

The six vendors involved are IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Sun
Microsystems, Unix Systems Laboratories, Univel, and the
Santa Cruz Operation.

The ultimate goal is to allow corporate users to utilize
hardware and software from different vendors without
struggling with compatibility problems. Currently, problems
arise when trying to use software designed for different
vendors' versions of Unix.

"Open systems" was intended to allow compatibility between
vendor hardware and software. However, in many respects it
has not lived up to its expectations, with products from
different vendors incompatible with others.

An alliance between major vendors that creates compatible
products would go a long way to defending the claim that a
commitment to Windows NT would be a regressive step back
to proprietary software, dominated by a single major vendor.

Microsoft has been very vocal in its targeting of Windows NT
at the Unix market. If the new operating system lives up to its
hype, it could pose a serious threat to established Unix
environments.

The potential battle between Unix and Windows NT is another
indication of the trend away from mainframe-based computer
environments, towards distributed processing and local area
networks (LANs). Windows NT will present users with the
popular Windows GUI (graphical user interface) on the desktop,
and will likely offer hundreds, if not thousands, of compatible
software products.

The establishment of a consistent and compatible GUI for
Unix is important to its defense of its installed corporate
base.

Also important is the ability for companies to buy a variety
of hardware and have the software use a consistent set of
commands to allow users to access resources enterprise-wide.
The different versions of Unix have not helped Unix establish
itself in the market in the past. Now, however, analysts argue
that it could be a major factor in it demise.

Microsoft NT is already in the advanced beta testing stage.
Many analysts believe that, for Unix to compete effectively
against Windows NT, it must present a unified face to
established and potential customers alike.

The new Unix specifications are likely to combine technologies
the Open Software Foundation industry consortium, along with
the six vendors.

A common set of Unix standards would also reduce the cost of
products on the market as it would cut development costs and
time-to-market. A common set of networking protocols would
also increase interconnectivity between different vendor
products.

(Ian Stokell/19930318)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00019)

UK - Cellnet Toll-Free Service To Mobile Phones 03/18/93
SLOUGH, BERKSHIRE, 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Cellnet, one of the UK's
two mobile phone network operators, has introduced a toll-free
number service for its subscribers. The "Callfree" facility,
which works in a similar fashion to the toll-free numbers enjoyed
by landline phone subscribers, allows the recipient to pay for
the call.

Existing PSTN (public switched telephone network) toll-free
numbers (0800 for BT and 0500 for Mercury) are billed at standard
mobile phone rates on both Cellnet and Vodafone. To signify this
fact, both network operators require the mobile phone user to key
in a star before the number.

The idea behind the Cellnet Callfree service, according to
Cellnet, is two-fold. As well as allowing mobile phone users to
make free calls to businesses, the service also allows companies
wanting to control their mobile phone costs to insist that their
employees use the Callfree number when calling the firm. That
way, all other calls (i.e. normally billable) are then payable by
the employee, since they will be personal calls.

"Many household names have already demonstrated the improvement
in customer service -- and increased sales -- by offering
free phone numbers. Now businesses will be able to offer the same
services and benefits to customers who own Cellnet mobile phones."
explained Steve Brewer, Cellnet's sales and marketing director.

One interesting spin-off from the new Callfree service is that
some Cellnet phone users, who are currently surcharged by the
inland revenue in the UK for the "personal" use of their mobile
phones, will be able to demonstrate to the tax authorities that
they do not use their phone for personal purposes. Cellnet claims
this will be a significant help to employees who need to manage
their tax liability on mobile phones.

(Steve Gold/19930318/Press & Public Contact: Cellnet - Tel: 0753-
504814; Fax: [phone])


(CORRECTION)(TELECOM)(LON)(00020)

Correction - Compuserve Readies European Expansion 03/18/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- In our story on Monday of
this week regarding Compuserve's expansion plans for Europe, we
identified Compuserve as having a direct access port up and
running in Stockholm, Sweden.

Compuserve has asked us to point out that this is incorrect. The
Stockholm access port is actually on the list of planned
expansion for the network, and will be in operation some time
within the next 12 months.

