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/nb930322

Text File | 1993-03-22 | 68KB | 1,499 lines

(NEWS)(UNIX)(SYD)(00001)

Banking System Fast-Tracks Foreign Currencies 03/22/93
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- An Australian software
developer is seeking international distribution for its
international monetary exchange package. IntermoneX processes
international banking products including foreign currency notes,
travellers checks, international drafts, and telegraphic transfers.

Developed on Sun Microsystems' hardware, it is claimed to be
the first international monetary exchange system based on
graphical representation and capable of running stand-alone or on
a network.

Developers IMX Consulting Pty Ltd are specialists in providing
systems to the banking and finance sectors. Managing director,
Jim Bacskos, said Inter-moneX is already installed in the
Australian bank ANZ.

The latest version was produced in partnership with Sun as part
of Sun's R&D investment in Australian information technologies.
This investment is part of Sun's Partnerships for Development
agreement with the Australian Government. The software was developed
under INGRES Windows/4GL development system and the INGRES
database. It is claimed to be platform-independent.

The system automatically calculates exchange amounts, commissions,
and associated charges, updates inventory holdings, and produces
printed checks or payment transmission messages as necessary. This
is designed to aid not only bank officers but also hotel, airline,
and other travel staff to minimize the normal frustrations and
problems suffered by foreign travellers dealing in foreign
currencies. One feature is the ability to display any foreign
banknote onscreen to aid in identification.

(Carmel Nola and Paul Zucker/19930319)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00002)

Australian Telecom Conference Set For May 03/22/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- The Australian
Telecommunications Users Group (ATUG) will hold its tenth annual
conference of the telecommunications industry in Sydney over May
10th to 13th. It consists of a number of conference strands as
well as a major exhibition.

ATUG has said the conferences is aimed at all personnel involved
in the business of telecommunications and information technologies,
and management who need to upgrade their knowledge of modern
telecommunications services. It promises to show "technology
that will emerge over the next decade; how to implement technology
to increase business productivity; the latest telecommunications
services; the benefits of competitive telecommunications; and who
the telecommunications industry players are."

As a special treat for delegates, the movie "Sneakers" will be
screened after the cocktail party. It shows communications security
and toll fraud.

Papers to be presented deal with communications and the law,
social issues, dealing with carriers, multimedia, fibre, wireless
networks, EDI, the future of the modem, and data networking.

Full registration costs AUS$1075 (around US$770) and
accommodation packages are available for AUS$135 or AUS$95 per
night at hotels near to the Darling Harbour conference site.

Contact details are: ATUG '93, PO Box 476 St., Leonards NSW 2065,
AUSTRALIA, Phone [phone], Fax [phone]

Exhibition enquiries: Tony Pool at Riddell Exhibition Promotions,
Phone [phone]

(Paul Zucker/19930319)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00003)

UK - Sigma Offers Sound Cards 03/22/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- Sigma Designs has unveiled
Winstorm, its first multimedia card system for the PC. The card,
which supports 16-bit CD quality sound with accelerated Windows
graphics, is claimed to the first of its type in the industry,

According to the London card specialist, around five percent of
all PC users are upgrading to multimedia PC technology, a figure
that is projected to reach the 50 percent mark within three years.
The company claims that Winstorm provides two features that users
are looking for -- true color video and a CD quality sound, all
on one card.

"The minimum standard multimedia PC requires an eight-bit sample
size which only provides the dynamic range of AM broadcast radio.
That is at best only adequate for speech, not for music,"
explained Pier Del Frate, Aptec's director of marketing, who
added that the card's 16-bit audio system is about equal to CD
quality. "Users can easily tell the difference," he said.

Del Frate added that PC sound is rapidly advancing, as is the
plug-in card technology that supports it. "Today, sound is being
supported by a growing number of business applications, spurred
on by the introduction of Windows 3.1, making Winstorm's
video/sound combination a productivity and quality enhancement
for most PC users," he said.

So what other benefits are there from a 16-bit sound board?
According to Del Frate, the ability to add digital sound files to
business reports (e.g. the spoken word) and internal mail makes
for much more effective communications in a company.

The Winstorm Super VGA card is based on a new AVGA3/5422 VGA
controller from Acumos/Cirrus Logic and, according to the
company, delivers up to 24-bit 16.8 million pixels color video
images for "effective photo-realistic video imaging on PCs."

Bundled with the UK 399 card is Make Your Point, a Windows-based
presentation application from Asymetrix that adds sound and
animation to presentations; MCS Musicrack, a Windows-based
utility for controlling multimedia hardware in the same way as a
home hi-fi; and Music Library, a collection of MIDI music and
sounds from Midisoft.

(Steve Gold/19930319/Press & PUblic Contact: Aptec - Tel: 071-
627-1000; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LON)(00004)

UK - Radius Unveils "Swedish" Low-Radiation Monitors 03/22/93
WOKING, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- Radius has announced
a series of monochrome displays that it claims are designed to
meet the Swedish MPR II specifications for display system
emissions. The new units also include built-in anti-reflective
anti-static monitor screens.

Announcing the monitors, Keith Harris, Radius UK's managing
director, said that they were specially developed for the
European market, and in particular, the Swedish marketplace.
"These systems meet or exceed the guidelines of the Swedish
specification for monitor emissions, one of the most
comprehensive specifications for emission characteristics," he
said.

Three monitors are initially available: the full-page display at
UKP 595, the pivot at UKP 795, and two-page display 21E at UKP
1,395. The first two monitors are direct replacements for the
existing model, although the third is complementary to the
existing standard two page Display/21 which costs UKP 1,095.

(Steve Gold/19930319/Press & Public Contact: Radius - Tel: 0483-
772773; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEL)(00005)

India's Copyright Act Being Amended 03/22/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- Certain sections of the
Copyright Act pertaining to software are being amended to
conform to international norms, the Secretary, Department
of Electronics (Government of India), N. Vittal, said recently.

A mandatory punishment of one-month imprisonment and a fine
of Rs 50,000 for violators, are part of the proposals under
consideration. A clause to empower enforcement authorities
to conduct search and arrest would also be included, he added.
The DoE, he said, has recommended the setting up of special
courts to expedite settlement of software piracy cases. DoE has
also set up a national committee for the effective enforcement
of the Copyright Act.

The industry, on the other hand, has set up the Indian Federation
Against Software Theft to initiate cases against software piracy.

Annual revenue loss due to piracy is estimated at $25 million
in India, while the figure is $10 billion worldwide. According
to a spokesperson of NASSCOM (the National Association of
Software and Service Companies) some 60 percent of the computer
users in the country use some amount of pirated software.

Vittal said the government should exempt computer software from
import duty to help fight illegal copying. Customs duty on software
stands at 85 percent.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930319)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00006)

Incremental Linker For SPARC From PURE Software 03/22/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- Pure
Software Inc., whose award winning "Purify" software package
has impressed the entire software development world even though
it only runs on SPARC-based workstations, announced at Uniforum
that it has developed an incremental linker to speed software
development.

