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/nb930409

Text File | 1993-04-09 | 64KB | 1,483 lines

(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00001)

Guide To Electronic Publishing 04/09/93
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- The Digital
Publishing Association has released version 2 of Ron Albright's
"Publishing in the 21st Century: An Electronic Guide for Authors,
Publishers, and Entrepreneurs." Albright is founder and president
of the DPA, which recently changed its name from the Disktop
Publishers' Association.

Using the advanced HyperWriter hypertext and multimedia
production software from Fairfield, Conn.-based Ntergaid Inc.,
this disk book provides prospective self-publishers or commercial
electronic publishers with answers to the following questions:

"Why books don't get published? Hint: It often has little to do
with their readability or worth."

"Why one expert says: 'The entire book publishing industry will
cease to exist' in the 21st Century? We'll also explain why he is
right."

"How you can 'publish' your material without ever learning how to
use complicated desktop publishing software or buying an
expensive laser printer. If you are using a computer and a word
processor to write, you are producing a product that can be sold
to other computer users."

"How you can distribute readable works without ever printing or
binding a single page of type. Electronic publishing saves the
trees as well as your time."

"What alternatives exist for getting your work sold? Mail order?
Electronic distribution? The 'BBS Pipeline?' Commercial networks
(such as GEnie?), fax?"

The $10 "book" is, true to the Association's goals to move
publishing into the 21st Century, published on high density
floppy diskette.

(John McCormick/19930408/Press and Public Contact: Ron Albright,
Digital Publishing Association, Voice: 205-853-8269, Fax: 205-
853-8478, BBS: 205-854-1660)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00002)

Government Technology Conference 04/09/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- The Washington-based
Cato Institute is sponsoring the fourth annual Regulation
Conference on federal technology policy on April 22 and 23 at the
Carlton Hotel in Washington. This year's conference will focus on
the question, "Can the federal government improve American
economic performance and international competitiveness by
supporting commercial research and development in critical
technologies?"

Panel discussions will cover the following six major topics:

"Government's Role in Technology" will feature Murray L.
Weidenbaum, Washington University; Charles L. Schultz, Brookings
Institute; and David C. Mowery, The University of California at
Berkeley.

"The Cost and Availability of Capital" will include Lawrence A.
Kudlow, Bear Stearns & Co.; Robert Glauber, Kennedy School of
Government; Michael T. Jacobs, Kurt Salmon Associates; and David
Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard.

James Bovard from Cato Institute, F.M. Scherer from the Kennedy
School, and J. David Richardson from Syracuse University will
speak on "Trade Policy and High-Tech Industry."

Other speakers from MIT, the Hudson Institute, The University
of California at Davis, the American Enterprise Institute, and
other well-known organizations will speak on "Biotechnology and
Pharmaceuticals," "Emerging Telecommunications Technology," and
"Technology Policy in Japan and Europe."

Conference registration is $250 until April 15 and $300
thereafter for corporate attendants.

(John McCormick/19930408/Press Contact and conference passes:
Julie Riggs, Conference Director, Cato Institute, 202-546-0200 or
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00003)

LaserAccess NT COLD Optical Storage 04/09/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- LaserAccess has
recently announced the LA2000 computer output to laser disc
(COLD) which provides a high-performance Windows NT-compatible
optical storage system capable of maintaining more than one
billion pages of data with the jukebox option.

Twelve-inch write-once or WORM laser disc technology is used to
provide online access to vast quantities of mainframe-based data
to PCs via a Windows NT Operating System local area network
interface that provides a full 32-bit data path.

The company says that the LA2000's NT interface capabilities will
provide vital backup access which will allow a user to
access the gigabytes of data stored on the redundant disk arrays
even if the mainframe system is down. LaserAccess says that this
lack of alternative emergency access to their data is the primary
reason that many companies have continued to store critical
records in microfiche despite the proven reliability of WORM
storage itself.

The basic LA2001 system provides 10.2 gigabytes of online data,
while the largest, seven-drive system stores 30 gigabytes or 24
million pages of data online and offers fast access to a full
terabyte (1,000 gigabytes) or one billion pages of information
using the jukebox.

WORM or write-once read-many discs use a high-powered laser to
physically change the surface of the recording media on a disc,
providing archival (very permanent and secure) data storage. The
data is read off of the discs using a very weak laser beam.

(John McCormick/19930408/Press Contact: Warren Wilkins,
LaserAccess, 206-485-1555 or Tim Dubes, Lages & Associates, 714-
453-8080)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00004)

Mathematica 2.2 Shipping 04/09/93
CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Mathematica,
Wolfram Research's powerful high-end mathematics tool, has just
undergone a major modification process which has resulted in more
than 2,000 enhancements and new features added to the
latest version, 2.2 which was recently released. Mathematica runs
on MS-DOS, Macintosh, Unix, and Windows platforms, providing
numerical, symbolic (equation solving), and graphical
computation.

Mathematica's powerful symbolic analysis capabilities have been
improved with more sophisticated singularities in definite
integrals, enhanced solutions to differential equations, and
symbolic solutions to both nonlinear ordinary differential
equations and first-order partial differentials.

A new graphics package included in version 2.2 offers many
enhancements to earlier features.

Using this massive program, a mathematician, scientist, or
engineer can perform sophisticated data analysis on an
inexpensive PC or workstation, often saving the time needed to
access a mainframe or supercomputer, or pre-processing problems
and preparing them for faster execution on a supercomputer.

Mathematica 2.2 for Macintosh, Windows, and Sun Micro systems are
already available while Unix versions for Silicon Graphics, HP,
MIPS, Next, and DEC will ship before July.

(John McCormick/19930408/Press Contact: Jane Rich, Wolfram
Research, 217-398-0700 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00005)

Low Price On History Of The World CD-ROM 04/09/93
PARSIPPANY, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Bureau
Development has drastically lowered the price on "History of the
World," a multimedia CD-ROM for MS-DOS and Macintosh computers.
Previously the disc has only been affordable to schools and
libraries because of its high $795 retail price, but until
May 15, 1993 the Bureau is reducing the price of the same disc
to only $79.95.

History of the World contains a multicultural overview of all
parts of the earth throughout history using hundreds of full-text
works and the two best-selling textbooks from HarperColins:
"World Civilization - The Global Experience" by Peter N. Stearns
et al, and "Civilization - Past and Present" by T. Walker
Wallbank et al.

In addition to fully searchable plain text, "History" carries
audio files of 25 important speeches and 567 pictures,
illustrations, and tables.

Cut-and-paste tools permit students and researchers to export
articles of interest.

