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/nb930422

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(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00001)

Australia Telecom Spends Millions On New Logo 04/22/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Australia's main phone
company Telecom has decided it needs a new public image so it has
introduced a new corporate logo, reportedly with a changeover
cost in excess of US$50M.

The prior logo was a stylized "T" for Telecom. It was modern looking,
well recognized, and to the best of this reporter's knowledge, had
no detractors. The new logo is considered by the less charitable
in Australian society as an abomination.

It consists of an orange pancake falling to the ground, a floating
bar (the top of the "T") and a cutout in the pancake that gives
the impression of the upright of the "T" coming from the pancake.
To the right of this is the word "ELECOM."

Australia's largest bank, the Commonwealth, went through a
similar exercise a couple of years ago, and came up with what many
have described as a logo which looks like what's left of a paper
clip after World War III.

Telecom presumably felt the need for a new image as it gets into
top gear in the fight to keep its customers loyal against the
second carrier Optus. Both companies are conducting extensive
advertising campaigns to get long distance customers. At the moment
subscribers have to dial "1" first to put their calls through Optus,
but eventually that will change and they will be able to choose
which is their prime carrier. They will be allowed one free
changeover in the first six months, though they can nominate
the alternate carrier for each individual call.

Optus recently opened its first long distance exchange, in Canberra.
All other services are leased from Telecom.

(Paul Zucker/19930422)


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

Don't Use Cellular Phones At Service Stations 04/22/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Austel, Australia's
telecommunications regulatory body, has decided to issue a warning
to all users of mobile and portable cellular phones - don't use them
at service stations or it might be your last phone call.

The action has been "sparked" by similar moves in Europe where
some petroleum companies have started placing warning signs at each
pump. The theory is simple: no matter how small the electrical
output of the transmitter in the phone, under some circumstances
it could cause a small spark between adjacent metal parts near the
phone.

And this spark in turn could ignite the ever-present petroleum that
exists in service stations, especially around the pump. In countries
like Australia where it is illegal to use a hand-held phone while
driving, what better opportunity to make that urgent call than
while waiting for the gas tank to fill?

Austel admits that the risk is almost negligible, but it would only
take one catastrophe to cause a heavy backlash if the warning hadn't
been made. BP Australia is leading the way in Australia and has
already started fitting a large warning sign to every pump in Australia.

Although they admit that caution is good, some observers point out
that there are two factors that should be considered:

Cellular phones only have an output power of around 1 watt while
other forms of vehicle-based transceivers have much higher output
(and therefore much more likely to cause a spark). For instance,
in Australia CB radios run at around 5 watts while mobile radios
used by couriers and taxis run at around 30 watts.

There are many other potential sources of ignition at a service
station such as cigarettes, discarded matches, faulty car wiring,
and sparks from metal hitting metal. As a result, they are
designed to limit ignition and spread of fire. The dramatic
Hollywood effects where cars explode is dramatic, but hardly
realistic. Even if you could set fire to an open gas tank, it
would merely burn slowly from the outlet, and would not explode.
Likewise, the large storage tanks under a service station can not
catch fire unless there is a leak.

(Paul Zucker/19930422)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00003)

New Drivers Integrate Microsoft Mail, HP OPenMail 04/22/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Microsoft
Corporation says it is cooperating with Hewlett-Packard to develop
drivers that will allow Microsoft Mail's graphical interface to work
with Hewlett-Packard's OpenMail electronic messaging program.

The driver, which is expected to be available next month, will allow
users to use the Microsoft Mail for PC Networks client program with
HP's OpenMail server software. The agreement, which was announced at
the Microsoft Mail User's Conference held recently in Portland,
Oregon, calls for both companies to market, distribute, and support
the driver.

The announcement says the driver is designed to meet the needs of
customers who operate large global networks, and will give users
access to the HP Unix-based messaging backbone, and will allow
OpenMail users to send multimedia messages containing text,
graphics, sound, and other application objects by using Microsoft's
object linking and embedding (OLE) technology. OpenMail customers
will also be able to develop messaging-enabled applications and take
advantage of third party applications written to meet the MAPI
standard, Microsoft's Messaging Application Program Interface.

(Jim Mallory/19930420/Press contact: Collins Hemingway, Microsoft,
206-882-8080; Reader contact: 800-426-9400 or 206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TYO)(00004)

NEC, Japan DEC, Release Workstations 04/22/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- NEC has released what it calls
the lowest-cost workstation in the Japanese market, a move
expected to provoke others to follow suit. Meanwhile,  Japan Digital
Equipment Corporation (DEC) has released a RISC-based super-fast
workstation.

NEC's latest workstation is sold at 580,000 yen ($5,300) -- that's
cheaper than any other workstations including those of Sun
Microsystems (740,000 yen/$6,700) and IBM Japan (598,000 yen/
$5,400). The model is called the EWS (engineering workstation)
310, which is the low-end version of the firm's EWS 4800 series.
The model 310 is equipped with Japanese Unix System V Release 4.

NEC has also released four RISC-based workstations including a
TFT (thin film transistor) display model, an upright type
multimedia model that supports full-color video pictures, and
a 64-bit RISC-based 67-megahertz model. The high-end models
support 16,700,000 colors and 3-dimensional graphics.

Meanwhile, Japan Digital Equipment Corporation has released a
super-fast workstation capable of processing scientific technology
calculations at a speed of 200 million instructions per
second. The speed and the performance are equivalent to low-end
supercomputers. The DEC3000 Model 500X-AXP is based on DEC's RISC
chip, called Alfa. It is equipped with a 19-inch color display
and a 96-megabyte memory. It will be shipped in May at 11 million
yen ($100,000).

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930422/Press Contact: NEC, +81-3-
3798-6511, Fax, [phone], Japan Digital Equipment
Corporation, [phone])


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

Insat 2B Satellite Ready For Launch 04/22/93
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- The year 1992 was marked with
space politics, in which the US government snapped a two-year ban
on the sale of space components to the Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO). And in that context 1993 has become crucial,
as at least three major launches are scheduled for the year.

Despite the US embargo, the Indian space program is all set to take
off. The Space Commission hopes to launch the Insat 2B (a satellite
designed to transmit telecommunication and television signals) by
June next. The polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) and the
augmented satellite launch vehicle (ASLV) rockets are expected to
be launched by the year-end.

The jewel in the crown will be the launch of the PSLV. The rocket
will launch a remote sensing satellite of IRS class weighing around
900 kg into a circular orbit at a height of 800 km. The launch will
not only demonstrate that Indians can build satellites like Insat
and IRS indigenously but also, for the first time, launch them --
something only five nations worldwide can do.

The four-stage PSLV rocket, being integrated at the Sriharikota
launch-pad in Andhra Pradesh, bristles with new technology, most
of it developed in India. After the first and second stage boosters
push the rocket to a height of 284 km, a sophisticated on-board
computer, developed by ISRO, will take command of the launcher.

For the rest of the journey, the computer will make midcourse
corrections and decide when the next stage should fire and when
to inject the satellite. The end manoeuvre is the trickiest.
The computer will first command the rocket engine to detach from
the satellite. Then to ensure that the motor will not bang into
the craft, it commands it to turn its nozzles and directs its
path away from the satellite.

In fact, much of the US concern about India's growing rocket
launching capability is really directed at the PSLV, which will
give India the ability to launch Intercontinental Ballistic
Missiles (ICBMs) to any part of the globe.

Also, on the space front, IRS-1A, designed for a three-year
life, is functional even after completing five years in orbit and
is expected to work for another year. The 975-kg satellite has
covered the country 82 times and has beamed more than four
lakh images.

Coupled with IRS-1B, the IRS-1A is the mainstay of the National
Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS). These two take only
11 days to cover the country. The second generation remote
sensing satellite IRS-1C, fitted with higher resolution cameras
for spotting water stress, pest infestation and better drought
monitoring, is to be launched next year. IRS-1D is expected to
follow suit by 1997.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930422)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00006)

BoCoEx Index 04/22/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Boston Computer
Exchange for the week.