(Steve Gold/19930318)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00021)

UK - Tulip Unveils "Pocket Book" Personal PC 03/18/93
CRAWLEY, SUSSEX, 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Tulip Computers claims to
have become the first branded PC supplier to get a notebook PC --
an A5-sized unit -- to market. The company has begun shipping its
PB 386sl notebook PC at UKP 1,245 immediately in the UK.

Carefully avoiding the term "personal digital assistant (PDA)," a
name that Apple calls its planned Newton handheld, Tulip claims
that its "pocket book" PC combines the size advantages of a
standard notebook with an A5-sized personal organizer.

"The pocket book computer is the way forward for the portable
computer world, but, to date, there hasn't been a significant
shift to this market as no sub-notebook offers the power, speed
and screen functionality of the conventional notebook," said
Steve McCall, Tulip's managing director, unveiling the new
machine.

According to McCall, the sheer functionality of the Tulip pocket
book PC "removes all barriers for users considering such a move
and sets new standards for the sub-notebook market."

So what drives the pocket book PC? Internally, the unit features
a 25 megahertz (MHz) 80386SL chipset running into 2 megabytes
(MB) of memory, expandable to 10 MB internally. An 80MB hard disk
is also included as a standard option.

The PB 386sl has a VGA (video graphics adapter) screen capable of
resolving 640 x 480 pixels resolution in 64 shades of grey. No
floppy disk is fitted to the machine, but an external 3.5-inch
drive comes as standard. This, Tulip claims, helps keep the
weight of the unit down to four pounds.

Because the machine has an Intel "sl" chipset, it makes full use
of the Intel power saving facilities built into the driver
circuitry of the chip itself. Tulip claims that, because of this,
the machine is capable of running for up to five hours on a
single charge. In use, the power saving facility cuts the LCD
backlight by a half, switches the chipset down to 8MHz and runs
BIOS commands from the read only memory (ROM) instead of random
access memory (RAM) when required.

Tulip also appears to have taken a leaf out of Toshiba's book
when it comes to "sleep" functions. Tulip calls its system
"suspend to disk," which operates by taking a memory image and
writing to disk when the machine is powered down. Although slower
that the battery-backed memory suspend feature seen on Toshiba's
portables, this facility allows the Tulip unit to be switched off
for very long periods of time.

Again like Toshiba, Tulip has opted for a nickel-hydride battery
system instead of the more conventional nicads. Tulip claims that
nickel hydride batteries do not suffer from the "memory effect"
when repeatedly recharged when not fully discharged. The memory
effect shortens the available powered timed from a set of nicads,
as well as prematurely shortening the life of the battery.

(Steve Gold/19930318/Press Contact: Text 100 - Tel: [phone];
Public Contact - Tulip Computers - Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00022)

Central Point Auto-Disk Repair For Macintosh 03/18/93
UXBRIDGE, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Central Point
Software has announced Safe & Sound, which it claims is the
simplest and most straightforward method of automatically
identifying and fixing more than 100 hard disk problems on the
Apple Computer Macintosh range.

Safe & Sound, sold for $49.95 in the US, was unveiled at the
Macworld Expo in San Francisco in January. It is currently
being shipped in the US.

The idea behind the UKP 49 package is to allow Macintosh users
with no technical knowledge of their machines to solve "bomb"
situations. When the Macintosh crashes, it normally
throws up a "bomb" symbol with a cryptic error code that can only
be deciphered by a person technically competent on the machine.

"For Central Point to create and sell the best computer products,
we had to turn the classical approach to software product design
inside out," explained Jim Horsburgh, Central Point's manager for
Northern and International regions.

"The new and growing class of non-technical computer user,
whether using Macs or PCs running DOS and Windows, demands a
different type of safety tool -- a product that is easy to use,
inexpensive and indispensable," he added.

In use, Safe & Sound scans all available disk volumes. When a
problem is encountered, a dialogue box opens up and offers the
user a choice of options. A progress bar shows the user where in
a particular transaction he or she is, and additional checks are
available from the options screen.

Central Point claims that Safe & Sound is the easiest to use disk
repair package around at the moment. The package can solve most
problems relating to start-ups, missing files or folders, virus
infections and crashed hard or floppy disks, the company claims.
It works under both System 6 or System 7.