(John McCormick/19930408/Press Contact: Vanessa Trezza, Warner,
Bicking, Morris & Partners for The Bureau, 212-759-7900 or fax
212-759-8087; Public Contact: Bureau Development, 201-808-2700 or
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00006)

Monarch Notes On Floppy Diskettes 04/09/93
PARSIPPANY, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Monarch Notes,
that vital crib information known to millions of students as the
last-second grade saver when a book report is due on an unread
novel, were previously only available in print or on an
expensive-to-access CD-ROM disc, but now Bureau Development has
published the more than 200 guides on a five-volume set of floppy
diskettes.

The Bureau, a leading CD-ROM publisher and mail-order retailer,
already publishes the entire Monarch Notes set on its "Monarch
Notes" CD-ROM and at a reasonable cost, but a CD-ROM
requires further hardware investment that makes the titles less
accessible to many students, especially those who use portable or
laptop computers.

Each of the four basic sets (The Literary Tradition,
19th Century Literature, and 20th Century Literature A-L, and M-Z)
carries a list price of $49.95, while the fifth volume,
Shakespeare, lists for $59.95.

All volumes come on 3.5-inch high-density floppy diskettes and
must be copied to a hard drive before they can be accessed.

(John McCormick/19930408/Press Contact: Vanessa Trezza, Warner,
Bicking, Morris & Partners for The Bureau, 212-759-7900 or fax
212-759-8087; Public Contact: Bureau Development, 201-808-2700 or
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00007)

$200 Uninterruptible Power Supply 04/09/93
NECEDAH, WISCONSIN, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Best Power
Technology has added an inexpensive new small systems 300 VA
Patriot Standby Power System. Many sophisticated power protection
systems are available, but at only $199 list this is a very
sophisticated standby power system which transfers systems to
inverter power in 4 milliseconds or less.

Best reports that the Patriot 300 VA will operate an IBM PS/2
Model 30 with VGA monitor for a full 22 minutes. The company says
that its premium battery will last from three to five years
without any maintenance and that comparable products must have
their batteries replaced every two years or less.

The regulated inverter power output will be less likely to damage
a PC's power supply than will systems with unregulated square-
wave output which can cause overheating and reduced
dependability.

Besides providing a backup power supply during power outages,
this $200 Patriot system also protects against lighting and surge
damage, gives overvoltage protection, and offers full-time
electrical noise filtering. Good quality power supply filters
which provide this level of protection without the inverter
feature cost from $100 to nearly as much as the Patriot 300VA
which includes the battery backup.

This is a standby power supply rather than one of the company's
more sophisticated (and more expensive) uninterruptible power
supplies, so it may not be suitable for critical applications such
as powering an indispensable local area network server in a
business. The unit is designed for small companies and
especially for home offices.

One interesting application would be to use the Patriot 300VA to
power a bulletin board system which would operate for an extended
period on the small backup supply because a BBS usually doesn't
have a monitor powered up at all times and a computer's monitor
normally draws far more than half the total system power.

(John McCormick/19930408/Press Contact: Scott Knickelbine, Best
Power Technology, 608-565-7200 or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00008)

50-Gigabyte Robotic Tape Storage System 04/09/93
BOULDER, COLORADO, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Exabyte Corporation
continues to expand its robotic tape library subsystems offerings
with the announcement that it is now shipping a 50-gigabyte (GB)
random access 8mm tape library subsystem that automates tape storage
management operations for workstations, PC networks, and midrange
computer systems.

Called the EXB-10e (the "e" is for enhanced, says the company), the
new system is a second generation version of the company's EXB-10
series. Software from third party developers automates operations
such as unattended backup and restore, scheduled archiving, file
migration, and periodic drive cleaning.

Robotic tape systems automatically locate and mount the appropriate
storage tape when files on that particular tape are required, or to
perform archiving, backup, and restoration tasks.

The EXB-10e is a desktop system, with the four main modules enclosed
in a cabinet measuring 15.7 inches high, 8.5 inches wide, and 19.1
inches deep. The modules include a full-height Exabyte 8mm tape
drive; 10 eight-millimeter data cartridges which snap into a
removable data cartridge magazine; a robotics arm mechanism which
moves the cartridges back and forth from the magazine to the tape
drive, and a liquid crystal display (LCD) interface and control
panel. When configured with an EXB-8500 8mm cartridge tape subsystem
the new unit provides random access to 50 GB of data. The data
storage capacity can be doubled by substituting the company's
EXB-8500c tape drive that compresses the data.

Exabyte says the robotics mechanism has been redesigned to provide
smoother and more precise movements of the robotics arm. The system
takes about 16 seconds to select and mount a tape cartridge. The
unit also has a key lock in the door panel to provide physical
security for the tapes.

Prices for the EXB-10e systems start at $15,000, and it's on
display at Exabyte's booth at the AIIM show in Chicago this week.

(Jim Mallory/19930408/Press contact: Susan Merriman, Exabyte
Corporation, 303-447-7434; Reader contact: Exabyte Corporation,
303-442-4269 or 800-392-2983)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00009)

Low Cost PC-To-TV Adapter 04/09/93
BEAVERTON, OREGON, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Consumer Technology
Northwest Inc., has announced Presenter Plus 2, a PC-to-TV adapter
that the company says makes displaying computer-generated
presentations more affordable, portable, and convenient.

The Presenter Plus 2 is the latest addition to the company's
Presenter series of pocket-sized adapters that are compatible with a
variety of multimedia software programs allowing users to present
computer generated data and video images on a standard television
set. The adapters connect the TV set's video input port to the
computer's external VGA port. The adapters also provide a connector
for a standard VCR so the presentation can be recorded in a video
cassette.

Consumer Technology VP and co-founder Mark Lieberman says the
adapters are both efficient and cost-effective. "The big advantage
to PC-to-TV adapters is that you don't have to carry around
specialized and cumbersome overhead projectors or high-resolution
equipment for your presentation. Standard or large-screen TVs are
much less expensive and there's one in virtually every conference
room or class room."

The company says the Presenter 2, measuring 1.06 by 3.56 by 5.69
inches and weighing just under 10 pounds, is compatible with most
common VGA cards, and provides an image enhancement feature for easy
adjustment of the screen image to fit the television format.
Ultravision fonts are supported.

When you buy the Presenter 2, you get the interface, a VGA extension
cable, power supply, video cable, and control and font software. The
system is compatible with both DOS and Windows-based applications,
NTSC, S-Video and VGA outputs, and can display up to 32,768 colors
simultaneously.