Machine                    Main Drive  Closing     Price     Ask      Bid

                                         Price    Change

IBM AT 339                     30 MgB      350               400      350

IBM PS/2 Model 30 286          20 MgB      400               450      300

IBM PS/2 Model 50Z             30 MgB      425               500      400

IBM PS/2 Model 55SX            60 MgB      750               800      700

IBM ThinkPad 300               80 MgB     1400              1500     1325

IBM ThinkPad 700               80 MgB     2350              2400     2200

IBM ThinkPad 700C             120 MgB     3400    UP 200    3400     3350

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

IBM PS/2 Model 90-OH9         160 MgB     1700              1700     1600

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

Compaq Portable II             20 MgB      225               500      200

Compaq Portable III            20 MgB      350               400      200

Compaq Portable 386           100 MgB      650  DOWN 100     800      600

Compaq SLT-286                 40 MgB      625               650      600

Compaq LTE-286                  40MgB      675               700      600

Compaq LTE-386                  30MgB      750               850      700

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

Compaq Systempro LT-486       510 MgB     2200              2400     2100

Compaq Syspro 386/25LT        340 MgB     2100              2300     1950

Compaq Deskpro 486 /33I       120 MgB     1850              1900     1750

Compaq SysPro 486/33         2040 MgB     6800              7000     6300

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

AST Prem Exec 386SX20          40 MgB      900              1000      800

NEC UltraLite 286              20 MgB      550               600      500

NEC UltraLite 386SX/20         40 MgB      900               950      800

Zenith Mastersprt-386SX        60 MgB      950              1100      900

Zenith SuperSport 386SX        40 MgB      750               900      650

Macintosh Classic              40 MgB      650               700      600

Macintosh Classic II           40 MgB      800               850      750

Macintosh SE                   40 MgB      625               650      600

Macintosh SE-30                80 MgB     1150              1250     1100

Macintosh LC                   40 MgB     1000              1300      800

Macintosh II                   40 MgB     1350              1400     1300

Macintosh II SI                80 MgB     1550              1650     1500

Macintosh II CX                80 MgB     1600              1700     1600

Macintosh II CI                80 MgB     2250              2350     2200

Macintosh II FX                80 MgB     2800              3000     2800

Macintosh Quadra 700          160 MgB     3250              3500     3200

Macintosh Quadra 900          160 MgB     4000              4300     3900

Macintosh Powerbk 160         120 MgB     2600              2700     2500

Macintosh Powerbk  180         80 MgB     3350              3500     3250

Macintosh Powerbk 170          80 MgB     2200              2300     2100

Apple Imagewriter 2                        200               225      175

Apple Laserwriter LS                       550               600      500

HP Laserjet II                             750               800      750

HP Laserjet III                           1050              1100     1000

Toshiba T-1200 XE              20 MgB      550     up 25     600      500

Toshiba T-1600                 40 MgB      575   down 25     600      550

Toshiba T-2000 SX              40 MgB      900              1000      900

Toshiba T-2000 SXE             40 MgB      950              1050      900

Toshiba T-2200 SX               80MgB     1250              1300     1200

Toshiba T-3100 SX              80 MgB     1000              1300      900

Toshiba T-3200                 40 MgB      550               700      500

Toshiba T-3200 SX              40 MgB      850               900      800

Toshiba T-3200 SXC            120 MgB     2250              2400     2100

Toshiba T-6400SX              120 MgB     2400              2700     2200

Toshiba T-4400SX              120 MgB     1800              1900     1700

Toshiba T-5200                100 MgB     1400              1500     1400

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BoCoEx Index prices are based on complete systems with keyboard, VGA
monitor and adapter, less the value of any software or peripherals.
Boston Computer Exchange is available at: 617-542-4414, Buyer's
HotLine: [phone], In Alaska and Canada 1-800-437-2470, FAX:
617-542-8849.

(BOCOEX/19930422)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00007)

Chips & Technologies Losses 04/22/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- In sharp
contrast to arch-rival Intel Corporation, which just had the
highest revenues in its history, Chips and Technologies
reports a net loss of $4.1 million on sales of $21.6 million
in its latest quarter.

For the nine months ended March 31, 1993, Chips reported net
sales of $76.3 million and a net loss of $39.7 million or $2.53 per
share. This compares to net sales of $108.0 million and a net loss
of $48.6 million or $3.47 per share, for the nine months ended March
31, 1992.

Gordon Campbell, C&T president, attributes the drop in sales to
fluctuations in customer demand as they ramp their products into
production, as well as "a typical seasonal downturn from December
quarter sales."

On the bright side, the company managed to reduce its operating loss
from $6.9 million in second quarter 1993 to $4.1 million in third
quarter 1993 "through determined control of expenses." Plus,
Zenith, NEC, Epson, Apple and Gateway, have all announced products
using new Chips technology. "Additionally, our cash position
remains strong at $29.3 million, as a result of ongoing expense
reductions."

Intel and Chips and Technologies buried the hatchet in February
when each dropped its suit against the other and granted each
other licensing rights on selected patents.

Struggling Chips is making royalty payments to Intel for use of
the Palmer reissue patent (33,629) on any math coprocessor
products manufactured by Chips and Technologies. Both companies
also said they are entering into a corporate non-disclosure
agreement to allow business discussions "in areas of common
interest."

(Wendy Woods/19930422/Press Contact: Lesley Mattos, 408-434-0600)


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

Microsoft Extends Health Benefits To Same-Sex Partners 04/22/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Software giant
Microsoft Corporation announced yesterday that effective June 1 it
will offer health-care benefits to same-sex partners of its
employees and eligible dependents.

The company said it will require participants to submit a legal
affidavit stipulating the individual is involved in "a committed,
exclusive relationship" with their partner, including financial
interdependence.

Mike Murray, Microsoft VP of human resources, said the company has
studied the issue for two years. "We felt it was the right thing to
do," said Murray. He said Microsoft expects an increase of about one
percent in the cost of health care because of the new policy. The
company employs 9,000 people in the Puget Sound region, mostly at
its headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The policy change affects
Microsoft employees worldwide unless prohibited by the laws of the
host country, a Microsoft spokesperson told Newsbytes.

The spokesperson told Newsbytes that the company does have openly
gay employees, although she didn't say how many. Microsoft employees
can select from a list of various health care options, including
health maintenance organization (HMO) plans.

"The company has been really good at creating an environment in
the workplace where you don't feel there is discrimination," the
spokesperson, a member of one minority class, told Newsbytes.

Microsoft barred discrimination based on sexual orientation in the
mid-1980s and was an early supporter of AIDs walkathons and
employment diversity efforts. The company recently wrote to state
legislatures expressing support for a gay rights bill in Olympia,
Washington, and publicly opposed anti-gay state initiatives
appearing on ballots in Colorado and Oregon last November.

The Colorado initiative, designated Amendment 2, passed with 53
percent of voters going to the polls favoring the amendment.
Subsequent to the Colorado election the issue was challenged in the
courts, and a judge temporarily suspended the measure until it can
receive a full court hearing later this year. A group known as
Colorado For Family Values strongly promoted the amendment, and
opponents charged before and after the election that the proposal
was confusing in its wording. Similar local proposals were
considered in San Francisco, California and St. Paul, Minnesota,
Tampa, Florida, and Portland, Maine. In Oregon, a similar amendment
went down to defeat, with 57 percent of the voters there saying "No"
to a proposal to declare homosexuality "abnormal."

(Jim Mallory/19930422/Press contact: Microsoft Public Relations,
206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00009)

TI First Quarter Profits Double 04/22/93
DALLAS, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Texas Instruments has
released its first quarter financial results, saying profit from
operations more than doubled over the same period last year on an 11
percent increase in net revenues.

The company reported net revenues for the first quarter of nearly
$1.9 billion, compared to almost $1.7 billion in 92. Net income
before the cumulative effect of accounting changes was $85 million,
compared to $40 million for the same period last year. Earnings per
share before accounting changes were $0.89 versus $0.35 a year ago.

On January 1, TI adopted new accounting standards that change the
way the company accounts for income taxes and retiree health-care
coverage. After the effects of those changes TI's net income for the
quarter was $81 million, and per share earnings were $0.85.

TI says its profit from operations for the quarter was $140 million,
compared with $63 million in the first quarter of 92. TI
spokesperson Terri West said nearly all of the improvement came in
the company's semiconductor business, driven by revenue growth in
application-specific products that exceeded the pace of the market's
growth in general.