(Steve Gold/19930318/Press Contact: Company Care PR - Tel: 0734-
582031; Central Point Software - Tel: [phone]; public contact
503-690-8090)


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

 ****Amstrad To Offer Personal Digital Assistant In May 03/18/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- While Apple and Motorola are
still preparing their personal digital assistants (PDA),
Amstrad Chairman Alan Sugar says his company will launch one of
its own -- sooner.

The UKP 299 Amstrad Penpad, shown to the press for the first time
today in London, comes in a "personal organizer" format, with the
sleek grey-black unit flipping open to reveal a 240 x 320 pixel
LCD screen -- itself a representation of a "Filofax" page.

The unit is powered by three custom microprocessors and is
controlled by a stylus pen, although almost any sharp pen-like
wand (even a toothpick) will drive the screen.

Arrayed along the top of the screen are seven icons,
representing contrast, pages, calculator, desktop, rub-out left
and right. On the right hand side of the screen is an array of
personal organizer-style "tabs" that control access to the
phone/directory, diary, erase note, pen and information.

By pressing the various screen icons and then writing in little
on-screen boxes, the user of the Penpad can insert and manipulate
data in the various applications. Data is entered into
predefined fields or in a free format box.

So how does the Penpad recognize a user's handwriting? When it
is powered up for the first time, the user enters the entire
ASCII character set to "educate" the software with his/her own
handwriting idiosyncrasies. As the machine is used, so the
machine refines its knowledge of the user's handwriting.

The basic available memory on the unit is around the 100
kilobytes mark, although a PCMCIA card slot boosts this figure as
high as two megabytes with a suitable memory card.

Additional application cards, including fax, spreadsheet, word
processor, form generator, city information and
dictionary/translator, will be available by the time the Penpad
ships in early May. The software shown to Newsbytes today was
still a beta test version, according to Amstrad technical
spokesman Cliff Lawson.

"We will have the software finished next month, when we'll be
releasing review samples, prior to shipment in May," he told
attendees at the press event.

When questioned by Newsbytes on the type of processors driving
the Penpad, Amstrad Chairman Sugar replied: "A rubber band." When
pressed, he revealed it was a large rubber band, before smiling
broadly and admitting he did not know too much about the
processor.

Lawson stepped in at this stage and said that the processors were
designed by the company's R&D division in conjunction with
several outside agencies, as is the applications software. Plans
call for a variety of applications software for the machine to be
developed, both by Amstrad and, under the company's guidance, by
third parties.

"We'd like to keep a close hand on third party software for the
Penpad, to ensure that the applications are of a sufficiently
high enough standard," Sugar said.

Technically, the Penpad is very simple, running for up to 40
hours on three AA-sized alkaline batteries. This contrasts well
with a best-case power situation on the Apple Newton of around 45
minutes around the turn of the year. This power difference is due
to the fact that Apple Newton is RISC-based and therefore very
heavy on power.

"I have no doubt that Apple and IBM will blast the Penpad at
CEBIT next week when they get to hear about our unit. What I would
say is that this machine is available now and is not in the same
league as theirs. I don't expect them to be able to match our
pricing," he said.

When pressed, Sugar revealed that the Penpad is being
manufactured in China, at the same factories that manufacture the
company's satellite receivers.

The interface with the external world is a serial port. Lawson
said that "comms software" and a serial cable, costing between
UKP 29 and 39, will be released later this year. The serial port
can also be used to drive an external printer.

(Steve Gold/19930318/Press & Public Contact: Amstrad - Tel: 0177-
228888)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00024)

Exabyte Shipping 300GB Tape Systems 03/18/93
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Exabyte Corporation
says it is now shipping a robotic 8mm tape library which can provide
storage for up to 300 gigabytes (GB) of uncompressed data.

Called the EXB-60 Cartridge Handling Subsystem, the unit uses 60-8mm
tape cartridges to provide the near-online storage. The system can
be upgraded to an EXB-120, which can store 580GB when the user's
data storage needs increase.

The company says typical applications for the EXB-60 include
automation of backup and recovery operations and hierarchical
storage management, as well as for data collection, image storage,
remote vaulting, and disaster prevention applications. The system
can be configured for use with Unix, DEC, IBM and PC local area
network systems.