(Jim Mallory/19930408/Press contact: Mark Lieberman, Consumer
Technology, 503-643-1662; Reader contact: Consumer Technology,
503-643-1662 or 800-356-3983)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00010)

A Computer That Decorates Cakes 04/09/93
OLATHE, KANSAS, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Cake decoration has
always required a steady hand, good handwriting, and an eye for art.
But no longer. The Sweet Art Division of Olathe, Kansas-based
Kauffman Machine Shop is marketing a computerized cake decorator that
can transfer a digitized photo image to the cake.

The Sweet Art Series 1000 package consists of a camera to capture
the image, a personal computer, a robotic arm equipped with spray
nozzles called air brushes, and a stand for the cake that raises and
lowers itself on command from the computer to control the width of
each line. Colors are produced by mixing the primary colors (red,
blue, yellow) plus black to achieve the desired shade for each
portion of the image. Kauffman spokesperson Sid Wolfe told Newsbytes
the images and writing are formed by spraying food coloring onto an
already iced cake. Wolfe says just a thimble of food coloring will
do as many as 20 cakes.

Wolfe says the device will handle anything from 2-1/2 inch cookies
or cupcakes to a full-sized sheet cake and can reproduce artwork,
logos, color and black-and-white photos or handwriting, but they are
still working out a few problems reproducing high-contrast images.
The custom software has some capability to reduce contrast, and
users with their own PCs could edit contrasty images using their own
software or create their own custom image. "If you have a good
smooth icing, it comes out exactly like a photograph," says Wolfe.

The Series 1000 utilizes a Commodore Model 108-4S equipped with a
mouse, a Samsung touch-screen monitor to control the software, and a
Panasonic camera to capture the images. The system ships with 1200
pre-programmed images including rabbits, a haunted house, a
cornucopia, a ginger bread house, several holiday, airplanes and
helicopters, and a train, and can store up to 2,000 images.

Kauffman Machine Shop got involved because they were manufacturing
some of the parts for the system, then later acquired the patent.
Wolfe says the Series 1000 is popular with small bakeries. Buyers
who shell out the $19,750 (plus freight) get several days of
on-site instruction by a Kauffman representative.

(Jim Mallory/19930408/Press and Reader contact: Sid Wolfe, Kauffman
Machine Shop, 800-541-0252 or 913-764-3496)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00011)

Visual Workflo Software For Windows 04/09/93
CHICAGO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Filenet, known
for its pioneering in workflo technology, says it has developed
an object-oriented version of its Workflo software called
Visual Workflo which it expects to release in the fourth
quarter of this year. It facilitate the processing and management
of paper documents by moving the document from one person to
another via a computer network.

Filenet representatives said Workflo can be as simple as
electronic mail or as complex as the processing done on a
mortgage application in a financial institution. A script is
written to direct the image of the document as it enters the
system, usually through scanning with an optical scanner,
and the document is directed through the necessary channels by
the software. The product is being demonstrated at the
Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) show
this week in Chicago, Illinois.

Visual Workflo's scripts are based on objects called
Workperformers, which can be re-arranged by a project manager
if need be, instead of requiring the rewriting of a script.
Each step of the process can be automated, including execution
of PC or server applications. Applications include those
from Visual Basic, Word for Windows, Excel, database queries,
electronic mail, or "C" language programs.

The object-orientation brings with it the advantages of
class libraries, encapsulation, messaging, abstraction, and
inheritance. The software itself is Unix-based geared toward
a client/server network environment and works with the major
personal computer (PC) network software products,
including Novell, Filenet said.

The workflow applications can also incorporate dynamic
routing, automatic work allocation, prioritization of work,
system administration, and work-in-process management
reporting. Users of previous versions of Workflo can also bring
their pre-existing scripts into the new Windows Workflo product
as well, Filenet said. Pricing for the Visual Workflo product
won't be announced until this summer, Filenet representatives
said.

Workflo operates with the Unix servers such as the IBM RS6000,
Olivetti, and Unisys workstation computers. Filenet also just
announced an agreement with Hewlett-Packard (HP) to port the
Workflo software products to HP's 3000 and 9000 business
systems and servers.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930408/Press Contact: Margaret Burger, Mesa
Communications for Filenet, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00012)

Pocket Portable Ethernet Adapters 04/09/93
FELTHAM, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- PPCP, a UK-based
portable connectivity specialist, has unveiled a family of
credit card-sized Ethernet adapters which conform to the
PCMCIA 2.0 standard.

The PCMCIA standard means that PCs equipped with a suitable "credit
card" sized slot can take the adapters. The idea behind PCMCIA
is to allow all manner of peripherals to "dock" with a portable
PC with the minimum of fuss and using a common interface standard.

The Socket EA and EA-Plus cards are some of the smallest on the
market, Newsbytes notes. In use, they emulate the popular NE2000
network interface card, which is supported by Novell Netware,
Microsoft LAN Manager, Microsoft Windows for Workgroups and Artisoft
Lantastic, as well as myriad other networking technologies.

According to PPCP, the new Ethernet cards support multiple device
drivers and multiple hosts, thanks to the inclusion of ODI and NDIS
network drivers. The cards can be linked up to 10BaseT (unshielded
twisted pair) Ethernet, while the EA-Plus can also link to 10Base 2
coaxial Ethernet networks.

Announcing the new cards, John Nolan, PPCP's managing director, said
they have been designed to work with a wide variety of PCMCIA-
compatible portable PCs. "The work done in allowing NE2000 and
network device driver compatibility will make life easier for
users," he said.

According to Nolan, the cards are another step along the road of
PCMCIA, which he claims is fast becoming a universal standard. "For
the user, this means fast, trouble-free connectivity for his or her
notebook PC into the office LAN," he said, adding that, as demand for
PCMCIA network cards grows, he expects that the range of cards
will be in demand.

(Steve Gold/19930409/Press & Public Contact: PPCP - Tel: [phone];
Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00013)

Performance Technology To Open In Europe 04/09/93
BRACKNELL, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Performance
Technology, the US networking company, has opened an office in
Bracknell. The company is headed up by Tony Bassett and Dave Ball,
respectively, director of European operations and European marketing
director.

Both men are networking industry veterans, having recently left
Artisoft when the company closed its UK office to consolidate its
operations to the Netherlands. According to Ball, Artisoft nearly
acquired Performance Technology last year, hence their close
relationship with the company in the US.

"We were disappointed when Artisoft didn't buy the company, so
it was a natural choice for us when Artisoft went to Holland.
I didn't fancy learning Dutch or leaving England, so Tony and
I set up Performance in the UK," he told Newsbytes.

Ball added that Performance Technology's products are being
distributed on this side of the Atlantic by CMS Enhancements, the
distributor. "They've been handling the products for the past few
years, so we see no reason to change that arrangement," he said,
adding that he plans to take on extra staff, once he has had a chance
to increase the company's presence in the UK marketplace.