The company said defense electronics maintained stable margins at
levels that met TI's goals for return on assets, while the
information technology business operated at a small loss for the
reporting period. Profit after tax return on total assets for the
first quarter was 5.4 percent, compared with 2.4 percent last year
for the same period. TI says its goal for after-tax return on total
assets is 8 to 10 percent.

Included in the period were royalty revenues of $94 million,
including one-time royalties of $22 million from previously
announced settlements with several personal computer manufacturers
over patent rights. Profit sharing of $7 million was also included
in the report.

Jerry Junkins, TI Chairman, says product diversification is
important to the company's strategy. "A key element in our
semiconductor strategy is to increase the percentage of
differentiated products in our portfolio. As a result of our
focus on differentiated products, our semiconductor product mix
is better aligned with growth markets."

The company says SuperSPARC microprocessor shipments continued to
increase during the quarter, with cumulative shipments of the 3.1
million transistor product now exceeding 100,000 units. Junkins
said TI is developing additional SPARC microprocessors, and
shipments of TI486 microprocessors is up sharply over the fourth
quarter. He said the company is also seeing a resurgence in demand
for bipolar products.

Junkins says TI's 1993 plan is based on anticipated double digit
growth in the world semiconductor market. "We expect 25 percent
growth in US demand, paced by strength in the computer and telecom
end-equipment segments." He says 1993 will be the first time since
1985 that the US semiconductor market will exceed that of Japan.

TI says it plans about $650 million in capital expenditures in 1993,
with emphasis on equipment to support the manufacture of
differentiated products. That's about $220 million more than the
company spent in 1992. "In information technology, we believe the
investments we are making in client/server software development tools
will put us back on our growth track, although restraining the
financial results for that business in the near term," says Junkins.

The company also plans to up its expenditure for research and
development in 1993 to support its base businesses and for
accelerated investments in new technologies, particularly digital
imaging.

(Jim Mallory/19930422/Press contact: Teri West, Texas Instruments,
214-995-3481)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00010)

Aldus Ships Color Trapping Software In UK 04/22/93
OLD ISLEWORTH, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Aldus UK has
announced it is now shipping Trapwise 1.0 for Windows, its
professional quality spot and process color trapping software. The
company claims that the package extends the functionality of Ripprep,
its previous software which was developed jointly with Graphic Edge,
and to which it acquired the rights last year.

Alasdair Boyle, Aldus UK's managing director, said that pre-press
professionals need an affordable, effective and productive means of
generating high quality, trapped film from digitally produced files.
"Trapwise is the solution. We now have the strongest professionally
oriented product portfolio ever," he said.

Trapwise, which runs under Windows on a PC, allows users of pre-press
systems to make adjustments for misalignments in printing systems. Gaps
between colors are a normal part of the printing process which are
caused by misregistration on the printing press when different ink
layers are misaligned.

These misalignments can occur for several reasons, such as stretching
of the paper, inadequate film registration, poorly calibrated printing
plates or normal variances on multi-color printing presses. According
to Aldus, the problem exists even under normal printing conditions.

Trapping compensates for potential gaps between objects by making
minor adjustments to the color areas on the film. Traditional trapping
is usually carried out by printing experts and is an expensive and
time-consuming business, since it must be done by hand. Trapwise
allows even printing novices to make these adjustments semi-
automatically.

Trapwise is not cheap. The package sells for UKP 3,225. Registered
users of Ripprep can upgrade to Trapwise 1.0 free of charge. The
package runs under Microsoft Windows and Aldus recommends that it is
installed on a minimum configuration of a 66 megahertz (MHz) 80486-
based PC or better, equipped with 16 megabytes (MB) of memory and a
200MB hard disk.

Aldus says that Trapwise 1.0 for the PC is shipping immediately in the
UK. A version for the Apple Mac is under development and is expected
in the second half of the year.

(Steve Gold/19930422/Press & Public Contact: Aldus UK - Tel: 081-568-
8868)


(CORRECTION)(IBM)(LAX)(00011)

Correction - Syquest Cartridges Get Legal Thumbs-Up 04/22/93
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- In the above
headlined story dated 04/19/93, Newsbytes incorrectly spelled
the name of the French company with which Syquest is battling.
The company is Nomai, not Naomi as spelled in the article.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930419)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00012)

Creative Blames E-mu Purchase For Losses 04/22/93
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Creative
Technology of Singapore, parent of Milpitas, California-based
multimedia hardware company Creative Labs, is reporting losses
of $5.6 million for its third quarter 1993. The company says
the acquisition in January of music synthesizer company E-mu is
responsible for the red ink, but that it is already
distributing products resulting from the E-mu purchase.

Announced in January, the E-mu purchase cost Creative
Technology $29.5 million, but a one-time charge of $22 million
was charged against net income of $16.4 million, leaving a
deficient of $5.6 million. However, Creative Technology's sales
are up to $74.5 million compared with $27.4 million for the
same quarter last year. Further, sales for the nine months
ending March 31, 1993, were $204.2 million compared to $60.7
million for the comparable period last year, the company added.

Higher sales and income is being attributed to the start of
initial shipments new products. The company's new Sound Blaster
16 with advanced signal processing is beginning initial
shipments with volume shipments scheduled for June. Creative is
also shipping the digital video capture card Video Spigot for
Windows, which it can distribute through a technology and
licensing deal with manufacturer Supermac. Also, shipment has
begun of the first product resulting from the E-mu purchase,
sound daughter board Wave Blaster. Creative Technology says
Wave Blaster incorporates E-mu wave table synthesis into a
sound card at a low cost to end users.

In addition, the company also began volume shipments of two
multimedia bundles. The Edutainment CD Upgrade Kit which
includes a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive, Sound
Blaster Pro sound card, audio speakers and a library of 8 CD-
ROM educational and entertainment titles. The Discovery CD-
Upgrade Kit includes a CD-ROM drive, speakers, and a starter
selection of software titles, the company added.

The company also announced its intention to file a registration
statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission covering
an underwritten public offering of 5 million ordinary shares.
Creative described the proposed offering as consisting of
approximately 2 million shares to be issued and sold itself,
plus approximately 3 million shares to be issued and sold by
certain selling shareholders.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930422/Press Contact: Ken McEwan, Creative
Labs, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00013)

DEC Spinoff To Take Over Part Of Springfield Plant 04/22/93
SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- A new
company, SpringBoard Technology Corp., will take over 100,000
square feet of Digital Equipment Corp.'s plant in Springfield,
MA. DEC had announced earlier that the plant would close.

SpringBoard will manufacture and refurbish disk and tape drives
and modules. The majority owner of the company is Anthony F.
Dolphin, former site and plant manager of DEC's Springfield
plant. All of SpringBoard's senior management will be investors
and shareholders in the company, Dolphin told Newsbytes, and
plant workers and other Digital employees own the balance of the
company.

Digital itself has no equity interest in SpringBoard, DEC
spokeswoman Nikki Richardson said, but funded a feasibility study
and creation of the company's business plan. However, the two
companies said SpringBoard has won a contract from Digital -- in
a competitive bidding process -- to supply the computer maker
with some of the same products DEC formerly made there.

Dolphin said Digital will be SpringBoard's main customer
initially, but the company is gearing up to negotiate contracts
with others and hopes to be able to announce some deals by the
fall.

Drawing the core of its initial 85-person staff from former DEC
employees who worked at the plant on Springfield's State Street,
SpringBoard hopes to grow to about 100 employees "fairly
rapidly," the company said. Digital formerly employed about 320
workers at the site. Dolphin said he expects further growth in
future, but "it's a little difficult to actually give you
numbers" at present.

SpringBoard will manufacture, in small volumes, disk drives 5.25
inches and smaller as well as various tape drives with capacities
greater than 70 megabytes. The company is seeking original
equipment manufacturer (OEM) contracts for such equipment, and
officials said the market for the devices is expected to reach
$505 million by next year.

DEC announced the Springfield closure last October, along with
that of another plant in Burlington, Vermont. The company said it
would move manufacturing of tape products from Springfield to one
of three other plants already doing the same sort of work, and
personal computer integration work from Springfield to a facility
in Kanata, Ontario, Canada.

