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/nb930514

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(NEWS)(GENERAL)(DEN)(00001)

Tallgrass 1.5GB Minicartridge Tape Subsystem 05/14/93
LENEXA, KANSAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Tallgrass Technologies
has announced the FS1G, a quarter-inch minicartridge tape subsystem
that can store up to 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of compressed data.

Tallgrass says the FS1G can transfer data at a rate of up to 34
megabytes (MB) per minute, and can store 1.5GB on a single
minicartridge when data compression is used. The new system supports
Quick File Access, which can find any file on the minicartridge in an
average of 30 seconds for restoration.

The company says the FS1G data integrity is less than one
unrecoverable error in 10 to the 15th power bits and has a
mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) of over 60,000 hours. The FS1G uses
Reed Solomon error correction and error recovery procedures, and
supports full read-after-write verification.

Ernest Wassman, Tallgrass president, says SCSI minicartridge
technology is the fastest growing tape technology today, with an
estimated unit growth rate of 60 percent in 1993. "This growth of
minicartridges acceptance is due to its cost-effectiveness, growing
capacity, high performance and small form factor," according to
Wassman.

The FS1G is a 3.5-inch half-height form factor unit that uses DC2000
minicartridges and supports the SCSI-2 interface. It supports
NetSecure NLM, Enterpriz for Netware, and DOS-based networks,
Enterpriz for Banyan, FileSecure IX for Unix, and FileSecure for
stand-alone systems and small networks.

The system is available in internal and external configurations for
ISA (industry standard architecture) bus, MCA bus, and Apple
Computer's Macintosh platform. With a suggested retail price starting
at $1,195 for an internal ISA model, the unit ships with FileSecure
software, a SCSI (small computer system interface) host adapter,
cables and power cord, and a DC2750 tape cartridge.

(Jim Mallory/19930513/Press contact: Karen Saper, Tallgrass
Technologies, 913-492-6002)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00002)

Bulgarian Programmers Slow Virus Production 05/14/93
SOFIA, BULGARIA, 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- The Bulgarian computer
industry, once noted for being the most prolific source of
viruses, is changing. According to statistics issued by the
Bulgarian Government, the number of new viruses spotted in the
country is falling rapidly.

The Bulgarian Government, anxious that its country is not further
tainted as the source of computer viruses, undertook the survey
after pressure from a number of local software houses expressed
an interest in exporting their programs to the West.

According to Yevgeny Nikolov, head of the Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences' computer virus laboratory, which conducted the report,
only 15 new viruses were discovered to have been produced in
1992, compared with almost 50 in the first three months of 1991.

He added that, since the autumn of 1990, there has been no sign
of the Dark Avenger, the inventor of at least 15 destructive
viruses, including the Mutation Engine named after him or
herself.

When the Mutation Engine was first discovered in late 1990, virus
experts were worried, since the package allowed any reasonably
competent programmer to produce multiple viruses, each with a
different signature, that were capable of evading detection.

Since then the advent of polymorphic viruses -- viruses that
change their program code to avoid detection -- have become more
common. This has forced anti-virus programmers to produce anti-virus
packages that look for the trail of a polymorphic virus, rather
than the virus code itself. As a result of this, the threat posed
by the Dark Avenger's program has subsided.

Nikolov said that since the Dark Avenger's Mutation Engine had
been defeated, it appeared that the programmer concerned had
moved on to other things.

Nikolov added that job frustration has been a key element in
encouraging computer engineers and software designers to create
viruses. Often, he said, the viruses were created to test
security systems the engineers had created. The last year, he
said, has seen Bulgaria switch to a free market economy, so
opening up new horizons for computer experts.

Despite the government-sponsored report, Nikolov admitted that
Bulgaria remains at the top of the league in terms of virus
production. Of 2,700 viruses identified by the Academy to date,
around 500 can be traced back to Bulgaria.

(Steve Gold/19930512)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00003)

 ****Exec Says Pen Computer Producers Missed The Point 05/14/93
FOSTER CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- All of last
year's hoopla over pen-based computing missed the point, Dave
Larson, VP of sales and marketing for Notable Technologies, a
major supplier to the industry, said recently in an
exclusive Newsbytes interview.

Notable produces PenCOMM, a telecommunications program under
Go's PenPoint operating system. "We've been focusing on
communications for two years. When I wrote the business
plan, I talked to people, who said they were focused on
moving data, not the pen. That to me meant telecommunications."

Larson acknowledged that there have been mis-steps and investors
are getting impatient with the business. "After some ill-
conceived designs, like (the one from) Momenta, NEC and Grid have
new convertible units the market is welcoming. With the second
generation of pen products -- the focus is on communications,
like AT&T's EO and the Hobbit."