"Purify" is a debugging and testing package that takes precompiled
object code and reverse engineers it to insert debugging code that
checks for common programming errors such as bad array indexing
and memory stomping. The source code is not needed, and people
using Purify have reported finding errors in packages of other
software vendors just by using the system.

Since Purify works at link-time -- the phase where the various
compiled parts of a large software program are molded together -- it
made the linking process rather slow. Large software packages can
take a long time to link under any circumstances, even though they
can be compiled in small modules.

Incremental linking requires more disk storage, but allows the system
to store partial information so that one new module can be compiled
and linked with all others without the full recalculation of
all relationships between data used in all modules.

The result is the ability to make changes in programs and produce
a new working version very quickly.

(Brad Templeton/19930322/Press Contact: Pure Software, 408-720-
1600. E-mail [e-mail])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00007)

AT&T Presents Unix Awards 03/22/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- Before
passing ownership of Unix off to Novell, AT&T and its
subsidiary Unix System Laboratories hosted the "Unix Awards"
during the 1993 Uniforum Conference last week.

The slick awards presentation, with fancy video effects and
dinner for 600 Unix luminaries and members of the press,
included appearances by most of the major players in the Unix
marketplace. The nominees and winners were many.

One of the most respected presenters was Dennis Ritchie, who was
not himself given an award because in a sense he sits in Unix
world status above all those who received them. Ritchie and
Ken Thompson were the authors of the original Unix system,
and Ritchie was also pivotal in the development of the C
programming language which is the basis of almost all major
systems and application programming in the Unix and microcomputer
worlds today.

Ritchie, a man nobody could fire, took a humourous swipe at his
employers during his presentation of the awards for Lifetime
Achievement in the Unix community. Sharing the podium with
USL CEO Roel Pieper, he pretended to read the name of
Federal Judge Dickinson Debevoise from the cards. The judge
recently ruled strongly against an attempted injunction sought
by USL against the University of California at Berkeley and
small software firm BSDI to halt the sale of a new operating
system based on the software developed at UCB. USL alleged
the violations includes copyrighted code and trade secrets
from an old version of Unix.

Some laughed. Some didn't.

Mike Azzara, editor of Open Systems Today magazine, led off the
awards and also won one for himself later in the evening.
His opening address called Unix the "promiscuous" operating
system in the metaphorical sense. Azzara expressed well a
theme that would be heard from others at the conference.
Unix, by being open, promiscuous, and breeding with all
comers, has become the product of "superior evolution" according
to Azzara. He likened it to a life form that has been free to
grow and improve, in contrast to operating systems that are
controlled by one company.

Winners in the "Academic Drivers" category of awards included:
Mike DeFazio, USL; Robert Fabry, CSRG at UCB; Deborah Scherrer,
LBL; Bob Schiefler, X Consortium.

For Unix Evanglism: Bob Marsh, Uniforum; Amrando Stettner, DEC.

Technology: Steve Bourne, Vinton Cerf, Jon Mashey, Eric Schmidt

Standards: Jim Bell, Walter De Backer, Heinz Lycklama

Applications: Frame Technology, Informix, Oracle, Sybase

Global Market Builders: Larry Crume of Lotus, Geoff Morris of X/Open;
Yoshiro Yoshioka of Fujitsu

Special Distinction: Mike Azzara, Open Systems Today; Maureen
O'Gara, Unigram/X; Ed Taylor, Pencom

Lifetime Achievement: Pamela Gray, Uniforum; Bill Joy, Sun;
Doug Michaels, SCO

Honored for business commitment among vendors was HP, SCO, Sun,
among users was Burlington Coat Factory, DHL, Federal Express,
Hyatt, Wal-Mart.

After the presentation, Open Systems Today hosted a party featuring
a "musical comedy" which was, to put it kindly, embarassingly bad,
however it did feature some pleasant moments when special guests
such as Scott McNeally of Sun made a little fun of their own
companies.

(Brad Templeton/19930322)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00008)

New Blow To Cray 03/22/93
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- After a eight-year
wait for a Cray-YMP supercomputer, the Indian Institute of
Science (IISc), situated in Bangalore, has decided to opt for
a network of computers. Having received government approval
for a Rs 1.8 billion (around $60 million) system, IISc'
supercomputer education and research center (SERC) is
evaluating tender bids for six computers to act as servers
on the network.

It will also purchase more than 40 workstations and about
16 single-board computing engines to be networked in parallel
architecture. A fiber optic network will link these systems
with SERC's existing computers (Cyber 992, VAX 8810 and Control
Data 4360) and terminals in various departments.

The tender specifications called for a shared memory high
performance system that has the facility to connect up to four
processors with vector processing or superscalar capabilities,
with individual processors having 120 million floating point
operations per seconds (MFLOPS) peak rating. It also invited
quotations for a fiber distributed data interface (FDDI)
local area network working at a minimum transmission speed
of 100 megabit per second for a fiber optic network to link
SERC's existing machines.

Among those who bid are Tata-Elxsi (India) Ltd., that has
offered Power Challenge, the latest machine from Silicon Graphics,
and Wipro Infotech with a high-end system from Convex. Digital
Equipment India Ltd., is believed to have volunteered its
Cray YMP-EL for the shared memory performance. The Baby
Cray is only about one-seventh as powerful as the
top-of-the-line Cray YMP C-90, but can take up to four
processors, with each processor having a peak rating of
133 MFLOPS.

Also in the race are IBM Singapore, HCL Hewlett-Packard,
DCM Data Products, Electronics Corporation of India Ltd.,
and OMC Computers Ltd.

However, there is a fear of even these alternatives will be
blocked by the US Department of Commerce. India's refusal to
sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and the Missile
Technology Control Regime is seen as the main reason for
the apprehensions. The US Department of Commerce rates
computers by their composite theoretical performance (CTP),
an index of the total power of all the processors in the
computer. Only computers with a CTP rating of below 12.5
million theoretical operations per second (MTOPS) can be
sold to India without clearance from the Department.

The department also regulates computers ordered in bulk to
be connected in a network, the CTP rating for export clearance
would be for all computers on the network and for individuals.
Since the CTP rating according to the SERC requirements will
go well over 100, the apprehensions are valid.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930319)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEL)(00009)

India In Mauritian Telecom Contract 03/22/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- The public sector company
Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd. (TCIL) has bagged a
telecom project, worth Rs 31.5 crore (around 10.5 million)
from the Mauritian government. Comprising civil engineering
works, overhead and underground cable pulling and joining,
transfer of existing subscribers and connection of new
subscribers, the project relates to OSP-LOT-10 of Mauritius
Telecom.

TCIL is believed to have won this contract against stiff
competition from companies like Ericsson of Sweden and Cable
De Lyon of France. Out of 12 stations involved, TCIL staff
have completed civil works in nine. Work on the project
commenced in November 1991 with an execution period up to
June 1993. The firm claims to have completed 70 percent
of the work within 66 percent of the time.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930319)


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

AutoPlan II -- Project Mgm't For Unix 03/22/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- Project
management software is being used increasingly in corporate
computing environments in an effort to organize large projects.
Designed with those workgroup computing capabilities in mind,
Digital Tools has introduced AutoPlan II, which it claims is the
first project management software "designed to solve the problem
of managing large projects where data are located on various
platforms in various geographical locations."