The 100,000 square feet leased to SpringBoard is about a quarter
of the plant's total size, a SpringBoard spokeswoman said.
Dolphin added that the company expand to use more of the facility
in future, and has already begun refurbishing a unused clean
room at the site for disk-drive manufacturing.

(Grant Buckler/19930422/Press Contact: Nikki Richardson, Digital,
508-493-6369; Marsha Montori, The Momentum Group for SpringBoard,
413-525-1700)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00014)

Lotus Revenue Steady, Income Down In Quarter 04/22/93
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Lotus
Development Corp. has reported first-quarter revenue matching
last year's figure for the same period at $227 million. However,
net income for the 1993 quarter, which ended April 3, was down 41
percent from $20.8 million to $12.3 million.

Lotus said increased spending on sales, marketing and customer
support led to an 8.5-percent increase in operating expenses on a
year-over-year basis. The higher spending was largely due to a
series of high-profile product introductions in the 1993 quarter,
said company spokesman Bryan Simmons. They included the company's
new Improv for Windows spreadsheet and Release 3.0 of Notes, its
workgroup applications development software.

Simmons said the higher spending may continue for several
quarters, but the new products should also boost revenues.

Lotus is moving to control costs, company officials said. Those
efforts include consolidating office space, according to Simmons.
He added that there are no plans for staff cuts.

Lotus said its sales of software for the Microsoft Windows
environment grew 100 percent year over year, while sales of DOS
packages dropped 42 percent. Revenue from Windows-based products
now represents 49 percent of Lotus' total business, officials
said, adding that they expect this growth to continue with the
shipment of new products, including Improv, Notes, and major
upgrades to the 1-2-3 for Windows spreadsheet software.

Lotus also said its communications software business -- which
includes Notes and the cc:Mail electronic mail software -- grew
by more than 100 percent on a year-over-year basis. Company
President and Chief Executive Jim Manzi has identified
communications as a key growth area for Lotus.

(Grant Buckler/19930422/Press Contact: Bryan Simmons, Lotus,
617-693-1697)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEN)(00015)

 ****"Faster Than A Speeding Bullet" Bank Data Transfers 04/22/93
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- When you write
a check, you probably don't care how quickly it gets processed. You
may even hope it takes several days. But banks around the world
care how quickly they can transfer electronic data, particularly
when it comes to making sure they have their data backed up in case
of a disaster such as January's Hurricane Andrew.

To help banks speed up those transfers, Minneapolis, Minnesota-based
Computer Network Technology Corporation (CNT) manufactures and
distributes Channelspeed, a software package designed to increase
the volume of file transfers between mainframes. The company
announced this week that it has completed beta testing of the
software at the Bank of Montreal, one of North America's 10 largest
banks, attaining data transfer rates of 70 gigabytes (GB) per day
between two of the bank's branch offices.

The Bank of Montreal uses Network Data Mover file transfer software
from Systems Center Inc as the file transfer mechanism, Channelspeed
software to improve channel-to-channel throughput, and CNT's
Channelink network processors to move the data across a 44
megabits-per second T3 circuit. According to Mike Slade, the bank's
manager of capacity planning, Channelspeed worked even better than
expected. "We were easily able to complete a 70GB transfer in 12
hours with our network. In fact our tests showed that this
configuration could easily move 115GB within the same time frame."

According to Jim Morin, CNT manager of systems marketing,
Channelspeed speeds up file transfers by using multiple channels,
and bypasses VTAM channel protocols during file transfer. "VTAM was
designed to handle all kinds of communication, and its channel
protocols are not particularly efficient for data-intensive
applications like file transfer," says Morin. Channelspeed software
uses two-unit addresses on each channel, enabling communication in
both directions through a pipelining technique. VTAM typically uses a
single unit address and half-duplex channel protocol.

Channelspeed can also handle broken connections, according to Morin.
If a channel goes down, Channelspeed automatically routes traffic
through the remaining channels in the link. The software can also be
used for file transfer between systems in separate SNA networks,
cutting down on the need for expensive SNI gateways.

(Jim Mallory/19930422/Press contact: Doug Anderson, Computer Network
Technology, 6112-550-8000)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEL)(00016)

Apple Macintosh Source Of Scandal In India 04/22/93
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- The controversial Rs 5.27
crore (around $1.8 million) deal to purchase Apple Computer
Macintoshes for Karnataka State Government in India did not
end with the stepping down of Karnataka state chief minister, S.
Bangarappa. Recently, the Central Bureau of Investigation,
the central government's internal investigative agency similar
to the FBI, raided the offices and the residences of the former
chief minister and the former chief secretary J. Alexander.

CBI officials claimed that a number of incriminating documents
were found. In retaliation, Bangarappa tried to drag his
successor Veerappa Moily and four other ministers into the
case, calling them party to the scandalous decision on computer
purchases.

The computer deal goes back to March 1992, when Classik Computer
Systems, a Bangalore-based firm with unknown credentials,
submitted an offer to J. Alexander, then chief secretary, to
sell 100 Apple Computer Macintosh LC II machines at Rs 5. 27
crore (around $1.8 million). Alexander is said to have
recommended the purchase to S. Bangarappa, the chief minister
who also held the finance portfolio.

A government order allowing the purchase and a sanction of Rs
1.58 crore (around $526,000) as advance to Classik computers
followed.

The anomaly came to light in July 1992 when the opposition in
the state legislative council brought up the issue and filed
a petition in the Karnataka High Court questioning the purchase
of Apple Computer Macintoshes. Subsequent to this there were
revelations on a report filed by the government's Technical
Advisory Panel (TAP) in 1991. Referring to an earlier proposal
to purchase Apple Macs worth Rs 5.27 crore from Classik computers,
the report noted that there were several drawbacks in going for
Apple Macs.

It was clear that the government had ignored the TAP
recommendations and had gone ahead with the purchase. At market
rates prevailing then, 100 LC IIs would have cost a couple of
crores less. In late 1992, Karnataka High Court quashed the deal,
leaving few doubts about the propriety of the purchase.

In a parallel development, the prime minister's office gathered
the documents concerning the order. Now that CBI has filed a
first information report and raided the offices and houses of
the main accused, the government seems to be serious in bringing
to book the culprits behind the scam.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930422)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(MOW)(00017)

Moscow's Comtec'93 To Feature Major Players 04/22/93
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Comtec'93, the largest annual
computer technology show in Russia is to open on the April 26th.
The show will feature products that have been localized for
the Russian market.

Siemens Nixdorf will present information systems for hospitals and
labor agencies based on RM400 workstations. Its booth will also
feature the electronic image library, BVX, designed in cooperation
with the Russian Ministry of Internal as a special police
application.

IBM Corporation is presenting new PS/1 models, multimedia
software, and a computer specially designed for multimedia --
the PS/2 M77. The IBM exposition will also feature several
portables such as the ThinkPad, Lexmark printers, and the
AS400 mini-computer, and the latest IBM's processor RISC 6000.

Hewlett-Packard will show three laser printers, one of which
has never been shown publicly before. The company is planning
to display what it claims is the world's fastest machine in
its class, HP 9000 Model 735.

The exhibition will also be attended by Intel and its
numerous distributors. Intel will demonstrate its new Pentium
processor and new video and sound compression technology that
is being included in videoconferencing systems.

Digital Equipment Corporation will show PCs and workstations
based on its Alpha 21064 processor (200 Mhz and capable of
20 million operations per second). The computers of such
class are unique, they open great prospects for multimedia,
voice, video and pen-based technologies. DEC also plans to
presents its PCs working under a late version of the new
operating system, Windows NT, by Microsoft.

France's Bull is presenting a computer station, DPX/20, for banking
applications. This systems can be the core of an ICBS
banking system and Bull Questar 3410 automated teller machine.
Bull required special COCOM permission to show this technology
in Russia. The company also will display the two-sided laser
printer PageMaster1025 and the PC Notebook Z-LITE 320L, first
shown at CeBIT-93.

Seiko Epson has three new printer models on display: FX-870/1170
matrix printer, Epson Stylus 800 ink printer (with up to 360
dots per inch), and the EPL-500 laser printer which is able to
work with three computers simultaneously.