"It's still early days. We have some interesting plans for the UK, but
we're initially aiming to support CMS as far as our resellers and end
users are concerned," he said.

Performance's mainstay product is Powerlan, a networking software
package which retails for UKP 69 through CMS. Ball told Newsbytes that
he expects the best seller to be the unlimited licence version which
sells for UKP 595.

"For that, users get a free copy of Lotus cc:Mail, which is a good
bargain in itself. Some of our existing customers opt to buy cc:Mail
for that price and effectively get free networking system software,"
he said.

Ball added that Powerlan has a significant advantage over Artisoft's
Lantastic, which, up until a few months ago, he was promoting for the
company.

"Artisoft has a vested interest in promoting its hardware. We don't.
We sell the software, so customers and resellers have the choice of
almost any networking hardware they want. We think that's a major
advantage," he said.

(Steve Gold/19930409/Press & Public Contact: Performance Technology -
Tel: [phone]; fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00014)

Informix Establishes European Software Center 04/09/93
ASHFORD, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Informix has signed
an agreement with the Industrial Development Authority of
Ireland (IDA), a division of the Irish Government, to open a
European software center in Dublin.

According to the open distributed data management company, the new
center will be responsible for the development of European versions of
Informix's software, as well as the production and distribution of
packages.

The opening of the new office follows closely on the heels of the
company's 1992 results, which showed a 71 percent hike in European
sales -- to more than UKP 100 million -- pushing Europe to account for
42 percent of the company's business.

Announcing the agreement, Ken Coulter, the company's senior vice
president for Europe, said that the center will be operational by
August of this year.

"This new center reinforces our continuing on-the-ground commitment to
our customers in the rapidly growing European market, a commitment
that already encompasses 15 offices in 12 countries and an extensive
distribution and reseller network," he said.

Kieran McGowan, the CEO of the IDA, was equally enthusiastic about the
agreement. He said that the office will be an excellent boost for the
country, which Newsbytes notes is fast becoming a "silicon center" for
Europe owing to the Irish Government's generous tax breaks for new
companies and office set-ups.

"Informix is yet another world class name to recognize that Ireland,
and the Dublin area in particular, with its unrivalled community of
graduate software engineers, is a natural investment choice for high
added value industries," he said.

(Steve Gold/19930409/Press & Public Contact: Informix Software - Tel:
0784-240444)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LON)(00015)

Epson Unveils Mac Printers 04/09/93
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, HERTS, ENGLAND, 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Epson UK has
announced a family of dot matrix printers for the Apple Macintosh
computers. They are equipped with an internal Localtalk interface.

Localtalk is the name given by Apple to its proprietary networking
technology. The Localtalk network technology is supported by a
growing number of PC network companies, including Artisoft and
Novell, although PC peripherals rarely support the protocol,
Newsbytes notes.

The Mac-specific printers will be distributed by Appropriate
Technology, a specialist distributor in the UK. Pricing starts from
UKP 469, which includes the Localtalk interface cards.

According to Apple, all of its 24-pin printer range had been adapted
for use with Appletalk. The company claims that its printers work to a
resolution of 360 dots per inch and, thanks to the 24-pin print heads,
are a lot faster than some of the other Apple-specific dot matrix
printers on the market.

"With cost cutting at the forefront of everyone's minds, the dot
matrix printers really come into their own," explained Robert Clark,
Epson's product manager for impact printers.

"For example, when printing an invoice, one for the file, one for the
customers and one for the accounts department, consumables on a dot
matrix printer will cost around 0.5 pence, when using multi-part
stationary, compared to around 6.0 pence for laser printer
consumables," he added.

(Steve Gold/19930409/Press & Public Contact: Epson UK - Tel: 0442-
61144)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SYD)(00016)

Apple Global Warranty Program 04/09/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Apple Computer has
introduced a service to make it easier for international
travellers to keep their computers up and running. With
the new global warranty program they can have their machines
repaired under warranty when overseas.

Until now they had to pay for the repair and then seek
reimbursement when they returned home. "With the popularity of
our PowerBook notebook range it's clear that more and more Apple
customers are combining travel and work." said Apple Australia
Managing Director David Strong. "At Apple we're recognizing the
trend to mobility and the new global warranty program is an
important step in better serving the needs of our customers.
Now if there's a problem it's as simple as finding the nearest
authorized Apple reseller in the overseas location, presenting
proof of purchase, and arranging for the product to be repaired."

Strong said a key part of Apple's global strategy has been to
ensure that most service parts are identical around the world
which means that most parts will be in stock in every country.
Where country-specific parts are needed they can be specially
ordered. The new warranty applies to all Apple products
purchased after April 5, 1993.

(Paul Zucker/19930409/Contact: Lee Hansen at Apple Australia on
phone [phone] or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(MOW)(00017)

Russians To Launch Inmarsat Satellite 04/09/93
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- A Russian rocket is to
launch the Inmarsat satellite in 1995, the Russian Space Agency
announced. A Russian launcher is half the cost of a similar
one from Europe.

The agreement between Inmarsat, an international communications
consortia, and a Moscow-based group of companies developing and
producing the heavy Proton launchers, is to be signed in London
in the next few weeks, according to the announcement.

The Russian launch is to cost Inmarsat US$36 million,
instead of US$60 million asked by ArianSpace of France.

The Commersant daily newspaper provided the detailed report on the
manufacturers of various rocket types in Russia, all of which
are capable of making several launches a year. The existing
export restrictions, voluntarily regulated by the US
government, are reportedly the major obstacle for Russians
seeking to enter the international satellite launching
market.

(Kirill Tchashchin/199302)


(REVIEW)(APPLE)(SFO)(00018)

Review of - Tesserae, Game For Macintosh 04/08/93

From: Inline Design, 5 West Mountain Rd., Sharon, CT,
06069 [phone]

Price: $49.95

PUMA rating: 3.75 (on a scale of 1=lowest to 4=highest)

Reviewed for NEWSBYTES by: Naor Wallach, 04/09/93

Summary: A fun game that involves solving puzzles.

=======

REVIEW

=======

Remember the game where you had a bunch of pegs in holes
and you had to jump one over the other, removing one peg at
a time, until only one remained - preferably in the center?
If you liked that game, or others similar to it, then you
can expect quite a treat with Inline Designs Tesserae game.

Tesserae comes on one floppy disk with a registration card,
a poster detailing other Inline Design programs, and a
two-page user manual. The user manual is very brief because
the complete set of instructions are contained within the
program itself.