Steve Farnsworth, spokesman for the company, told Newsbytes
that, "It is designed as a workgroup product." He said it can also
be used as a stand-alone product. However, "There are an awful lot
of stand-alone products on the market. Project management
products are historically designed as a single user-type products,
sometimes forced into multi-user environments. Given that
projects are dynamic in nature, and that you need to have multiple
people involved in the planning and tracking process, AutoPlan II
was designed as a workgroup product from the ground up."

The company says that the software provides the foundation
for a new open systems project management architecture for
workgroups that Digital Tools plans to release in 1993.

AutoPlan II features a graphical user interface along with
project planning and scheduling capabilities.

In announcing the product, Phillip F. Whalen Jr., claims
that AutoPlan II provides the first project management package
for Unix that automates tasks such as planning and tracking
projects graphically, managing multiple projects, and managing
and reporting resource requirements. The software also supports
interactive querying.

Jim O'Hare, Digital Tools product manager for AutoPlan II, said:
"Project changes were previously communicated by paper,
electronic-mail, telephone, or meetings. Now managers can enter
changes to a project within AutoPlan II, and team members
will be updated instantaneously."

Talking about why a company would use project management
software, Farnsworth told Newsbytes that fierce market
competition is a major driving force. "Optimizing your time
and your effort is real critical - especially time-to-market
issues. Unless you have everybody doing things at the right
time and in the right sequence, you can miss windows of
opportunity."

The company says that the architecture is designed to allow
other tools or applications to either supply information to the
software, or extract data from it - even across a computer
network. AutoPlan II does this by using filters that enable it
to incorporate data to and from the leading Macintosh and
Windows project management applications.

AutoPlan II supports the Motif graphical user interface (GUI). It
will be available this month for Sun Microsystems
workstations, other SPARC-based systems, and Hewlett-Packard
Series 700 workstations. An Open Look GUI version of the
software is scheduled for release in second quarter 1993.

Pricing starts at $1,495 and multi-user versions start at
$2,995.

(Ian Stokell/19930322/Press Contact: Steve Farnsworth,
408-366-6920; or Stacy Williams, 415-329-0289, Digital
Tools)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00011)

More On Unix Vendors' Common Interface Alliance 03/22/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- With the
dust settling after the 1993 Uniforum show, the big news of
the show was undoubtedly the joint announcement by most major
Unix vendors to adhere to a new standard for user interaction
dubbed the Common Open Software Environment, or COSE.

For some time there has been a split in the Unix community, with
two main camps defining user interface and operating system
standards. The OSF, supported by DEC, IBM, and most others
pushed for the adoption of its OSF/1 operating system and Motif
user interface (based on X windows.) Unix International,
the venture of Sun Microsystems and AT&T's Unix System
Laboratories (soon to be Novell's USL) pushed for an interface
standard named Open Look and the SVR4 Unix operating system.

At Uniforum, HP, IBM, Sun, SCO, USL and several others agreed to
support the new COSE effort, which is based on Motif. Several
other standards are included, such as HP's Visual User Environment
and elements of Open Look. The key is that all vendors will support
the environment and thus application developers will have only one
interface to program.

Also significant is that the standard will be administered not by either
of the warring factions, but by the X/Open Consortium. X/Open has
existed for some time issuing standards for Unix graphical workstations.
It now has more powerful teeth.

Missing from the proposal, however, is standardization on the
underlying operating system, and as such there will still be problems
coding for the System V-based systems from UI, USL and SCO and the
University of California at Berkeley "BSD" and OSF-based systems.

Sun CEO Scott McNealy, who had fought against Motif, made light of
Sun's turnaround, playing at having difficulty saying the word
"M-m-m-m-motif" at the press conference.

Members of the new COSE group also invited Microsoft to join, but
there was doubt this would happen. This action, seen as a positive
step by almost all, was probably driven by the threat of the new
Windows NT operating system from Microsoft. Many fear the
encroachment of that powerful company into the workstation
market that Unix has owned.

DEC, which has also issued statements of support for Windows NT, was
not on the platform supporting COSE, but it is free to use the
standard if it wishes.

(Brad Templeton/19930322)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TYO)(00012)

Japan - Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard Moving Offices 03/22/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard, a joint
venture of Yokogawa Electric and Hewlett-Packard, says it will
start a major renovation of its offices in Tokyo. The firm will
move its offices to the suburbs of Tokyo to save money.

The new offices are located in Hachioji. Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard
will spend about 15 billion yen ($125 million) on the move, and
construction of the new buildings will start in June 1994.
About 1,800 employees at its management departments will be
transferred to these office. This is a third of the firm's
total employees in Japan.

Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard will also close its Tokyo sales office
this April and will move about 400 people at this office to
another office in Fuchu, a suburb of Tokyo.

Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard's Hachioji office has 33,000 square
meters, which is quite large for the average Japanese firm. It
is currently producing workstations and semiconductor
inspection devices. These plants will also be renovated by
1996.

The land price and rental fees are extremely high in the
center of Tokyo. Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard claims it
will be able to save about 30 billion yen ($250 million) with this
renovation plan in the next 15 years.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930322/Press Contact: Yokogawa Hewlett
Packard, [phone], Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TYO)(00013)

Japan - AST Research Releases Low-Cost PCs 03/22/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- AST Research Japan has
released a low-cost personal computer line that is lower in
cost that Dell Computer's PCs, which used hold the title of the
least expensive PCs in the Japanese market.

AST Research Japan has released four lines of PCs with 18 models.
These PCs are the entry-level "Bravo," the powerful desktop
"Premier" models, the notebook-type the "Power Executives," and
the tower server-type called "Premier SE." The Bravo 4 has
a 33-megahertz 80486DX processor, and costs 149,000 yen
($1,240) to 1,413,000 yen ($11,775), depending on the models. The
entry-level model is 20,000 yen ($170) cheaper than one from Dell
Computer with the same configuration.

All of AST's latest computers, including the desktop and the
notebook-type models, are equipped with an 80486 processor, and
support the DOS/V operating system. The Premier has 5 ports of
32-bit expansion bus called the EISA. It can be equipped with
a hard disk up to 8 gigabytes in capacity.

There are two types of notebook-type PCs. One is a monochrome
version and the other is a color version with a TFT (thin
film transistor) LCD. They can be used continuously for 6.5
hours with an internal rechargable battery.

AST Research Japan will also beef up its PC maintenance services
by providing on-site service starting this May. The firm will
also provide pre-installation service of DOS/V and MS-Windows.

The actual shipment of these new PCs will be on April 19.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930322/Press Contact: AST Research
Japan, [phone], Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00014)

Sony, Kyocera Heavy Into LCDs 03/22/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- Sony is planning to enter the
small-LCD market with an advanced 0.7-inch LCD (liquid crystal
display) for various devices including viewfinders of
camcorders. Kyocera is also preparing to produce more
LCDs, and wants to double production by the end of this year.