Soft-tronik Company will have a Unix computer network on
display. Rank Xerox will present a new line of fax machines
and a range of copy machines and printers including the
big RX5380 copier.

Borland is presenting the dBASE IV 2.0 compiler which is
new for Russia, and localized QuattroPro v4.0 and Paradox 4.0 ,
and well as their English versions, for Windows.

The exhibition has features local Russian companies, such as
Eximer, which will show a home-assembled 486DX2/66 MHz and
subnotebook portable based on 386SX/20MHz processor.

Joint Venture Summit Systems will announce a new OMEGAServer
computer for LAN applications. It is assembled in Russia
under US license.

Steepler presents animation systems from Hewlett-Packard and
its own Windows software -- CyrWin "Russification kit" and
a FaxLine communication program.

Merisel-Computer Technologies together with PC World Russian
edition will offer software products which won honors in the
American PC World 1992 contest.

Intermicro, being the dealer of RUI (which represents Apple
Computers in Russia), will display new Macintosh models --
the ColorClassic and PowerBook 165c.

Elogar Plus Company will offer SoftImage software and
the Silicon Graphics computer platform used in the production
of TV programs and commercials.

The week-long show has many other exhibitors, including Sun
Microsystems, Symantec, PickSystems, and MBL ComputerLand.

(Eugene Peskin & Kirill Tchashchin/19930422)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00018)

Great Plains Accounting V.7 04/22/93
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Great Plains
software says it is now shipping version 7 of its Great Plains
Accounting software for DOS, and expects to ship version 7 for Unix
and Macintosh platforms later this year.

The company says the new release includes 106 new features which
affect all 16 core modules in the product line, 91 new accounting
features related to increased productivity, and 15 that refine how
customers interact with the system. There are also three global
performance enhancements that increase system-wide flexibility, data
security, and performance. "By delivering both character-based and
graphical products, we're delivering on our commitment to our
Partners to deliver the best business opportunity in the market,"
says Great Plains President and CEO Doug Burgum.

Great Plains Accounting Version 7 was developed using Version 7 of
Microsoft C and Version 7 of Borland Turbo Pascal. Portions of the
program also take advantage of Novell's Btrieve functionality, using
filtering and extended reads and write for faster record retrieval
and updating. Posting is also faster in the new release.

A feature called Transaction Tracking allows users to restart
posting following a hardware failure or power outage without losing
any posted or unposted data. Customizable Help allows the user to
add their own on-line help comments to any data entry field in the
system. There are also user-defined Notes which can be added to
master records and specific transactions, and a navigational change
allows customers to move horizontally from a menu in one module to
a menu or window in another module.

In the Inventory/Order/Entry/Purchase Order module, a feature called
"kitting" allows component items to be combined into one saleable
unit, and component substitutions can be made at the time the sale
is posted. Picking tickets and invoices can show both the finished
item and/or the component prices. An automated physical inventory
adjustment feature allows users to reconcile physical inventory
results with the computerized inventory record, freezing specific
item activity, then print physical count tags, calculate the
quantity differences and make an adjustment. Invoices can also
include inventory items from multiple locations, allowing inventory
to be pulled from different warehouses on a single invoice. The
system now allows ten-digit bin numbers and three-digit location
numbers.

In the Job Cost module invoice-oriented billing provides the ability
to format bills that look like an invoice to allow users to
custom-tailor invoices to their own format. The module now also
allows specific salespersons to be assigned to a bill, allows for
bill discounting, and indicates payment terms or discounts.

In the General Ledger, Accounts Receivable/Accounts Payable modules,
multiple retained earnings accounts are now possible, as are
historical aged trial balances. Users now have the ability to split
commissions between as many as five salespersons and/or five
managers on a single transaction, and general ledger accounts can be
assigned to each vendor and each customer for posting to multiple
accounts.

The Payroll module has added a quick employee setup feature that
cuts the time required to add employees, and W-2 statements can be
printed before closing the year. There is also a feature to
accommodate non-taxable business expenses, allowing the user to
include business expense reimbursement on a payroll check without
having that amount appear as part of gross wages.

Present users of any Great Plains Accounting module can upgrade to
the new version for $125 per module until May 25, 1993 if they are
on a maintenance or support plan. After that date upgrade pricing
will be determined by module and by the maintenance or support plan
the customer has. Version 7 modules have a price tag of from $295 to
$1,295 for new customers.

(Jim Mallory/19930422/Press contact: Terry Kalil, Great Plains
Software, 701-281-3130; Reader contact: Great Plains Software,
800-456-0025 or 701-281-0550, fax [phone])


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

RAM Mobile Data Hits The Road In The UK 04/22/93
WEST DRAYTON, MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND, 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- RAM Mobile
Data has announced its first mobile roadshow is slated for
May 18, 19 and 20, taking in venues in London, Manchester and
Glasgow. The aim of the events is to give potential users of
the company's radio-based packet data network (PDN) a chance to
get a hands-on with the technology.

RAM will be joined in the road shows by its business partners,
Coplan, S-Com Computer Systems Engineers, and Traderman Systems.
The three dealers will be demonstrating their own "business
solutions" for the transport industry, based around RAM's mobile
PDN technology.

According to RAM, Coplan will be demonstrating its Cablink transport
management system. The Cablink system monitors drivers in a variety
of transport situations, feeding data on their location, speed, and
fuel consumption, back into a PC-based system. The software then
analyzes driver's performance and whether it falls within acceptable
limits.

S-Com, meanwhile, will be showing off its D-MAC system. Despite the
name, Newsbytes notes it has nothing to do with digital TV. Instead,
the system claims to be able to monitor transport and courier fleets'
overall efficiency levels.

Traderman Systems will be demonstrating its Traderfreight mobile data
tracking system at the road shows. Traderfreight was originally
developed for Express Parcel Carriers, as well as other road
transport and heavy hauler companies. The company claims that it
provides a cost effective mobile consignment tracking, delivery,
and vehicle control system.

RAM Mobile Data uses the RAM Mobitex technology seen in the US. The
company, which was granted a 25-year operating licence to offer its
service in the UK, is a joint venture between RAM Broadcasting
Corporation and Bellsouth, together with investment from France
Telecom, Swedish Telecom and Bouygues.

(Steve Gold/19930422/Press & Public Contact: RAM Mobile Data - Tel:
081-990-9090)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(BOS)(00020)

 ****Motorola System Ends Phone Tag 04/22/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Imagine a day
without phone tag or fax foul-ups. To put an end to these and
other communications hassles of contemporary organizational life,
Motorola is rolling out Site Connect, a family of three new paging
products.

Site Connect will hone in on the huge potential market for on-site
paging, just as services like Motorola's Ardis and Embarc are
filling the bill for wide area paging, officials explained in a
meeting with Newsbytes.

Site Call, the first product in the Site Connect series, is now in
alpha testing at Motorola, and will ship during the first quarter
of this year, said Steve Spiro, director of Customer Owned Paging
Operations.

Motorola is now working with phone companies, systems integrators,
other hardware makers, and major ISVs -- including Microsoft and
Borland -- to develop applications for Site Call and two future
Site Connect offerings, Site Message and Site Alert.

What's more, the Paging Operations staff would like to hear from
smaller developers and vendors who have innovative ideas. "We'll
be making a number of partnership announcements over the next three
to four months," Spiro told Newsbytes.

All three Site Connect products will be based around Site Pager, a
small, pocket pager that can be set by the user to either vibrate
silently or produce a beep. Site Call will also incorporate a
PBX-based system that adds pioneering paging services to the usual
office voicemail.

Site Message, the second service to be announced, will transmit
faxes, e-mail messages and calendar messages from the user's PC,
displaying entire messages or predetermined portions on the Site
Pager.

Site Alert, the third Site Connect service, will inform end users
of critical situations detected by medical instrumentation, network
management systems, and other computerized monitoring equipment.

"Site Connect means that employees of organizations will no longer
be chained to their desks," Spiro noted. Instead, the end user
will be free to roam throughout the site, even when an important
phone call, fax, or e-mail message is imminent.

Users will have the option of responding to a page right away, or
waiting until a more convenient time. Roving employees will be
able to access Site Call messages from any on-site touchtone phone.