The opening screen has a button on it that allows you to go
ignore the instructions.

The game itself is very simple. Like the peg games of old,
this game has you jump one tile over another to clear the
board. The goal is always the same - try to have only one
tile left on the board in the shortest amount of time and
with the least amount of tile flipping. The computer version
of this game adds a bunch of other rules that will help in
keeping interest in the game.

First, there are nine different board layouts. So, if you
get tired of the standard rectangular board, you can
switch to another that is shaped like an X, or an oval.
The second twist is that instead of having only one kind
of peg, there are three kinds of pegs and they can be
combined in various ways to create a total of seven designs
of peg.

These different peg types have restrictions placed
on them with regards to what happens to them. Some of the
restrictions state that certain pegs cannot jump over other
pegs; other pegs can only jump to squares occupied by other
like-pegs, etc.

The different pegs are represented on the screen in two
different ways. First, each peg has its own distinctive
shape on its face. Secondly, if you have a color Macintosh,
the pegs have different colors. One of the final twists is
that when some of the pegs land on different kinds of pegs,
they turn to yet a different kind of peg.

With all of these twists, one would think that the rules
would be so complex that it takes a long time to get
comfortable with the game - not so. My wife and I
independently read the rules and started playing the game.
Both of us discovered that the rules started making sense
within a couple of tries of playing the game. In all, we
spent about 15 minutes with the rules in total, and much
more time playing the game and enjoying it.

In addition to the different pegs and rules, the game also
has three difficulty levels. I could not figure out what
those did except for the fact that the peg combinations
that populated the boards became a bit more difficult. All
in all this game was easy to learn and play. My wife and
I discovered that we kept it on the hard disk and
frequently brought it back and played it when we had a
few quiet minutes that we wanted to spend with a computer
game.

There are only a select few games that qualify in that
way and Tesserae will occupy a place of honor among them.

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

PUMA RATINGS

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

PERFORMANCE: 4 The game operates quickly and with no problems.

USEFULNESS: 4 If you like the kind of puzzle solving game
that this represents, then you will quickly learn to enjoy
its various facets.

MANUAL: 4 There really isn't one. But then, with the
instructions built into the program itself, there is very
little need for one.

AVAILABILITY: 3 Available from mail order and software stores.
Inline Design does not maintain a toll-free number for
technical support. However, you shouldnt need to use such
a service with this game.

(Naor Wallach/19930319/Darryl Peck, Inline Design)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(LAX)(00019)

Review of - ScanPlus Pagereader 04/09/93

Runs on: IBM and compatible personal computers (PCs)

From: Plustek USA, 3550 Scott Boulevard, Bldg. #46, Santa
Clara, CA 95054, 800-685-8088

Price: $349

PUMA Rating: 3.75 (1 lowest, 4 highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Linda Rohrbough, 04/09/93

Summary: The most practical scanner I've seen yet, the Plustek
Scanplus Pagereader is easy to use, obviously designed by
someone who's actually used a scanner before, and delightfully
low priced on the street.

======

REVIEW

======

Scanning is one of those operations most people don't do every
day and that's the market the Plustek Scanplus Pagereader is
geared toward. The one I looked at is a full-page black and
white scanner that gets its power from the personal computer
(PC) to which it is connected and automatically shuts off after 5
minutes of non-use. It also comes with scanning software
although it is Hewlett-Packard Scanjet-compatible.

I've tried hand scanners and found the experience disappointing
and frustrating. Plus, I don't usually have the desk space
cleared to lay down a full sheet of paper and the elbow room to
slowly guide a scanner down that sheet of paper. That's why I
like full-page scanners. They control the rate the paper goes
through to suit themselves and they can be placed more out of
the way and still be practical for use.

The Scanplus meets my criteria for a scanner, but also has a
very modern look and feel when you take it out of the box, and
it's light in weight. It also comes with a tight fitting dust
cover, something other low end scanners have lacked.

My favorite feature of the Scanplus is it doesn't require me to
hunt around for somewhere to plug it in as it gets its power
from the PC. I suppose this requires the user think about
the size of the power supply they have, but I have
a 230-watt power supply, so that's not a problem for me. The
Scanplus also considerately shuts itself off after 5 minutes of
non-use, but is available again at the touch of a button.

The software that comes with the Scanplus is for Microsoft
Windows, but since the scanner is Hewlett-Packard Scanjet
compatible, it should work with any software program that
supports scanning. Like most black and white scanners it offers
several choices of resolution (depending on the software used)
up to 300 dots per inch (dpi).

I cheated in installing the Scanplus as I used Winsleuth Gold's
install help from Dariana Technology of Buena Park, California
to tell me what interrupts I had free and if the scanner's card
would work on the current settings before I installed it.

Surprisingly the Scanplus does not require the use of direct
memory access (DMA), so it works find with the modem, compact
disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive, sound card, and tape
backup drives I already had on my system. Most users will find
the installation difficult if they haven't worked with setting
interrupts before, but that's true of any scanner. However,
there is an 800 number for customer support.

Much emphasis is made of optical character recognition (OCR)
capability in the software, but OCR has only been practical for
me when I've lost a file I printed on my laser printer. Since
the laser produces good quality documents, I've been able to
scan the document back in and OCR it. It usually needs a few
tweaks, meaning some characters didn't get recognized and I
have to manually type them in or run the spell checker to fix
them, but that's faster than retyping it. However, I tried the
OCR on a fairly clear but not great original produced
outside my office and the results were disappointing.

Since I use my scanner mostly for graphics work, I found the
emphasis in the software on OCR annoying as I had to reset the
software each time I went into it to do graphics only. Also,
the scanner has no shelf, tray, or facility for catching the
paper on the way out. On my large desk, the scanner is placed
out of the way on the back half of one side, the paper goes
through the scanner and unceremoniously falls out on the floor
behind the desk. This happens unless I stand up to lean over
and catch the paper as it is coming out of the scanner.

But over all, I am very impressed with both the features and
the price of the Scanplus. I would certainly recommend it.

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

PUMA RATING

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

PERFORMANCE: 4 The Scanplus is obviously designed by someone
who's actually done some scanning and knows what the occasional
user wants.

USEFULNESS: 4 This is scanner not only performs well, but is a
good buy if you can get the street price of $349. The retail
price with the software is $499, a not-so-good buy.

MANUAL: 4 The manual was everything I expected and all the
information I needed was there.