Sony's latest small LCDs are called the SIPPLIX (Sony Integrated
Polysilicon Liquid X'tal). The NTSC version of this LCD supports
a whopping 103,000 pixels and the PAL version supports 123,000
pixels. These active matrix LCDs provide clear images
and quick screen responses, despite the small size of the
screens.

Sony is currently creating production lines for the small-LCDs.
These production lines will produce some 200,000 units
per month. To start, Sony will ship 60,000 units per month from
these production lines.

Meanwhile, Kyocera's plan to double production of its color LCDs
by the end of this year, from a current 3,000 units being
shipped per month. These are mainly shipped for overhead
projectors but their use in PCs is increasing. The firm will
also ship these color LCDs to the US.

Kyocera's LCDs are STN (super twist nematic) type, which is
slightly inferior to TFT (thin film transistor) as far as the
screen image is concerned. However, they are cheaper than that
the TFTs. Kyocera's color LCDs are 10-inches in size, support 640 x
480 pixels, and are 10-mm thick. The response speed of these LCDs
is 100 millisecond, a speed capable of supporting major
software, including Windows.

Kyocera will spend 1.5 to 1.6 billion yen (around $12.5 million)
for a new production line for color LCDs at its plant. The firm will
also ship more monochrome-type LCDs.

Total sales of LCDs in the worldwide market is about $3.3 billion
for 1992, according to the Nikkei newspaper. The LCD
market is expected to be worth about $6.8 billion within two
years.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930322/Press Contact: Sony, +81-3-
3448-2200, Fax, [phone], Kyocera, [phone], Fax,
 [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00015)

East And West Coasts To Meet In Computer Bowl Tie-Breaker 03/22/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- With the score
tied at two all, high tech leaders from the East and West Coasts
are gearing up for combat in the next round of the Computer Bowl,
to be held May 14 in San Jose and televised nationally in late May
and June.

The team that wins this match will reign supreme until next year,
when the Most Valuable Players, or highest individual point
scorers, of all five previous bowls will test their knowledge of
computer trivia in the Ultimate Championship Computer Bowl.

Produced by the Computer Museum of Boston and presented by the
Association for Computing Machinery, the Computer Bowl integrates
the elements of a TV game show, sports contest, and social event.

Proceeds from company sponsorships go to support the Computer
Museum's 125 exhibits, three theaters, historical computer and
robot collections, and other educational programs.

The site of the Computer Bowl fluctuates between East Coast and
West, depending on which team is the current title holder.
Because the West Coast grabbed the spoils at the 1992 Bowl in
Boston, the location shifts this year to the San Jose Civic
Auditorium.

Taking back the title will pose no problem, predicted East Coast
Captain Mitchell E. Kertzman. "Our team has superior intellect,
more relevant experience, quicker reflexes, better verbal skills,
sharper wits, and better looks.

"If the West Coast actually shows up, we'll just kick butt, but in
the stylish, dignified way that characterizes our modest approach,"
said Kertzman, who is also president and CEO of Powersoft Corp.

But the East Coast bravado fails to convince West Coast Captain Dr.
Harry J. Saal. "With the momentum and home team advantage on our
side, not to mention the positive karma we get from our superior
West Coast climate, we'll roll over and crush the East again this
year," retorted Saal, who is president, CEO and chairman of Network
General Corp. "Those guys will be out driving cabs Monday morning."

Neither East nor West Coast is likely to be giving out its strategy
ahead of time. But last year, each team tried to build a
competitive edge by dressing up as the other side. A spokesperson
told Newsbytes that the East Coast wore T-shirts and carried
skateboards, while the West Coast was outfitted in formal shirts,
jackets and ties.

Local and regional fans will be able to root for their teams, even
without going to San Jose. Hosted by Stewart Cheifet, executive
producer of "Computer Chronicles," the Bowl will be telecast live
to both Seattle and the Computer Museum in Boston, and then
rebroadcast nationally over PBS.

Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, will be asking the
questions. The judging will be done by 1992 West Coast Captain
John F. Shoch, general partner, Asset Management Company, and 1992
East Coast MVP Dr. David L. Nelson, chairman, Fluent Inc.

Joining Kertzman on the East Coast team will be John F. Burton,
president and CEO, Legent Corp.; Neil J. Colvin, senior vice
president and chief technology officer, Phoenix Technologies Ltd.;
Alain Hanover, chairman, president and CEO, Viewlogic Systems
Inc., and Patricia B. Seybold, president and CEO, Patricia Seybold
Group.

Saal's cohorts on the West Coast team will consist of Jean-Louis
Gassee, chairman and CEO, Be Corp.; Jerry Kaplan, chairman and co-
founder, GO Corp.; Michael A. McConnell, president and CEO,
SuperMac Inc., and Lisa G. Thorell, director and principal analyst,
Client/Server Computing Service, Dataquest.

In a special pregame show, MVPs of previous Bowls will get a warm-up
for the 1994 Championship event. West Coast participants will
include Microsoft's Gates; Bill Joy, vice president of R&D, Sun
Microsystems Inc.; Dave Liddle, president and CEO, Interval
Research Corp., and Jeffrey C. Kalb, president, MasPar Computer
Corp.

Representing the East Coast will be past MVPs Mitchell Kapor,
chairman, Electronic Frontier Foundation Inc.; Bob Frankston,
product creator, Slate Corp.; author Pamela McCorduck, and Dr.
David L. Nelson.

According to the spokesperson, the Bowl offers five levels of
sponsorship to interested companies: presenter, underwriter,
sponsor, satellite, and table.

"Robots and Other Smart Machines," an artificial intelligence
exhibit on display since February, is one example of the kinds of
programs the Bowl helps to support at the Computer Museum.
Coming to the museum April 1 is a new exhibit on programming
languages, "From Words to Code: How People Make Computers Work."

PBS will be airing Part I of the Computer Bowl during the week of
May 25 to 31, and Part II during the week of June 1 through 7.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930319/Public contact: The Computer Museum,
tel [phone]; Press contacts: Gail Jennes, The Computer Museum,
tel [phone], ext 341; Stacey Romanoff, The Computer Museum,
tel [phone], ext 329)


(CORRECTION)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00016)

Correction - OnLine Bookstore Offers `Electronic Lit' 03/22/93
BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- OnLine
Bookstore has asked Newsbytes to correct some errors that appeared
in the story "Online Bookstore Offers `Electronic Lit' Over
Internet" on March 19.

John Ashbery has one "r" in his name, not two. The correct title
of Bernice Chesler's book is "Bed & Breakfast in New England." "The
Internet Companion: A Beginner's Guide to Global Networking," is by
Tracy LaQuey with Jeanne C. Ryer. OnLine Bookstore is releasing a
new essay from Gregory Stock about his forthcoming book Metaman,
not the book itself. Robert Coover's Pricksongs and Descants is a
collection of stories, rather than a novel.