Employers will enjoy a lot of latitude too, suggested Bruce
Williamson, marketing manager. Customization options for Site Call
include displaying the caller's phone number on the pager, letting
the caller wait on the line while the employee is being paged, and
automatically returning the caller to voicemail if the employee
doesn't come to the phone within a specified time.

To show how Site Call works, Spiro, Williamson, and Craig Wallace,
third party development manager, involved Newsbytes in Motorola's
alpha test.

Accompanying Newsbytes to a pay phone in the lobby, the executives
put in a call to Richard Topfer, customer service coordinator at
Motorola Paging Group in Boca Raton, FL. The phone was then handed
over to Newsbytes.

Topfer hadn't been told about the demo, and was in the hallway of
his office building when the call arrived. Within 45 seconds,
though, he was on the phone line, saying hello to Newsbytes.
During the brief wait beforehand, Newsbytes received regularly
scheduled voice prompts, stating how much time had elapsed since
the call first went through.

"Our new services are for `Corridor Cruisers,'" commented Spiro,
referring to a group of users first characterized by Norwell, MA-
based BIS Strategic Decisions in a recent study on the US mobile
computing market.

In the survey, BIS determined that, contrary to popular myth, the
mobile professional market is not made up mainly of
"Globetrotters," analyzing the intricacies of the next deal on a
notebook PC at 36,000 feet, or "Road Warriors" plying the freeways
with cellular phones in hand.

BIS researchers found that three-quarters of today's professional
works spend at least 20% of their time away from their desks, but
that 69% of this travel is "local," meaning within the building or
campus.

BIS also uncovered a current US installed base of 13.5 million
pagers, as opposed to 10.2 million cellular phones, 7.2 million
portable PCs, 2.1 million electronic organizers, 1.2 million public
e-mail mailboxes, and 400,000 palmtop PCs.

The Motorola Paging Group first learned of the BIS survey through
a story published in Newsbytes on February 22, according to Spiro.
The BIS report lent theoretical as well as statistical weight to
the paging product plans already in high gear at Motorola.

What kinds of additional nuances lie ahead? According to Wallace,
target application areas for Site Connect include health care,
hotels and motels, manufacturing, financial, fire and public
safety, utilities, and insurance, as well as the Fortune 1000.

Motorola is especially interested in finding ways of "filtering"
messages for individuals and groups, based on their informational
needs and interests. Potential filtering methods include RDBSes
(relational database management systems).

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930422/Press contact: Marianne Radwan, Capital
Relations for Motorola's Paging Products Group, tel [phone];
Reader contact: Gerry Pisciottano or Rosalie Wyatt, Motorola, tel
407-364-3642)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEL)(00021)

Digital India Ties With System Resources For Auto ID 04/22/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Digital Equipment India
Ltd, a subsidiary of Digital Equipment Corp. (USA), has
signed a memorandum of understanding with System Resources
Corporation of the US to offer automatic identification
technology to the Indian manufacturing and software development
sector.

Digital India will be SRC's distributor in the country, with
SRC providing support in areas of purchasing, technology
transfer, marketing and application of auto ID products under
the terms of the agreement, according to a press statement
for Digital India.

Auto ID technology is used mainly in automatic data collection
activities by providing electronic means to capture
information automatically at the source of transaction and
to communicate it on batch or realtime to host computer systems.

Auto ID products include barcode data collection, radio
frequency identification and communications, magnetic strips,
smart cards and voice data entry technologies.

Digital India will offer handheld and fixed position laser
scanners, thermal transfer printers, laser and color barcode
printers, handheld scanners, terminals and high-speed
omni-directional scanners.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930422)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00022)

RasterOps Posts 3Qtr $6 Million Loss 04/22/93
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- It looks
like RasterOps is in something of a slump, after the company
said sales were down 23 percent and losses totalled $6 million
for its third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 1993.

Sales for the quarter were $25.1 million, a decrease of 23
percent from sales of $32.7 million for the third quarter of
fiscal 1992. Net loss for the third quarter was $6 million, or
a loss of 74 cents per share, compared to net income of $1.8
million, or 22 cents per share, for the third quarter of the
prior year.

According to the company, the operating loss of $8.4 million
for the third quarter of fiscal 1993 included restructuring
charges of $6.7 million. The restructuring charges had been
announced previously with Kieth E. Sorenson, chief executive
officer, saying, "We are restructuring to make our organization
lean, mean and optimized to do business in today's highly
competitive environment."

Sales for the nine months ended March 31, 1993 were $75.5
million, down 12 percent from the sales of $85.9 million
reported for the comparable period of fiscal 1992.

But the losses have been happening all year. Net loss for the
first nine months of fiscal 1993 was $11.9 million, or a
loss of $1.47 per share, compared with net income of $3.5
million, or 43 cents per share, for the first nine months of
the prior fiscal year.

(Ian Stokell/19930422/Press Contact: Kent Robertson,
408-562-4200, RasterOps Corp.)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00023)

 ****Apple Plans Macintosh GUI For PCs? 04/22/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Apple
Computer may be developing a PC version of its own popular
Macintosh graphical user interface.

A report in the San Francisco Chronicle says that the company
has been running the software on Intel 486-based PCs for
several months.

If true, the product could present a threat to Microsoft's
Windows GUI (graphical user interface). Windows revolutionized
the PC when version 3.0, and subsequently 3.1, was introduced.
The products make the PC easier to use by offering a screen
filed with icons - images that represent computer
applications - and easily understood pull-down menus.

The Macintosh interface is generally considered easier to use
than Windows, offering folders for files and file management,
instead of eight-character file names and sub-directories,
for example.

According to the press report, Apple executives are now
considering when would be the most opportune time to
release the GUI product. The first product is expected to
work with Novell's networking software, because the two
companies have been working together to combine Apple's
software with Novell's market-leading network operating
system, NetWare. NetWare holds an estimated 65 - 70
percent share of the network operating system market.

When Novell purchased Monterey-based Digital Research years
ago, it acquired the DR-DOS operating system, a competitor
to Microsoft's MS-DOS for PCs. Sales of DR-DOS have been
sluggish though, prompting Novell to offer it as a bundle with
the low-end peer-to-peer network operating system, NetWare
Lite. Combining the Macintosh GUI with DR-DOS would prove
interesting in the marketplace, to say the least. It would
certainly add to sales of DR-DOS and would give the Mac
GUI a back-door entrance into the lucrative PC market.

The companies are said to be attempting to release the
product before Microsoft ships its much-hyped high-end
version of the Windows product, WIndows NT, set for
release this summer. Unlike the WIndows 3.x versions, NT
does not require DOS and acts as its own operating system.

No one was available for comment from Apple by
Newsbytes' deadline.

(Ian Stokell/19930422)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00024)

Sierra Posts Large Losses; Alliance With AT&T 04/22/93
OAKHURST, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Sierra
On-Line expects to post a loss for the quarter just completed
and it will be significantly greater than previously
anticipated. At the same time, the company has also announced
a strategic alliance with AT&T and General Atlantic Partners.

The company expects revenues for fiscal 1993 will be about $50
million, which represents an increase of roughly 17 percent over
fiscal 1992. The company maintains that the increase in total
revenues came primarily from increased sales by Sierra's
subsidiaries Dynamix and The Sierra Network.

However, the added losses are being attributed to "reductions in
the overall amount of deferred software development costs,
substantially increased spending on The Sierra Network and
significantly greater research and development costs."

The deal with AT&T and the New York-based private investment
firm of General Atlantic Partners at the moment just involves a
letter of intent signed by the parties. Under terms of the deal
AT&T and General Atlantic would gain equity positions in Sierra's
wholly owned entertainment and education network subsidiary,
The Sierra Network (TSN). Also, AT&T would provide development
support and capital to produce future network content.

In announcing the possible alliance, Ken Williams, president
and chief executive officer of Sierra On-Line, said, "An alliance
with AT&T will allow TSN to realize its full, long-term potential.
It will also strengthen our competitive position in the interactive
multimedia market and hasten the development of network
applications."

According to Williams, the alliance will help position The Sierra
Network as an "open" interactive network that will support
software content provided by independent software vendors and
will allow it to expand its membership base more aggressively
and "port" its interactive network software to other home
entertainment devices.