AVAILABILITY: 3 There are distributors for the Plustek Scanplus
Pagereader but I was unable to find them without calling the
company. You can, however, order the scanner with a credit
card from a Plustek distributor. Distributors can be located
by calling the company's toll free number at 800-685-8088.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930402/Press Contact: Christie Kohlstedt,
S&S PR for Plustek, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(EDITORIAL)(TELECOM)(NYC)(00020)

Editorial - Stop Bashing Caller ID! 04/09/93
JEFFERSON VALLEY, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- While at the
recent Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference (CFP'93) in San
Francisco, I listened to a number of people saying that to be
concerned with "privacy" was to be automatically
anti-Caller ID. One attendee, for example, prefacing a
question, "Well, everyone in this room is a privacy advocate
and against things like Caller ID but ..."

Whoa! Let's not assume that. I consider myself squarely on the
side of privacy -- I'm for optional encryption of e-mail,
against random use of social security numbers for identification,
-- but I think that Caller ID enhances my privacy and,
therefore, I look forward to its universal implementation.

The opposition to Caller ID has centered on the "rights" of
callers to remain anonymous. Much has been written about
the possibility of Caller ID casting a chill over
whistle-blowers, people reporting crimes, and informants. It
seems to me that pay phones will more than give these
individuals the opportunity to perform these activities.

I am of the "home-is-a-castle" tradition, having grown up
in an apartment house where "No Soliciting, No Panhandling"
signs were obeyed. Those living in more elegant apartments
had the further protection of a doorman to enforce these
regulations. Addition, apartment dwellers have peep-holes
in their doors which will allow them to decide whether or
not to open the door and converse with a bell-ringer.

Those who grew up in houses had the protection of "No
Trespassing" signs, enforceable by law, and some even added
the presence of an inhospitable dog to further send the
message of "Uninvited, Unwelcome." House owners also
tended to have peepholes or other systems of recognizing
callers before deciding on whether to open the door.

Of course, not all people availed themselves of such
devices -- some leave their doors open or holler "Come in" to
whomever rings. That is their right but it is the result
of a choice made by them.

The telephone, by in large, has taken this choice away
from us. When the phone rings we do not know if it is a
parent or a telemarketer, a close friend or a bill
collector, a business associate or a con-person asking about
our copying machine. We have no chance to make a decision about
whether to let a person into our virtual environment before
picking up the phone.

If a person comes to the door or our residence and is
insulting or commits lewd acts, we may have the advantage of
having seen them and be able to describe them to the police,
if necessary. The obscene, the extortionist or the generally
annoying all have had the cover of anonymity under which to
bother us. Caller ID, in my judgment, restores the balance.

Some may say that an answering machine does the same and that
we may screen our calls that way. I don't agree -- I don't
want my brother or my in-laws to have to wait for my message
to end -- I don't want to have to go to the one room that
contains the answering machine every time the phone rings.
The answering machine provides no recourse against those who leave
insulting or obscene calls.

So, from the day that Caller ID is universally implemented, I
will not answer the phone for any call that comes through with
Caller ID "blocked" (the feature that allows the caller to escape
identification). My answering machine will inform callers of this
policy as well as informing them that I may not call them back.
In short, if you don't want me to know who you are, I don't
want to talk to you!

(John F. McMullen/19930322)


(CORRECTION)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00021)

Correction - JEDI - New Digital Effects Firm 04/09/93
SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Newsbytes
wishes to correct an error in a report with this headline which
ran on this wire service on April 8.

The report stated that at the National Association of
Broadcasters' show in a few weeks, Silicon Graphics will
exhibit its workstations and offer The Cave, a special
multimedia exhibit designed by DataDisplay Corp., of Elk
Grove Village, Illinois.

Maggie Rawlings, special projects director at the University
of Illinois' Electronic Visualization Laboratory writes to
tell Newsbytes that "The CAVE was not designed by DataDisplay
Corporation. It was designed by Thomas DeFanti and Daniel
Sandin at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the
University of Illinois at Chicago. Software implementation
is by Carolina Cruz-Neira, and funding is by the National
Science Foundation. DataDisplay Corporation is the A/V
Company which supplies us with the external structure and
projection equipment."

Newsbytes apologizes for the error.

(Wendy Woods/19930409)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00022)

Cable Industry Getting Hammered 04/09/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Ambitious spending
plans by market leaders TCI, Time-Warner, and Cablevision
notwithstanding, the interests of the cable television industry
are getting hammered in Washington.

Perhaps most important to the industry's financial interest, it
lost an attempt to prevent enforcement of the 1992 Cable
Reregulation Act before the US Court of Appeals. A panel of
that court ruled 2-1 that the industry's First Amendment rights
were not impacted by the bill, which imposes rate regulation and
requires that systems pay to carry some broadcast signals
homeowners can receive free. US District Judge Thomas Jackson
held that video signals are an economic commodity subject to
regulation, not constitutionally protected speech. Judge Stanley
Sporkin agreed.

Losers included Turner Broadcasting, Time Warner, and
the Discovery Channel, all of which own stations that could
get "bumped" off cable systems as required local stations are
added. Judge Stephen Williams dissented, saying Congress impaired
the protected speech of cable operators in order to promote the
speech of local broadcasters.

In another decision impacting the rights of cable, regulators
were prevented from enforcing rules against indecent programming
on local access channels, which is also part of the 1992 law.
This is a preliminary decision -- the court only wants to hear
arguments in the case this fall. Judge Patricia Wald, a rumored
Supreme Court candidate, Ruth Ginsburg, and David Sentelle will
hear the case, which charges that the rules being applied to the
leased-access channels are stricter than those for broadcasters
or other cable channels. The decision could cause some operators
trouble in some localities, where activists want to eliminate
sexual speech.

Finally, Time Warner was warned it may have all its debt
downgraded for even considering a move to buy parts of Turner
Broadcasting System. Under a 1987 agreement, Time Warner has the
right of first refusal to buy Turner's CNN channel, which is now
worth $2 billion by some estimates. Time Warner, however, is
burdened by nearly $10 billion in debt from the merger of Time
Inc., and Warner Communications in 1990.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930409)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(ATL)(00023)

Evergreen May Turn Brown 04/09/93
MCLEAN, VIRGINIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Evergreen
Information Technologies, which is working on a database service
for US government procurement called Powertree, is in deep
financial trouble.

The company reported that it has received loans of $300,000 to
cover salaries and other working capital requirements to continue
its operations for a short term. It had previously announced that
it had almost exhausted its cash reserves and needed additional
funding to complete development of PowerTree. The company has
also been delisted from the Pacific Stock Exchange.

Spokesman Marg Donnelly emphasized to Newsbytes that the loans
will only cover a short period. "We need to find additional funds
to complete Powertree. I can't say anything else because there's
nothing released. Originally we were going to have a CD-ROM
product out in March, but we ran out of funding before that and
it threw everything out. We just released our 10K," an annual
financial report, "and say we'll have beta tests for that in
August. We're projecting the same time frame for the online
service."