Exabyte says the EXB-60 can be configured with up to 60-8mm data
cartridges and two 8mm tape drives: the EXB-8200, which provides 2.5
GB of storage capacity; the EXB-8500, with 5 GB capacity; or the
10GB EXB-8500c.

(Jim Mallory/19930318/Press contact: Susan Merriman, Exabyte
Corporation, 303-447-7434; Reader contact: Exabyte, 303-442-4333 or
800-392-2983, fax [phone])


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

Microsoft Shipping COBOL For Windows 5.0 03/18/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Microsoft
Corporation says it is now shipping version 5.0 of its Microsoft
COBOL for Windows.

COBOL is an acronym for Common Business Oriented Language, a
programming language designed specifically for use in writing
business applications.

Microsoft says features of the new release include the ability to
run MS-DOS executable files in extended memory, support for
character-based windows, and a wider range of debugging options.
Support is also provided for Microsoft's Visual Basic programming
language for Windows, and for the embedded structure query language
(ESQL).

"With its improved support for both Windows and Visual Basic,
the new release makes it easier for corporations to downsize their
mainframe COBOL applications to Windows and to choose the migration
path that works for them," according to Jim McCarthy, director of
marketing and user education for the development tools group at
Microsoft.

The company says version 5.0 offers several techniques for creating
Windows-based applications. The quickest way, according to
Microsoft, is to compile the existing or new code application using
the QuickWin libraries. You can then run the program without having
to make any special Windows calls. QuickWin applications can now
call dynamic link libraries (DLLs), and the Programmer's WorkBench
integrated development environment which comes with the new release
is designed to simplify the task of creating QuickWin applications
and DLLs.

Microsoft says support for Windows is provided via a shared run-time
system that can be shared by several COBOL programs, resulting in
smaller executable files. The COBOL compiler itself also uses the
shared run-time system, allowing it and the debugger to run in
Windows.

Version 5.0 includes the XM Extender for MS-DOS that allows both the
compiler and executable files to use up to 16MB of extended memory,
eliminating the 640 kilobyte memory ceiling that applies to
DOS-based programs. The new release also includes Micro Focus
Panels, which allows developers to create text-based applications
with a graphical look, for users who aren't ready to upgrade to
Windows. Using Panels, a developer can create multiple windows on
character-mode screens.

System requirements for writing DOS-based applications include an
IBM-compatible PC with a 286 or higher microprocessor (Microsoft
recommends a 386 chip-based machine), DOS 3.3 or higher, 448K of
system memory, a high-density disk drive, and a minimum of 4MB of
hard disk space. The company says it recommends 10MB of available
hard drive space. If you're writing Windows-based applications
you'll need a 386-based system or higher, Windows 3.1 or higher, and
4MB of system memory. A mouse is also recommended.

COBOL 5.0 has a suggested retail price of $900, but is available to
registered users of earlier Microsoft COBOL releases for $179 for
COBOL alone, or $379 for COBOL plus Visual Basic version 2.0
Professional Edition. The special pricing for the upgrade runs
through July. After that, the COBOL upgrade will cost $199.

(Jim Mallory/19930318/Press contact: Martin Middlewood, Waggener
Edstrom for Microsoft, 503-245-0905; Reader contact: Microsoft
Corporation, 800-426-9400)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00026)

Clarisworks 2.0 For Macintosh 03/18/93
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- ClarisWorks
2.0 will ship this month. The integrated program from Claris
that can handle text, tables, charts, graphics, bit-mapped
images and spreadsheets within a single document, now has
three new features and 300 minor changes. Plus it's only 600K,
making it easier to use on small memory PowerBooks and
lower-end Macintoshes.

ClarisWorks 2.0 offers a new outlining feature with a choice of
seven outlining formats including Harvard, legal and numeric.
The program also offers color paint capabilities for the first
time. A new feature called "Shortcuts" allows ClarisWorks 2.0
users to create an icon which represents frequently performed tasks,
such as spellchecking or spreadsheet formatting, and to execute
the command by double clicking on the icon.