OnLine Bookstore also notes that a series of lengthy power outages
in Brookline, MA has delayed its posting of the Ashbery and Coover
data and voice files. The files were originally scheduled to be
posted by March 19.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930322/Public and press contact: Laura
Fillmore, OnLine Bookstore and Editorial Inc., tel [phone],
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00017)

International Telecom Update 03/22/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- With the smashing
victory of conservatives in French elections, attention has once
more turned toward privatizing phone companies worldwide.

The fever has struck Europe full-force. The Dutch government will
sell most of its PT, with the first piece to be sold next year.
Western investment bankers are hustling to win the business of
taking the PTT private so it can compete more closely with
British Telecom. The Major government will sell the rest of British
Telecom later this year. The big spending by investors, however, will
come in Germany, where the Deutsche Bundespost Telekom is moving
toward the private sector.

In Asia, privatization is also moving ahead. Bankers are looking
hard at Singapore Telecom, with the government claiming their
response will dictate its future moves toward selling state-owned
boards. The ST sale is due to take place in September, with local
citizens to be sold stock at a discount, with the provision they
hold it for some time. Even Pakistan is moving to sell a 26
percent stake in its Pakistan Telecommunications Corporation.
That's only half the stake the country was planning to sell,
thanks to a low valuation put on it by consultants Coopers and
Lybrand, and even before that, security systems will be spun-off
into a new entity, cutting the price even further. But it remains
significant as a pace-setter for the Muslim world at a time of
high anti-Western feeling.

And the risk remains high in many Third World privatization
moves. Bulgaria, which had just signed with Sprint to open a
private packet network, fired its telecommunications chief for
disloyalty after he spoke at an anti-government meeting. The
tourism minister replaces him, and there's no word on the
possible policy impact of the change. Even if policy-makers plot
a steady course, bribery can change financial equations.

Argentina's Telecom and Telefonica phone units are now being hurt
by Italy's political scandals, as charges have been made that
bribes were paid in the late 1980s. The charges come as Argentina
approaches a new round of elections.

Contracts continue to be let worldwide. Satellite Technology
Management Inc., won a $3 million contract from the International
Civil Aviation Organization for an upgrade to Ecuador's air
traffic control network. Ericsson of Sweden won a new $30 million
digital switch contract with Liaoning Province in China. And
Yazaki Electric Wire announced a joint venture with AT&T of the
US to sell its fiber cable in Japan. Luther Boggs, who heads
the company's cable unit in Norcross, Georgia, will be the
chairman of the new venture.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930322)


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

11 Million Business Database 03/22/93
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- American Business
Information Inc., best known for its mailing lists, has turned its
database into an online service called Business America Online.

The company's listings of 11 million businesses will now be fully
searchable for just 50 cents per minute, product manager, Gina
Cronican told Newsbytes. Searches will be offered based on type
of business, geographic area, company name, and phone number,
making the system a complete reverse-directory service.

Cronican said the company plans to offer gateways to other
companies offering services of interest to businesses, with
licensing arrangements to be negotiated. The company will get a
fast start toward marketing the system, since it has 300,000
customers already. The company said in a press statement those
customers have expressed enthusiasm about the service. "We're
still hammering out policies on gateways but we're looking to
people coming in to us and tapping into other services," she
added.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930322/Press Contact: Jack Betts, American
Business Information, 402-593-4593)


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

FCC Gives Go-Ahead For 1st CDMA Phone 03/22/93
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- The Code
Division Multiple Access, or CDMA, digital phone system came
closer to reality as the first phone using the system was cleared
for manufacture by the Federal Communications Commission.

Qualcomm, whose standard for the service is now being considered
by the Telecommunications Industry Association, said its CD-3000
Mobile Phone has received FCC Type Acceptance. PacTel, US West,
and Bell Atlantic have all said they will begin offering digital
services using Qualcomm's version of CDMA, which sends digital
information that can be translated into calls throughout a
cellular calling channel. A competing network endorsed by the
Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, called Time
Division Multiple Access, or TDMA, divides a calling channel into
three parts and sends separate data streams through each part.

The Type certification is a technical standard designed to assure
that there is minimal interference with other radio frequencies,
not an assurance of safety. Lawsuits charge that all hand-held
cellular phones emit radio frequencies near the ear which can
cause cancer. Companies licensed by Qualcomm to produce CDMA
phones include Alps, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Nokia, Oki, Sony,
Panasonic and AT&T.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930322/Press Contact: Qualcomm, Thomas
Crawford, 619/597-5715)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00020)

Software Piracy Abounds At DoD 03/22/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- The Office of the
Inspector General recently dropped a bombshell on Washington when
it published "Controls over Copyrighted Computer Software," the
results of a survey of 22 Department of Defense sites. Despite
the fact that the IG notified each location in advance that it
was going to be examined for possible software piracy, more than
half of the 1,000-plus PCs inspected contained undocumented and
possibly illegal software.

Leaving aside the question of just what the Inspector General's
Office expected to prove by a pre-announced investigation, these
appalling results show that the Software Publishers Association
is certainly not crying wolf when it keeps telling us that
illegal copying and use of commercial software is a major problem
for the industry. The US Department of Defense is quite
probably the world's largest single computer hardware and
software user, so a finding of major improprieties in the way it
manages computer software licenses is a very big deal.

According to the March 15 issue of Government Computer News, the
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Information Systems,
Cynthia Kendall, agrees that there is some unauthorized use of
copyrighted software, but she told a GCN reporter that The
Pentagon feels that the problem is mostly due to mistakes rather
than willful copyright law violations.

A number of the programs which appeared to be pirated copies
might just be improperly accounted -- that is, the program may
be purchased and fully licensed but the proper documentation is
missing. This could be a major factor because of the common
practice of buying site licenses rather than individual programs
for large installations.

Of course, there is no real way to tell for certain right now if
this incredibly high percentage of DoD computers apparently
running illegal software is just a fluke due to sloppy accounting
or is an actual view of how bad the problem is, but, considering
the fact that the department managers were all notified of the
time and purpose of the audit, it seems incredible that so many
apparent problems remained for the Inspector General to find.

The Army, Navy, and Air Force all had about the same percentage
of MS-DOS computers harboring undocumented software and the same
number of undocumented programs per computer. The average
computer with an apparently illegal program had two such
programs, so, based on the survey which found that one in two
computers was in probable violation of software copyright laws,
that means that there is about one illegal or potentially illegal
copy of commercial software for every PC in the Department of
Defense.

The Software Publishers Association recognizes the difficulties
faced by computer managers who must track dozens or even hundreds
of programs and licenses and publishes special guidelines which
are intended to help managers cope with the situation.

One major problem often encountered occurs when a computer is
handed down to another employee but not all of the commercial
software is deleted. In some cases, the new user never accesses
the extra programs and therefore isn't technically in violation
of most software licence agreements, but the mere presence of the
extra program on a computer makes it appear that it is being
used.