The financial problems have been a "major distraction," she
added. "We had been projecting first quarter for the online
service. We've been here working the whole time this month, but
we haven't moved the product forward, because of finances. For
every day we're not working we lose more than a day of production
time."

Powertree is designed to contain nearly all the information
needed to either buy for the Federal Government or sell to the
Federal Government, as well as produce goods aimed at the federal
procurement market.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930409/Press Contact: Marg Donnelly,
Evergreen Information Technologies, 703-556-6200; FAX, 703-
556-6210)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00024)

Unisys Launches New Low-End A-Series Server 04/09/93
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Unisys Corp.
has revamped the low end of its A Series OpenFrame line of
enterprise servers by introducing the A7 models. The new machines
will replace the A1, A2, A4, and A5 machines, company spokesman
Martin Krempasky said.

Unisys also announced that the new models and others in the A
Series can now run the Novell NetWare local-area network
operating system. The portable version of NetWare runs on the A
Series processor, providing file and print services to network
workstations concurrent with A series applications.

The new A7 machines have two processors: Unisys' own Single Chip
A Series Mainframe Processor (SCAMP) and an Intel 486 processor.
This allows them to run Unix and OS/2 applications alongside
those written for the proprietary processor. The two are linked
by an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus,
Krempasky said.

Along with the new entry-level machines, Unisys unveiled two new
models in the A11 series and 12 new A16 systems.

The company also announced enhancements to networking software
supporting the TCP/IP, OSI, SNA, and BNA protocols.

Release 4.0 of the Unisys Cooperating Computing Environment (CCE)
provides enhanced client/server integration of the A Series with
Unix and OS/2 systems, according to the company.

Prices for the new A7 models start at $20,000, and they will
available this month, Unisys officials said.

(Grant Buckler/19930409/Press Contact: Martin Krempasky, Unisys,
215-986-4788)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00025)

Denied Rate Hike, Bell Canada Cuts Costs 04/09/93
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Bell Canada, the
largest of Canada's regional telephone companies, has announced
plans to cut C$190 million from this year's capital spending
budget and delay introduction of extended calling areas in major
centers until next year.

Having been denied an interim rate increase that was to take
effect this month, Bell officials said they found it necessary to
scale down their spending plans for the year.

Filings are still before the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for a general rate increase
in the fall. However, this would have little effect on Bell's
revenues in 1993.

Upgrading party-line service in remote areas, and extending phone
lines to areas not currently served by Bell, are among the
projects that will probably be delayed, company spokeswoman
Susanna Cluff-Clyburne said.

Community Calling Plan, which would extend the area within which
residents of Toronto, Montreal, and the Ottawa area could make
calls without paying long-distance charges, is also to be delayed
until 1994. However, Cluff-Clyburne said, the CRTC is still being
asked to give approval for the idea, which was originally
scheduled for introduction this fall.

Keeping the present calling areas until 1994 will save about
C$140 million in capital costs this year, Cluff-Clyburne said,
while the other cuts in Bell's construction program will reduce
the year's expenditures by about another C$190 million.

(Grant Buckler/19930409/Press Contact: Susanna Cluff-Clyburne,
Bell Canada, 613-785-0579)


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

Geac Acquires Australian Software Distributor 04/09/93
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Geac Computer
has bought Computer Library Services International
(Australia) Pty. Ltd., of Melbourne. The Australian software
distributor and integrator sells compact disc read-only memory
(CD-ROM) titles and database subscriptions to Australian
libraries, complementing Geac's core business in library
automation.

Harrison Cheung, a spokesman for Geac, said Geac views Australia
and New Zealand as its springboard into the Pacific Rim market.
Acquisitions in the region will help Geac prepare to attack the
Japanese market and others in the Far East, not least because
companies in Australia and New Zealand are already accustomed to
competing in that highly competitive arena, he said.

Computer Library Services also distributes the LIBS 100plus
products in the Australian market.

Geac will continue to operate the company as a distributor and
value-added reseller (VAR), Cheung said. The acquisition will let
Geac provide a wider range of services to its existing customers
in Australia and New Zealand, he said.

Geac said it paid about C$1 million for Computer Library
Services, which has annual revenues of more than C$4 million.

A month ago, Geac closed the purchase of Concord Management
Systems, Inc., of Tampa, Florida, and that of Mentat Computer
Systems Pty. Ltd. of Australia. Mentat is a maker of
manufacturing software, with its products installed in
manufacturing and distribution firms throughout Australia and New
Zealand. Concord is the largest developer of software for
construction companies in North America, said Cheung.

(Grant Buckler/19930409/Press Contact: Harrison Cheung, Geac,
416-475-0525, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(WAS)(00027)

 ****High-Tech Initiatives Funded In Clinton Budget 04/09/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Ever perused a
1500-page budget proposal? That is what all of official
Washington and most of unofficial DC has been doing for the
past 24 hours and while there are details galore which will
be picked apart for months, some of the important Clinton-Gore
high-tech telecom initiatives are definitely funded in the
original White House plan.

Bear in mind that this isn't the final budget until Congress
integrates a lot of changes and dozens or hundreds of minor and
major political compromises are made, but as things stand now it
looks like the National Science Foundation will see $19 million
in its new budget for high performance computing and
communications programs. That appears to be all the actual
funding earmarked for the often-touted information infrastructure
that the Administration and earlier Clinton-Gore campaign talked
about so much but there may be more squeezed into other parts of
the budget.

Another $51 million will be granted to companies doing research
in satellite and fiber optic technology but the funding would be
spread over a number of years so it might never actually
materialize if, as seems likely, budget constraints get even
tighter in future years.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
formerly the Bureau of Standards, which does a lot of research
that is often directly related to the needs of emerging high
technology businesses, will get about $30 million to continue
this research and development effort.

According to an Associated Press report, the budget also contains
another $45 million in matching grants for NIST projects which
will help manufacturers improve production efficiency.

There is full funding for the Space Station Freedom included in
the Budget proposal but Washington insiders expect a big fight
over that spending with fiscal conservatives pointing out that
much more useful research and investment could be done with the
money.

By way of comparison, the Administration is now feuding with the
Senate over spending about $15 billion on summer jobs to
temporarily boost the economy, some of which will go to building
swimming pools and similar projects.

This budget does not include spending earmarked for R&D in
Congressional bills like the National Competitiveness Act (S 4
and H.R. 820), which would increase high-tech spending from $68
million to $210 million for fiscal year 1994 and to a whopping
$420 million in fiscal 1995, nor does it count the approximately
$7 billion in tax deductions that small companies receive from a
temporary Research and Experimentation tax credit which the
Clinton Administration wants to make permanent.