(Ian Stokell/19930422/Press Contact: Richard A. Gelhaus,
209-683-2598, Sierra On-Line)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00025)

 ****New Quicktime Faster, Needs Less Memory 04/22/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Quicktime
1.6, a new release of the multimedia extensions for System 7 on
the Macintosh, will be available in May and will use less
memory, offer improved sound support, better color
compatibility, and faster playback of video.

Apple Computer says it plans to incorporate the features new in
version 1.6 of Quicktime into its Windows and Unix versions of
the product.

Apple originally released System 7 and Quicktime in early 1992.
In October of last year, Apple announced enhanced versions of
both products in System 7.1 and Quicktime 1.5. This time, Apple
is only releasing an upgrade of Quicktime in version 1.6,
without an accompanying upgrade of System 7.

Quicktime 1.5 improved on Quicktime 1.0 by allowing video to be
played back in a larger window on screen; offering support for full-
screen, full-motion digital video cards; integrating support for
the Kodak Photo compact disc (CD); improving compact disc read-
only memory (CD-ROM) and network data handling. It also
has 1-bit fast dithering for playback on monochrome screens such
as those on the Powerbook notebook computer, generic media
handlers for creation of new movie-track types, and closed
captioning.

In version 1.6 of Quicktime users can expect to retain the
ability to cut, copy, and paste video, sound, and animation,
according to Apple. However, the 1.6 version offers an enhanced
version of the system software for sound, Sound Manager 3.0.
Also known as compact disc (CD) quality sound, 16-bit sound may
be recorded to and played back from Quicktime movies using
Sound Manager 3.0, Apple said. In addition, sound may be
imported from CD sources using Sound Manager.

Support for 16-bit add-on sound cards for the Macintosh offered
by third party vendors such as Media Vision is built into Sound
Manager. Since Sound Manager 3.0 is a modular part of Quicktime
1.6, Apple says it intends to license Sound Manager to add-on
sound hardware developers and software developers for
distribution with third party products.

The company says movie playback is more than 10 percent faster
with Quicktime 1.6 than with previous versions of Quicktime.
Apple says users can expect smoother and better movie playback
as a result.

Quicktime 1.6 makes colors in a movie played on one color
look the same when played on any other color monitor. Apple
says the addition of Colorsync, its color-matching technology,
makes the color matching possible. Support for 1-bit black and
white colors on up to 32-bit color is available so users can
play Quicktime movies on a wider range of Apple computers
including the 4-bit gray-scale Powerbook and Duo computers.

Apple says Quicktime 1.6 will enhance the text-track feature
introduced in Quicktime 1.5 by supporting smoothed, Truetype
text. To users, this means when a Quicktime movie that includes
text is re-sized, jagged edges of the text will smooth out.

All of these new capabilities are included in version 1.6 but
will require ninety percent less memory when installed,
according to Apple. The company says this is intended to
accommodate users with entry-level Macintosh computers.

In order to work, Quicktime 1.6 requires a Macintosh with an
68020 processor or higher, 4 megabytes of memory, and version
6.0.7 or later of the Macintosh operating system.

Quicktime 1.6 will be bundled with System 7.1 and included with
all new Macintosh computers beginning in May. Bulletin boards
and user groups will also be distributors of the 1.6 version,
Apple said, or users may call Apple directly toll-free to order
the 1.6 version for a $10 handling fee.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930422/Press Contact: Brooke Cohan, Stirling
& Cohan for Apple, 415-513-0973; Marcella Wucher, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact
for Quicktime 1.6 800-769-2775 ext 6596)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(HKG)(00026)

 ****Singapore Raids Nab MS-DOS 6.0 Fakes 04/22/93
TAI KOO SHING, HONG KONG, 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- No sooner has
Microsoft's newest DOS, version 6.0, hit the streets, that
somebody has made money illegally copying it, investigators
say. They report the first case of counterfeit copies of MS-DOS
6.0 have turned up in two retail outlets and an apartment in
Singapore.

Launched in the US earlier this month, the operating system
has yet to be released for sale in Singapore. The action
represents the first seizure of illegal MS-DOS 6.0 products
anywhere in the world.

"The fact that illegal MS-DOS 6.0 products are available in
Singapore from these criminal syndicates ahead of their official
launch, clearly shows the extent of the illegal counterfeit
trade there," said Alix Parlour, vice president of the Business
Software Alliance for Asia. "Singapore has one of the worst
records of counterfeiting in the region and we urge the
authorities to prosecute offenders to the maximum extent of
the law." The raids were the result of investigations by the
Singapore police and Business Software Alliance investigators.

BSA investigations have indicated that Singapore has become a major
distribution center for illegal software manuals and programs in the
region. In a recent submission to the US Trade Representative under
Special 301 provisions of the 1988 US Trade Act by the Business
Software Alliance, the Singapore government was strongly criticized
for refusing to take measures against even large-scale counterfeit
syndicates in the country.

The raid follows investigations by Microsoft, a member of the BSA,
into a suspected syndicate involved in the distribution and export of
illegally copied manuals and software programs. This latest case
against the two suspected syndicate members, Rubisoft and Alsoft
Computers Manufacturing, resulted in the seizure of more than 300
manuals and 300 diskettes containing counterfeit software.

In Hong Kong, at the Golden Shopping Centre in Mong Kok, an
independent PC consultant reported that illegal copies of MS-DOS
6.0 were also available, without manuals, before its official local
release date. "Some local PC software programmers use this to their
advantage, ignoring the legal issues for the sake of gaining a
competitive edge." He told Newsbytes. "Although many of them buy the
legal version when available, some of them won't."

"Some people will buy illegal copies of software because they can not
find the legal versions for sale locally," he said.

The BSA's main concern are counterfeit copies that comprise a fake
manual, disks and packaging. Inspection of Illegal copying is handled
by the Hong Kong Customs Department.

(Brett Cameron/19930422/Press Contact: Alix Parlour, BSA, Tel: +852-
804 4240;HK time is GMT + 8)


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

AMD Intros Am486 Chips; Intel Remains Unimpressed 04/22/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Less than a week
after Intel's 486 patent infringement case was thrown out of
court, Advanced Micro Devices claims it has begun shipments
of the first members of its Am486 microprocessor family.

While AMD "talks the talk" and claims that the action has
effectively ended Intel's monopoly on 486 devices for
IBM-compatible personal computers, Intel appears, at
least on the surface, to be unphased.

Michele Bourdon, spokesperson for Intel, told Newsbytes
that, while the AMD chips are definitely competition, "We
think it is going to have little impact on the 486 marketplace
right away. Basically we are back to square one. Before last
week, AMD did not have a license on the microcode for
the 486, and today they don't have a license."

Continued Bourdon, "In addition to that, in June they were
planning on shipping their own 486 product with a microcode
that they did in their own cleanroom. So this is basically
them coming out with a product with our microcode earlier."

However, she said the main question to ask is "Can they build
it?" Said Bourdon, "That is what would have the impact on the
market. Can they build it and do they have customers that are
willing to buy it? The capacity issue is a huge issue. We are
spending $2.5 billion this year just in R&D and capital just to
be able to manufacture these chips."

The first members of the Am486 family include 33 megahertz
(MHz), 40-MHz, and clock-doubled 50-MHz 486DX devices.

In announcing the shipments, W.J. Sanders III, chairman and
chief executive officer of AMD, said: "With today's announcement
of our initial shipments to the 486 microprocessor market, AMD
has assured manufacturers of IBM-compatible personal
computers a competitive source for the PC industry's dominant
microprocessor. We will ship thousands of Am486DX devices in
May, and will ramp production consistent with our marketing
objectives during the balance of the year."

The company claims that the devices were developed using the
same design methodology as the Am386 microprocessor family,
are compatible, plug-in replacements for i486DX products
currently used in IBM-compatible personal computers. The
Am486 microprocessor family also is claimed to be compatible
with the existing base of software applications.

The company says that the initial members of the Am486
microprocessor family incorporate Intel microcode, although
it will continue development of its "cleanroom" microcode
in order to achieve technological independence. Members of
the Am486 family incorporating the AMD microcode are set
for release on July 4.