(John McCormick/19930322)


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

GSA Disclosure Demands Remain Onerous 03/22/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- With all the problems
involved in The Pentagon's years-long attempt to negotiate and
award the important Desktop IV microcomputer contract, it is
important to point out that the General Services Administration,
the federal agency which negotiates the GSA Schedule Contracts
that agencies use to standardize computer buys in the absence of
a viable Desktop IV contract, is also embroiled in a major
ongoing feud with vendors.

Since there are a number of companies anxious to sell
microcomputers and software to federal buyers, it might seem
reasonable to the average person that the sheer competition would
ensure that agencies pay the lowest prices possible. Apparently,
though, the GSA doesn't think that competition is enough and the
agency spends a great deal of time and money trying to determine
just how much everyone else pays for specific hardware and
software.

Not only does this appear to many industry observers as a massive
waste of time and money, it also causes a lot of delays in
approving contract prices and has eliminated some competition by
companies which declined to sell "on the schedule" to government
agencies specifically because they feel that the GSA wants too
much confidential sales information.

Because of the size of the government market the GSA presumably
feels that it can command and receive details of internal company
operations that no other buyer would even consider asking for.

Among the discount schedule and marketing data asked for by the
GSA multiple award microcomputer contracting department are:
pricing and discount manuals; company organization charts; actual
sales price reports; lists of customers; and copies of customer
pricing agreements.

The usual pair of procurement reform Congressmen, Senator John
Glenn (D-Ohio), chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs
Committee, and Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.), are again
looking into the possibility of holding hearings on the way the
GSA arrives at multiple award contracts, with an eye to
simplifying the process.

Government Computer News reports that the First Circuit US
Court of Appeals ruled late last year that the GSA's information
requests are "unrealistically broad and impractical." That case
was brought by Marlborough, Massachusetts-based Data Translation,
which sought to open up the GSA bidding process by eliminating
some of the GSA information requirements which some manufacturers
refuse to supply to vendors for inclusion in GSA bids.

Many vendors thought that the court ruling would cause the GSA
bidding process to open up a bit, but recent statements from the
GSA indicate that companies not disclosing all the information
requested in the GSA guidelines will probably be excluded from
consideration for multiple award contract awards.

(John McCormick/19930322/Press Contact: Senator Glenn, 202-224-
3353; Rep. Conyers, 202-225-5126 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00022)

Japan Chip Imports Hit 20.2% As Market Shrinks 03/22/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- At least for the next
quarter, until new numbers come out, the Japanese computer
industry and government negotiators will not have to worry about
very many complaints concerning opening up their microchip market
to imports. Over the weekend the Japanese released
an estimate that foreign-manufactured microchips made up 20.2
percent of the total domestic market for the last quarter of
1992.

For years the US has been pointing to the magic 20 percent
number as having been agreed as the quota the Japanese would
buy, but never actually met. Although the Japanese government has
contended since a few days after the agreement was negotiated
that the 20 percent level was only a goal, not a firm commitment,
there is certain to be rejoicing in Tokyo as the Japanese
industry-compiled semiconductor report actually exceeded the
magic number, up dramatically from what had seemed a solid
ceiling of about 16 percent.

Just last week the US imposed very weak punitive tariffs on
South Korea for "dumping" their semiconductor memory chips in
other markets. This practice means that the country's
manufacturers were selling their chips either below cost or at
substantially lower costs in other countries than then do within
South Korea, making them unfairly competitive with manufacturers
in other countries.

In the past the US has imposed massive tariffs against
Japanese-based semiconductor and other high-tech manufacturers,
tariffs which have had a major impact on availability and prices
of both expansion memory and completed personal computers here in
the US, so the announcement that Japanese imports actually met
the 20 percent import goal was very important.

Unfortunately, the total Japanese purchases of semiconductors
have dropped sharply because of a severe Japanese and significant
worldwide recession that has lowered the demand for the sort of
high-tech products which use silicon chips.

A 20 percent share of the Japanese domestic chip market would be
worth about $4 billion when the country is experiencing strong
economic growth.

(John McCormick/19930322)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00023)

Canadian Govt Funds R&D Projects 03/22/93
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- The Canadian
government and several private companies, universities, and
research groups will support research into parallel computing and
speech recognition at the Centre de recherche informatique de
Montreal (CRIM), or Montreal Informatics Research Center.

Canada's federal Ministry of Industry, Science, and Technology
will put a total of C$4.8 million into the two projects, both of
which are three-year undertakings.

One project will aim to develop technologies for recognizing
natural spoken language and continuous speech dictation in both
English and French. The government is contributing C$2.1 million
to this project, which will involve six partners, including CRIM,
private firms Alex Informatique, Tektrend, and CAE Electronics,
the Centre de recherche industriel de Quebec (CRIQ) and IREQ, the
research arm of Hydro-Quebec. The total budget for this project
is about C$8 million, officials said.

Yves Normandin, project leader for the speech recognition work,
said the aim is not to produce complete systems but to develop
technologies which the project partners will then be able to
commercialize afterward. However, he said, the researchers will
create two prototype systems to test their work.

The second project is aimed at developing parallel-processing
technology. The federal government will contribute C$2.7 million
of a total budget of about C$9 million. Other partners are Alex
Informatique, Digital Equipment of Canada, IBM Canada, and three
Montreal universities: Concordia, McGill, and University of
Montreal.

The project will seek to adapt programming languages such as C
and C++, which are not now well suited to parallel processing, so
that they can be used on parallel systems, explained Dr. Jacob
Slonim, head of research in IBM Canada's Centre for Advanced
Studies in Toronto.

Most of the work IBM has done with parallel processing up to now
has focused on scientific languages such as FORTRAN, Slonim said.
This project will concentrate on parallel-processing extensions
to languages more suited to business applications.

Julian Lebensold, project leader at CRIM for the parallel
computing project, said the researchers will develop technology
that will be portable across various hardware architectures. He
described the work as "pre-competitive research" which
participating companies will be able to build on to create
commercial products later.

It is early to say what commercial products might result from the
work, Slonim said, though "we hope, obviously" that the project
will produce saleable technology eventually.

(Grant Buckler/19930322/Press Contact: CRIM, 514-398-1234; IBM
Canada, 416-474-3900)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00024)

IBM Launches New Pen-Based ThinkPad Model 03/22/93
SOMERS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- The IBM Personal
Computer Co., has replaced its pen-based ThinkPad Model 700T with
an updated model offering a choice of operating systems, support
for the Personal Computer Memory Card Interface Association
(PCMCIA) standard, and the ability to attach an external color
VGA monitor.

With the announcement of the ThinkPad Model 710T, IBM has added
to its own product line the PenDOS operating system, to which it
acquired rights from California-based Communication Intelligence
last September. IBM began licensing PenDOS to other
hardware makers in January. The company will also continue
offering PenPoint, a pen-based operating system from Go Corp.

The ThinkPad Model 710T is to be available in April in two
versions. One version, the ThinkPad File, comes with both PenDOS
and PenPoint and with both Type II and Type III PCMCIA slots (or
three Type II slots). The other has one Type II PCMCIA slot and a
60-megabyte hard disk and can be preloaded with one of the
operating systems or the other.