The budget is so complex and technology crossover is so difficult
to measure that no one really knows what the total amount of
federal high-tech investment would be if the already described
investments were added to other Agency and Pentagon research
programs which might have a direct or indirect impact on US
competitiveness.

It does appear that most of the federal government's investment
in the proposed information superhighway will be in the form of
encouragement to commercial operations which will actually
build and operate the system.

(John McCormick/19930409/)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00028)

Roundup - Stories Carried By Other Media This Week 04/09/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Roundup is a brief
look at some computer stories carried in other publications
received here this past week.

Computer Reseller News dated April 5 says that Compaq is facing
the wrath of resellers over its recent announcement that the
company will begin bypassing its traditional marketing channels
to sell its computers through mail order. The front-page article
quotes a San Diego, California Computerland official as saying
that the trust between Compaq and its reseller community is gone.

InformationWeek for the week of the 5th says that Computer
Associates Charles Wang is turning his company around in the
customer relations area. The cover story describes the problems
that customers used to have with arrogant CA representatives and
quotes CEO Wang as saying. "CA knows it can no longer afford
scrapes [with customers]. It's almost like adolescence. You think
you can do everything a little to fast."

The April 5 CommunicationsWeek reports that Ascom Timpelex's
short and long-term plans for its next generation switching
systems for enterprise networks call for the 80-megabit per
second (Mbps) STS-50 Synchrony full-duplex switch to be available
by the end of this year. This is a major downgrade from the
announcement over a year ago when the company said the switch
would have a 300 Mbps capacity and would be available by July of
this year. In July of 1993 the company said it would reduce the
switch's capacity on the advice of customers who said a 300 Mbps
speed was faster than needed.

PC Magazine dated April 27 features the Intel Pentium and says
the 66 MHz. version rated 37 on the PC Bench Processor Benchmark
compared to 21 for the 486DX2/66 and "1" for a 286-based AT.

UnixWorld for May has an article called "Guerrilla Marketers"
which looks at how underfunded companies can get a product to
market without the money needed for a major marketing campaign.
The tactics described are reportedly best suited to the Unix
marketplace because they rely on a knowledgeable customer base.
One of the main tools is to enlist the support of "power users"
during the beta testing stage of product development. Another
involves forming strategic partnerships with hardware vendors.

(John McCormick/19930409/)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00029)

FAA Lets Airlines Decide PC Bans 04/09/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- Reacting to an
International Air Transport Association advisory not to let
passengers use things like Game Boys and laptop PCs during
airplane take-offs and landings, the Federal Aviation
Administration has re-stated its position on the matter.

Essentially, the FAA is leaving it up to the airlines. According
to a draft advisory circular obtained by Newsbytes,
"determination of the effects of a particular portable electronic
device on the navigation and communication systems of the
aircraft on which it is to be operated must be made by the
operator of the aircraft." This means that Delta, which has
issued strict guidelines against the devices, may continue its
restrictions. The only proviso is that the airline spell the
restrictions out clearly before departure, and provide procedures
to turn off the devices when they're suspected of interference
and report instances of suspected or confirmed interference to
the FAA.

Airlines with looser rules, on the other hand, are not going to
have to change them.

The draft circular, however, does make a distinction between
things like laptop PCs, with signals that are essentially passive,
and things like cellular phones, which have antennae capable of
transmitting a signal. Cellular phones are a particular hazard,
the circular continues, because they can use any of a number of
frequencies, and those frequencies are frequently re-used to
increase system capacity. Airplane phones installed by companies
like GTE Airfone, In-Flight Phone or Clearcom, on the other hand,
are operating on specific frequencies which have been pre-checked
by the FAA. Their use is not being restricted.

The IATA had advised airlines against allowing the use of any
electronic devices after a two-day technical meeting in
Switzerland, despite the fact that the technical committee could
not find conclusive proof that PCs interfere with instruments or
calls from airplane cockpits. The move was a precaution pending
further research. The question involves how strong a suspicion of
interference must be before action is taken, and the IATA is
taking the cautious view. The FAA circular leaves the airlines
free to follow the IATA advice.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930409/Press Contact: Hank Price, FAA, 202-
267-3883)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(BOS)(00030)

New Mac, Windows Versions Of DynaText To Debut At Seybold 04/09/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 APR 9 (NB) -- At Seybold Boston
next week, Electronic Book Publishing (EBT) will unveil a Macintosh
version of its DynaText electronic publishing system, along with an
updated Windows edition, Newsbytes has learned.

Available for Unix as well, DynaText is already being used by top
players in the computer, telecommunications, defense, airline and
automotive industries, a company spokesperson told Newsbytes.

The CD-ROM documentation for Novell NetWare 4.0 was developed with
DynaText, and so was Silicon Graphics' new Iris Insight
documentation system. The US Navy has just used the product to
create an online technical documentation system for its Tomahawk
Cruise Missile aircraft carriers.

By complying with the new SGML (Standard Genetic Markup Language)
specification, DynaText gives users an easy-to-use, multi-windowed
tool for reading and querying hypertext documents that remains the
same from one operating system to the next, the spokesperson
explained.

The system is also able to place calls to outside multimedia
programs, enabling windowed display of audio and video clips.

Documents prepared with DynaText are built around two dynamic
windows: a table of contents and a browser. Users navigate from
one section of a document to the next by clicking on items in the
table of contents. The selected contents then scroll before the
user in the browser window.

At any point, the user can "grab" sections of the scrolling
document, displaying the text or graphics in separate
windows, the spokesperson said. Some documents developed with
DynaText also offer a "full browser" equipped with annotation
capabilities that allow for online notetaking.

DynaText is delivered to developers on a CD-ROM disk, the Systems
Integration Toolkit (SIT). The kit can be used to generate
applications for CD-ROM, floppy disk, or any other medium.

The new Mac and Windows editions of DynaText will further the
system's hypertext and search abilities by permitting multiple
documents to be linked together, according to the spokesperson. In
addition, readers will now be able to create their own hypertext
links.

A new annotation list interface will let users sort and filter
their annotation entries. Readers will be able to store both the
hypertext links and annotation entries in public and private webs,
export them to other users, and reattach them to new document
revisions.

The new Mac version and Windows 2.0 will also include a number of
other refinements, such as higher performance for the CD-ROM disc
and the ability to include mathematical equations in electronic
books. Both of the new editions are slated to ship in July.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930409/Press contact: Paul Lamoureux, Miller
Communications for EBT, tel [phone])