"ClarisWorks 1.0 was a breakthrough product in the integrated
category; ClarisWorks 2.0 sets yet a higher standard for this
market," said Dick Gorman, vice president of worldwide
marketing at Claris. "It now offers the breadth of capabilities
and depth of features to meet the demands of not only small
business, K-12 educators and home users, but also corporate
business and higher education users."

The US price is $299. Upgrades from ClarisWorks 1.0 are $99.

(Wendy Woods/19930318/Press Contact: Ines Anderson, 408-987-7154,
or Steve Ruddock, 408-987-7202)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LAX)(00027)

ELVIS Works With Sun Micro In Russia 03/18/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Sun
Microsystems Computer Corporation (SMCC) is developing hand-
held computers for satellite communication with ELVIS+. ELVIS+ is
not the legendary rock star who was recently ruled to be dead
by a US judge, but is an acronym for a Russian firm which
translates to Electronic Computer and Information Systems.

ELVIS+ was founded by Dr. Alexander (Sasha) Galitsky, a
wireless communications expert and chief designer for the
Russians of communication satellites for the country's space
program. Sun, which is taking a ten percent stake in the company,
said jointly the two companies hope to develop wireless
communications integrated into Sun's SPARCstation computers.

Both Sun and ELVIS+ have expressed a need to see a modern
communication network emerge in Russia and the planned wireless
network could be a part of the new communication
infrastructure.

However, the planned wireless communication network, called
"nomadic computing" by Sun representatives, is unrelated to the
recent announcement of Sun's movement into the field of hand
held wireless personal digital assistant (PDA) devices. Sun
revealed two weeks ago it was forming First Person, a new
company in Palo Alto, California, to continue development
work on consumer devices to integrate digital data.

Wireless communication is implied in any portable, handheld
device and is a buzzword in the growing community of companies
working on consumer PDA-type devices.

Sun representatives have insisted there is no relation between
First Person and the wireless communication being developed for
the company's workstation computers.

This isn't the first time Sun partnered with Russian
computer expertise. The company has cooperative long-term
research agreement with Boris Babaian, a leading Russian
supercomputer expert. Last fall Sunpro, a business unit of
Sun, hired a team of 33 Russian software engineers to
work under Babaian on Sunpro commercial software development
products.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930318/Press Contact: Carrie Dillon, Sun,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00028)

"How To" Home Series & Carmen Sandiego In Space 03/18/93
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- Broderbund, the
company that produces the Carmen Sandiego game series, will
begin distributing Books That Work, a series of software on
"how to" home repair and outdoor construction projects. The
company has also announced a new version of its popular Carmen
Sandiego geography game will be available soon.

While books, magazines, and video on home repair and
construction projects have been popular, the move to putting
that information on personal computers is a relatively new one.
However, Broderbund believes the emerging home computing market
is ripe soil for such books.

The first title is from the Backyard Builder series and
it is "Design and Build Your Deck." According to Books
That Work representatives, the how-to series is multimedia
and allows you to design and model your project in three
dimensions, then instructs you on how to build it. Animations
that help users visualize potential problems, such as what
the sun does to untreated wood over time or how termite
damage might occur, are also included. Other subjects planned
are interior decorating, gardening, cooking, and home
entertainment.

Books That Work are developed by a company of the same name
headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The first title is to
be available in the spring of this year and requires a 386 or
faster IBM compatible personal computer (PC), Windows 3.1, and
at least 2 megabytes of random access memory (RAM).

Broderbund says in addition to Books That Work, a new Carmen
Sandiego title will be available this Spring as well. On the first
of May "Where in space is Carmen Sandiego?" deluxe edition will
be available. The famous geography game series Carmen Sandiego
is the subject of books, puzzles, calendars, and even a PBS
game show for kids.

Now Carmen and her band of 14 alien outlaws invite
intergalactic chase through Venusian coffee shops and Martian
space malls. The space version is expected to retail for $79.95
and requires a minimum of a 386-based PC, Broderbund said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930318/Press Contact: Kathleen Burke,
Broderbund, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Kelly
Rodriguez, Books That Work, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00029)

Liken 1.3 -- Macintosh E-Mail On Unix 03/18/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) --
Xcelerated Systems has a new version of its software
to run Macintosh applications on Sun or Hewlett-Packard
workstations, Liken 1.3, at the Uniforum '93 show this week in
San Francisco, adds electronic mail (e-mail) compatibility.