The new machine will replace the Model 700T, a company
spokeswoman said.

The ThinkPad File model will cost $2,999, while the hard-drive
version will sell for $3,599 with PenDOS or $3,699 with PenPoint.

(Grant Buckler/19930321/Press Contact: Martha Terdik, IBM Canada,
416-474-3900; Public Contact: IBM, 800-465-7999)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00025)

Canadian Product Launch Update 03/22/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- This regular
feature, appearing every Monday or Tuesday, provides further
details for the Canadian market on announcements by international
companies that Newsbytes has already covered. This week: IBM's
new ThinkPad and a Canadian representative for US-based
Logicon, Inc.

IBM Canada Ltd. announced the new pen-based ThinkPad 710T
computer at the same time as its U.S. parent company (Newsbytes,
March 22). In Canada, the ThinkPad File model will cost C$3,939,
while the hard-drive version will sell for C$4,747 with PenDOS or
C$4,848 with PenPoint.

California-based Logicon, Inc. announced that Megalith
Technologies Inc. of Ottawa will market its Logicon Message
Dissemination System (LMDS) in Canada. The LMDS identifies and
routes incoming information from one or more wire-service feeds
or other data sources based on predefined user profiles. Megalith
will sell it along with its own MegaText text-retrieval software.

(Grant Buckler/19930321/Press Contact: Martha Terdik, IBM Canada
Ltd., 416-474-3900; Megalith Technologies, 613-225-2300)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00026)

NCR Chairman Williamson Leaving 03/22/93
DAYTON, OHIO, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 21 (NB) -- Gilbert P. Williamson,
who took over the helm at NCR when AT&T acquired the
computer firm in the fall of 1991, has announced his retirement.
In a statement issued by AT&T, the 55-year-old Williamson said he
planned to "give priority to my own personal interests."

Williamson will step down May 1, and will be succeeded by Jerre
L. Stead, currently president of AT&T's Global Business
Communications Systems (GBCS). Stead will assume the title of
group executive-NCR and take Williamson's place on AT&T's
management executive committee and the company's operations
committee.

The change of from chairman to group executive brings the NCR
boss's title in line with those of the heads of AT&T's three
other main business units, said spokeswoman Connie Olasz. It does
not signal any change in NCR's position within the organization
or a difference between Stead's new job description and
Williamson's, she said.

Stead, in turn, will be succeeded by Patricia F. Russo, currently
vice president of national sales and service for the GBCS unit.

Williamson, who will not stand for re-election to the AT&T board
of directors at the company's annual meeting next month, will
begin working with Stead immediately to ensure an efficient
hand-off of responsibilities, AT&T Chairman Robert Allen said in
a press release.

Williamson joined the Dayton, Ohio-based NCR in 1962 as a systems
engineer. In 1986 he was named executive vice-president and a
member of NCR's executive office with primary responsibility for
the company's U.S. and international marketing units. He was
elected president and a member of the NCR board in January 1988.

After the AT&T acquisition he took over the chairman's job from
Charles Exley, who had fought AT&T's takeover attempt in a
protracted battle.

Stead, 50, was chairman, president and chief executive officer of
Square D Company in Palatine, Ill., before joining AT&T in
September, 1991.

Russo, 39, spent eight years with IBM in various sales and
marketing management positions before joining AT&T in 1981.

(Grant Buckler/19930322/Press Contact: Walter Murphy, AT&T,
908-221-6900; Jane Moulton, AT&T, 908-658-6680; Connie Olasz,
NCR, 513-445-1139)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00027)

Everex Cuts More Staff; Restructures 03/22/93
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- No one can doubt
that Everex Systems is on the ropes and in danger of losing its fight
for survival. Two months after filing for bankruptcty Chapter 11
protection, the company has cut another 150 staff and restructured
its product line.

Reports in both UPI and the San Francisco Chronicle suggest
extensive restructuring will include discontinuing most of its
computer-peripherals products such as monitors and modems.
Other changes include outsourcing some production and the
narrowing of its distribution. The company does, however, plan to
improve its technical support and customer service.

The company is also reported to be getting out of the cut-throat
low-end personal computer hardware market, in favor of
high-end systems and servers that carry a higher profit margin.

The company is a major casualty of the fierce PC-hardware price war
between the major industry players: Compaq Computer, Dell Computer,
and even IBM. Lower prices have cut huge slices out of profit margins
for many companies. Companies such as Everex, which depend on PC
sales for most of their income, have been especially hard hit.

Newsbytes reported that Everex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection in January. At the time the company had halved its
workforce from the 1,850 employees it had in June. As reported
by Newsbytes in December, estimated losses for Everex for the
fiscal year ended August 2, 1992, were between $80 and $120
million on sales of $503 million.

At the time Mike Walen, spokesman for Everex, told Newsbytes that
there were 875 employees left with the company. Concerning future
layoffs, Walen said: "There is no number planned. If the question is
'Do we think that the business will continue to be downsized?' It is
first of all a decision to be made by the court now. But it is likely."

The new cuts, if substantiated, would leave the company with
around 500 employees.

According to UPI, Jack Kenney, chief executive officer for Everex,
said, "These actions are a result of several months work to
determine the best products and methods of distribution for Everex.
The market has told us what they expect from Everex and we have
designed a plan to meet their needs. The combination of our actions
will deliver a focused package of products and services to our
customers."

No-one was available from Everex for comment by Newsbytes
dead-line.

(Ian Stokell/19930322)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00028)

3 New Apple Servers, New Appleshare, AppleSearch 03/22/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- Recognizing
the importance of networking environments in today's corporate
computing architectures, Apple Computer has introduced three
new Apple Workgroup Servers. The company has also announced
enhanced versions of AppleShare file and print services with
enhanced performance, and AppleSearch, a new information access
and retrieval service for Macintosh workgroups.

The Apple Workgroup Server 60, 80, and 95 are due to be unveiled
at a worldwide launch at the CeBIT Computer Faire, Hannover,
Germany on March 25. They are designed for workgroups ranging
from five to hundreds, and can be configured for optimal file and
print performance or high performance relational database use.

In announcing the products, Apple's Enterprise Systems Division's
Vice President and General Manager Morris Taradalsky, said: "The
new Workgroup Server models are designed to provide extremely
attractive price/performance and significantly better return on
investment for a range of enterprises, from K-12 school districts
all the way through major industrial corporations."

The Apple Workgroup Server 60 uses a Motorola 20 megahertx (MHz)
68040 microprocessor and comes with 8 megabytes (MB) of RAM,
which is expandable to 68MB. It also includes a built-in Apple
SuperDrive, built-in Ethernet networking, and a choice of 230MB
or 500MB hard drives. Pricing with 8MB of RAM and 230MB hard
drive is $3,079.