The Am486 microprocessor family is manufactured at AMD's
Submicron Development Center (SDC) in Sunnyvale, using an
advanced 0.7-micron, three-layer metal CMOS (complimentary
metal oxide semiconductor) process technology.

However, according to Bourdon, "For every 486 chip that is
manufactured, AMD has to give up five 386 chips. Just because
of the laws of manufacturing and the transistor size of these
chips. So if what they are doing is manufacturing in their
design facility in (Silicon Valley), every time they manufacture
a 486 part they give up five 386s. How many of those can they
come up with in the near term and how much of an effect is
that going to have on the marketplace. We don't think it is going
to have a huge effect, at least in the short term."

AMD, however, claims that volume production of the Am486
family will not affect production capacity for its Am386
microprocessor products, which it says are manufactured at
the company's Austin, Texas facilities.

AMD has also announced that it has begun sampling a
low-voltage 486 product, a 33-MHz Am486DXLV device
capable of 3.3-volt operation. The device includes power
management features and will be offered in a low-cost
plastic package. Volume production of the microprocessor
is set for July.

AMD claims that first production shipments of the 33- and
40-MHz versions of the Am486DX have already been made.
They are available in 168-pin grid array (PGA) packages,
and are priced identically at $306 each in 1,000-unit
quantities. The clock-doubled Am486DX2-50 device, which
will be available in June, is priced at $417 each in 1,000-unit
quantities.

In terms of production, Bourdon said, "Intel is looking at
manufacturing, this year, 30 million 486-equivalent parts.
I don't know how many they are talking about."

No one was available for direct comment from AMD
by Newsbytes deadline.

(Ian Stokell/19930422/Press Contact: Scott Alen,
408-749-3311; Advanced Micro Devices)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00028)

Telecom Industry Supports Clinton's Europe Trade War 04/22/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- At its Supercomm
trade show, the Telecommunications Industry Association issued a
statement supporting President Clinton's trade dispute with the
European Community. The TIA represents US telecom equipment
suppliers.

"While we regret the breakdown of talks," TIA directors wrote,
"we must take action against discriminatory policies which
threaten the prosperity of US companies."

The dispute was narrowed to telecommunications after a conference
call April 21 between US and EC representatives, and electrical
equipment was taken off the table. "Buy American" and "Buy
European" preferences were taken out. But a similar agreement
could not be reached on telecommunications equipment. Many
European networks are state-owned, and suppliers like Siemens and
Alcatel are considered strategic by European governments. With
electrical equipment off the table, the financial impact of
sanctions should be minor, but they carry vast symbolic
significance in the wake of stalled talks for a new General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or GATT. The tariffs are most
likely to impact AT&T, which wants to increase the share of
business it does overseas and has been bidding for contracts
throughout Eastern and Western Europe. If the US imposes
sanctions, the EC could return fire, hurting US suppliers.

Thus, the TIA says, it remains "hopeful that the Europeans will
make concessions which will lead to resolution of the outstanding
issues."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930422/Press Contact: TIA, Debra Colbert,
202-457-4935)


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

Long Distance Company Earnings Generally Strong 04/22/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Earnings throughout
the long distance service services sector were strong for the
first quarter, indicating an improved economy.

AT&T led the way with operating income of $996 million, up 12
percent. Formally, the company lost $5.6 billion, as it took the
full hit on costs of retiree health benefits. The best news in
the report is that long distance volumes were up 5 percent for
the quarter, the first such upturn since the recession started.
The one dull spot continues to be computing, where AT&T said its
NCR unit lost $20 million, on slightly lower sales.

AT&T shares had been advancing steadily in anticipation of strong
earnings, having risen from about $40 per share last year to
about $57 now. At its shareholder meeting, held the day new US
Trade Representative Mickey Kantor is due to impose sanctions to
support AT&T moves into the European market, AT&T announced his
predecessor, Carla Hills, will join its board.

Arch-rival MCI did even better, posting earnings of $168 million
and said its traffic grew 13.6 percent during the quarter. During
the quarter it bought 31 percent of General Communication, Inc.,
one of two major long distance companies in Alaska, after which
AT&T petitioned to serve the state directly, and opened its
alliance with Canada's Stentor group. Sprint lost $413 million,
partly because of the same retiree charge taken by AT&T, partly
because of its purchase of Centel. Its long distance traffic was
also up, but not as much as MCI's.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930422)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00030)

Local Phone Earnings Just OK 04/22/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- After years of
leading the profit growth on telephone services, local phone
companies are starting to lag, although earnings are still
rising.

Ameritech posted profits of $300 million, with revenues up 3.9
percent. The company has cut 4,200 jobs in the last year. The
company told shareholders at its annual meeting it is optimistic
the Federal Communications Commission will let it into cable
television and long distance, in exchange for eliminating its
local monopoly, this year.

BellSouth posted lower income, $411 million, helped by a $25
million charge for costs related to a March blizzard. The company
had been hit the year before by Hurricane Andrew. Chairman John
Clendenin noted strong cellular and overseas growth, as well as
233,000 new access lines, and said the company remains on track.

Bell Atlantic reported earnings of $414.2 million, up from $338.6
million a year ago. The results included a gain of $44.2 million
on changes in accounting for income taxes and the sale of some of
its stock in Telecom Corp. of New Zealand. But Chairman Raymond
Smith called the report good, crediting cost controls.

GTE, which is larger than any of the regional Bell companies,
said it earned $460 million, on flat sales. Southwestern Bell
reported a loss, solely due to accounting changes. It added
158,000 new access lines. Pacific Telesis also took the
accounting hit, announcing losses of $1.7 billion for the
quarter. But without the changes, earnings would have been down 5
percent, at $265 million. The California economy remains weak.

At the Supercomm trade show, held this week as the earnings were
announced, some attendees criticized the job cuts which created
the strong numbers, saying that people who could find other jobs
left, while the dead wood stayed.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930422)


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00031)

Borland/Wordperfect Form "Virtual Corporation" 04/22/93
SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 APR 22 (NB) -- Borland
has talked about teaming up with Wordperfect to bundle a word
processor, spreadsheet, and database together but now it has
actually have done it. The two companies say their new
alliance will produce the Borland Office for Windows and is
designed to take on Microsoft in the small-business user
market.

Borland Office for Windows will offer word processor
Wordperfect for Windows 5.2, spreadsheet Quattro Pro for
Windows 1.0, and database Paradox for Windows 1.0 and is
scheduled to ship in the second quarter of this year, Borland
said. Borland and Wordperfect say they hope to capture some of
the market Microsoft and Lotus have gained with their similar
"office" product bundles Microsoft Office and Lotus Smartsuite.

Borland has made no secret about its unwillingness to develop a
word processing software product. So its only avenue for
putting together an office "bundle" was to ally itself with a
company which produces a word processing product. Borland says
its goal with Wordperfect is to produce products together that
offer added value to the consumer and to do so have formed this
strategic alliance that fits the definition of a "virtual
corporation" as described by Michael S. Malone and Willima H.
Davidow in their book The Virtual Corporation. However, neither
company has invested in the other and both companies are firm
that no merger between the two is planned. Wordperfect is
privately held while Borland is a public company.

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), Microsoft
has sold 700,000 suite units and Lotus has sold 100,000. The
difference here is both Microsoft and Lotus have all bundled
products developed in-house and also offer electronic mail and
graphics capability. Wordperfect and Borland assert electronic
mail and graphics capability will be available to users at
additional charge through the purchase of Wordperfect's
Workgroup Extension Pack, which is expected to be available in
the third quarter of this year.

The question now is integration. Borland and Wordperfect say
they are working together in three areas: research and
development; joint support for the independent database
application programming interface (IDAPI) standard for
accessing corporate data on multiple platforms and operating
systems; and in coordinating marketing, sales and support
programs. Both companies say they have a level of integration
between Wordperfect and Quattro Pro so users will be able to
import text and data from Quattro Pro for Windows notebooks
into Wordperfect. Further integration of the products is
planned.

The Borland Office for Windows is expected to retail for $595.
Each product individually purchased could cost users as much as
$1,785, the companies said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930422/Press Contact: Martha Isham, Borland,
tel [phone], fax [phone]; Linda Linfield,
Wordperfect, 801-228-5039)