Liken presents workstation users with a Macintosh interface
in a window on their workstation screen. The new version
supports Macintosh electronic mail packages such as
Microsoft Mail, Quickmail from CE Software, and cc:Mail
from Lotus Development as well as the group-scheduling
package Meeting Maker from On Technology. It also offers
print capabilities and file sharing, company representatives
told Newsbytes.

The company says the addition of color capability, System 7
compatibility, the ability to share files, and electronic mail
were its priorities for enhancements to Liken. Electronic
mail and file sharing are available now and plans are to
release an IBM RS 6000 version of Liken this summer and
a System 7 compatible release shortly afterward.

Liken version 1.3 is compatible with Sun's Solaris 2.1
operating system and Hewlett-Packard's HP-UX 9.01 operating
system, the company said. Retail price is $695.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930318/Press Contact: Tom Carroll,
Cooper/Iverson Marketing for Xcelerated Systems, tel 619-292-
7400, fax [phone]; Laura Jordan, Xcelerated Systems, 619-
974-2907)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00030)

Quarterdeck Desqview/X Support For More Networks 03/18/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 18 (NB) -- New
versions of Desqview/X and the Desqview/X Network Manager are
shipping, Quarterdeck Office Systems announced at Uniforum '93
this week in San Francisco. Introduced a year ago, Desqview/X
is described as a DOS multitasking, X workstation
environment and the new versions offer support for more
networks and performance improvements, Quarterdeck said.

Desqview/X allows DOS users to run local and remote DOS,
Microsoft Windows, and X graphics programs at the same time.
The product is based on the Quarterdeck's previous product,
Desqview, which allows DOS users to run multiple applications
at once. Desqview/X offers a graphical interface that supports
windowing, multitasking, Adobe scalable fonts, data transfer,
keystroke macros, and requires a 80386 or Intel 486-based IBM
or compatible personal computer (PC) running DOS. The company
says the product supports three graphical user interfaces: its
own Desqview interface, Open Look, and the Open Systems
Foundation's OSF/Motif. However, the Open Look and OSF/Motif
interfaces are available at extra cost.

The new Desqview/X version 1.1 incorporates bolstered support
for NetBIOS networks and cross-concentrator support for Novell
Netware IPX networks so Novell users can run remote DOS and
Microsoft Windows programs over gatewayed Novell networks,
Quarterdeck said.

Desqview Network Manager version 1.1 now supports Sun
Microsystems PC-NFS, Hewlett-Packard Local Area Network (LAN)
Manager, Microsoft LAN Manager, Beame & Whiteside Networking
Software and Wollongong Pathway for DOS. These are in addition
to support for FTP Software's PC/TCP and Novell LAN Workplace
for DOS which was already offered in the previous version,
according to the company.

Quarterdeck also offers developers toolkits for moving X
applications from Unix to DOS and for development of DOS-based
X applications. The toolkits are Desqview/X X11 Toolkit and the
Desqview/X OSF/Motif Toolkit.

Registered Desqview/X and Desqview/X Network Manager users can
upgrade to version 1.1 free of charge. Retail price of
Desqview/X version 1.1 is $275. The DESQview/X Network Manager,
necessary for running Desqview/X on TCP/IP and PC/NFS networks,
is an additional $200. A coupon entitling users to receive free
of charge the Novell TCP/IP Transport for DOS, a TCP/IP network
driver is included with the Desqview/X Network Manager. In
addition, the Desqview/X OSF/Motif Window Manager is $250 and
the DESQview/X Open Look Window Manager is $200.

Quarterdeck announced at its conference in Santa Monica,
California last year it had hired staff to begin publication of
a new magazine, Quarterdeck Magazine, featuring tips and help
for Desqview and Desqview/X users. However, Newsbytes has
learned the magazine recently folded. Quarterdeck officials were
unavailable for comment as to the cause.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930318/Press Contact: Charles McHenry,
McHenry and Associates, tel [phone], fax [phone];
Public contact at Quarterdeck 800-354-3222)