The Apple Workgroup Server 80 includes a 33MHz 68040 and comes
with 8MB of RAM as standard, expandable to 136MB, interleaved. It
also has a built-in Apple SuperDrive and built-in Ethernet. The hard
drive options are 500MB or 1000MB. Pricing with 8MB of RAM and
500MB hard drive is $6,399.

The high-end Apple Workgroup Server 95 includes a 33MHz 68040
and 16MB of parity RAM, expandable to 256MB. It also includes
a built-in Apple SuperDrive and built-in Ethernet. The choice of
hard drives are 230MB, 500MB, or 1000MB. Pricing for the 95 with
16MB of RAM, 230MB hard drive, and 128 kilobyte second-level
memory cache, is $7,589.

The company has also unveiled Version 4.0 of both AppleShare
and AppleShare Pro, designed for scalable, high-performance file
and print services for Apple Macintosh-mainly workgroups.

A new product, AppleTalk Connection for DOS and Windows, which
is based on PhoneNET PC from Farallon Computing, has also been
introduced. The software allows cross platform file and print
services for mixed Macintosh and PC workgroups.

AppleTalk Connection for DOS and Windows allows PC users to
access files stored on Workgroup Servers, along with other
AppleShare servers, by providing an AppleTalk network
connection for Windows and DOS computers. This allows them to
access file servers and printers on the network. The product
supports Ethernet, LocalTalk and Token Ring networks.

The company has also introduced AppleSearch, designed to allow
users "easy" access to large libraries of documents on file
servers without having to learn "complicated search commands."
According to Apple, the product offers features found on high-end
bibliographic information retrieval software. The technology
uses a relevance ranking algorithm to, according to Apple, "ensure
the information retrieved is of most value for the user."

Said Taradalsky, "AppleSearch is designed to deliver both easy
access to unstructured information and a way to present that
information that is personalized for individuals. The vast majority
of information in any organization is not in structured databases
but rather in memos, letters, reports and faxes stored on file
servers. Prior to AppleSearch, users have had to choose between
relatively unsophisticated single-user search tools and expensive,
complex dedicated search and retrieval systems to find information."

AppleSearch is scheduled to ship in the third quarter of 1993, with
pricing to be announced at that time.

(Ian Stokell/19930322)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00029)

Micrografx Cuts Jobs, Realigns Operations 03/22/93
RICHARDSON, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- Micrografx
announced Friday that it is cutting 20 percent of its workforce and
realigning its worldwide operations in response to slow sales.
The company also said it has uncovered mismanagement of corporate
funds in its Japanese subsidiary that could result in a loss of
$500,000.

As a result of the staff cuts 65 employees will lose their jobs, and
company chairman, Paul Grayson, said Micrografx will have to adapt to
an industry demanding high-quality products at lower prices. "By
reinventing ourselves, Micrografx will renew its focus on consumer,
business and professional customers." Grayson said the company will
eliminate activities which do not add value for the customer. The
company said it is setting a target of $8-$10 million annually in
cost reductions.

In addition to the staff reductions, Micrografx Chief Financial
Officer and Treasurer David R. Henkel, also a board member and
executive vice president, has resigned his position. Co-founder and
former CFO Joseph Kupke will assume the CFO position while the
company seeks a permanent replacement for Henkel.

Micrografx says the manager of its Japanese subsidiary Micrografx
K.K. has "been separated," and an investigation is ongoing into the
loss. Provisions for it and the employee severance costs will be
taken in the fourth quarter. Hancock Institutional analyst Ben Rose
reportedly cut his rating on Micrografx to sell from buy, and cut
his 1993 earnings estimates for the company to a loss of $0.01 per
share from a profit of $0.32. Alex Brown and Sons downgraded its
Micrografx rating to neutral from buy, according to the British news
service Reuters. The company said it expects to report a loss for
the fourth quarter and the fiscal year, which ends March 31, 1993,
as a result of the slow sales.

Last year Micrografx reported record revenues and net income for
the fiscal year, with sales up 60 percent to $47.3 million, and net
income rising 24 percent to $5.1 million, or $0.65 per share.

In November 1992 the company experienced a management shakeup when
President and Chief Operating Officer George D. Grayson resigned as
an officer and director. He was replaced by brother J. Paul Grayson.
The company said it was seeking a permanent successor.

Micrografx products include ABC Flowcharter, Graphics Works, Picture
Publisher, Designer, Charisma, OrgChart, PhotoMagic, Windows Draw,
and Mirrors.

(Jim Mallory/19930322/Press contact: Pete McLaughlin, Micrografx,
214-994-6192)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00030)

 ****Intel Ships Pentium, Announces Details Today 03/22/93
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAR 22 (NB) -- Intel
today announced it has begun shipping the long-awaited next
generation "brain" for the IBM and compatible personal computer
(PC), the Pentium. The company says PCs equipped with the
Pentium will be available in May and users can expect the
Pentium to perform five times faster than the currently
available i486 central processing unit (CPU)

The Pentium, estimated to be over 300 times faster the 8088 CPU
that was the basis of the first IBM PC, is a complex
instruction set computing (CISC) architecture chip. Over 3.1
million transistors make up the new CPU, which is nearly three
times more transistors than the i486. Intel is boasting the
Pentium is 100 percent compatible with the $50 billion worth of
software available for PCs worldwide and will give users the
most bang for their computing buck.

Pricing of the Pentium has not been announced, but the new chip
has been clocked at 112 million instructions per second (MIPS)
and is available in 60 and 66 megahertz clock speeds. Intel
says the Pentium is manufactured using 0.8 micron, three-metal
layer bicomplementary metal-oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS)
process technology and features superscalar technology.

The Pentium can process two instructions simultaneously and
two eight kilobyte on-chip caches offer increased processing
speed. The chip also offers a floating point unit that can
be five times faster than the floating point unit in its
predecessor, the i486, at the same clock speed.

Intel says the Pentium has been designed to improve software
application performance and one of the design features toward
that goal is called "branch prediction." Branch prediction is
intelligence built in the Pentium to "remember" prior
instruction pathways and attempt to anticipate the correct
pathway for the next instruction based on the prior
instructions.

Compaq and Hewlett-Packard have already announced Pentium-based
PCs for May delivery. Hewlett-Packard said its network server
machines offered dramatic performance increases when equipped
with the Pentium 60 megahertz chip. Compaq announced server
models incorporating the Pentium and a new Triflex Architecture
designed specifically for the Pentium.

Intel has said the many more millions of transistors in the
Pentium will generate more heat and a new system board design
is required of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to
compensate. However, Compaq says it has developed the Triflex
architecture to exploit the power of the Pentium on single PCs
and on multiple Pentium processor-based servers.

The Pentium will make full-motion video, voice recognition, and
imaging on PCs come into reality, according to Intel. The
company is predicting the Pentium will become the processor of
choice for the mid-1990s -- a prediction based on Intel's
current domination of over 70 percent of the estimated 100
million personal computers.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930322/Press Contact: Elizabeth Kemper,
Intel, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Larry Sennett,
Hewlett-Packard, 408-720-3061; John Sweney, Compaq Computer
Corporation, tel [phone])