He said venture capitalists don't think the industry is still
moving fast enough. "The early projections were too optimistic.
We were always more conservative. There are economic questions,
questions of productivity. Pen and mobile computing integrates new
technologies that haven't worked before. It's bitten the
optimists."

He says the pen computing experience has been repeated in the
past, namely with the Macintosh in the 80s. "When I went
from Xerox to BusinesssLand, I'd worked on Star systems for
years, and knew about the graphical environment and laser
printing. But people looked at the Macintosh as a toy. It
was a foreign language." That changed in time. "I see a repeat
of the same cycles now, helping people re-define some of how
they work."

Larson added that the semantics of the industry are interesting
and revealing. While the business of automating field service
people has become a billion-dollar market, most people in the
field insist on the words "mobile computing" to describe their
market. "When you say field people think of the Telxon units and
the queues the IBM service guys carry -- they put a vertical spin
on it. It seems that the word mobile works better."

Instead, companies like Notable are interested in automating
field sales staff, and claim their message is being heard. "The folks
we've talked to are buying a dozen or two dozen units to pilot
with. But most are with the intention of rolling out hundreds or
thousands of users. The big thing is sales automation -- they
need to automate the audit trail of paper they handle. That can
justify the investment."

Notable's latest product is the prototype of a shared whiteboard
which lets two screens share the same program and input. "That
didn't work in the LAN environment because people don't do
collaborative keyboarding, but it's natural for people to want to
come together over a cocktail napkin and share enrichment of
their verbal conversation. We're targeting release for later this
summer."

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930513/Press Contact: Neale, May and
Partners, for Notable, 415-328-5555)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(BOS)(00004)

Unix Tools Support OpenWarehouse 05/14/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- In support of Hewlett-
Packard's recently announced HP OpenWarehouse, Evolutionary
Technologies Inc. (ETI) will be porting its Extract Tool Suite for
data conversion to the HP Series 6000 and other HP Unix
workstations, Newsbytes has learned.

Ron Lim, marketing program manager, Channel Partners, for HP, told
Newsbytes that HP and ETI are still negotiating details of the
port. The two vendors are also exploring the possibility of
arranging for ETI to train HP consultants, who work with HP's
customers, in use of the tool suite, he said. Plans should be
finalized about two months from now, he added.

The Extract Tool Suite is aimed at saving organizations time and
money by automating the process of converting database information
from one format to another. The tools replace the traditional
conversion method of writing a series of custom programs.

According to Robin Curle, executive vice president at ETI, the
suite consists of three products. Master Set is a series of four
graphical tools used to tell Extract about file structures,
programming, and other aspects of an organization's hardware and
software.

From the Master Set of tools, another Extract product, the Data
Conversion Tool, can generate programs capable of accessing any
database stored in that environment. The tool initiates a
conversion and generates the needed programs within minutes, said
Curle.

The third Extract product, the Extract Libraries, consists of
packaged definitions of commercial file and database management
systems for use in the data conversion process.

Ken Czajka, ETI's director of strategic alliances, told Newsbytes
that the Master Toolset and Data Conversion Tool are currently
available for Sun, Pyramid Unix, and IBM RS 6000, and will now
be developed for the HP 6000 and other HP workstations.

The Extract Libraries are available for all Unix platforms,
according to Czajka. "Libraries for most of the popular relational
database programs are complete," he added.

The pact between HP and ETI is nonexclusive. Previously announced
ETI partners include Pyramid Technology Corp. and Bachman. Pyramid
is using the Extract tools to migrate Legacy data from mainframes
to Pyramid systems.

Bachman and ETI are jointly developing a link between Bachman's
database design products and Extract. The link is slated for
release at the end of this quarter.

HP's OpenWarehouse, a data warehouse geared to open systems as well
as full scalability, will integrate a number of other products in
addition to Extract. The other products include Red Brick
Warehouse from Red Brick Systems, Prism Warehouse Manager from
Prism Technologies, Enterprise Data Access/SQL from Information
Builders, Open Development Environment from Open Environment, and
HP Open Access.

Czajka told Newsbytes that ETI will be participating in the
International DB2 Users Group meeting in Dallas May 23 through 27,
and in Client/Server World & Database World, a trade show being
held in Boston June 14 through 16.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930513/Reader contact: Robin Curle, ETI, tel
512-327-6994; Press contacts: Cynthia Stein, Capital Relations for
ETI, 214-907-9500; Rebecca Landre, Hewlett-Packard, tel 408-447-
5333)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00005)

Anti-Piracy Campaign Includes "Snitch" Rewards 05/14/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- A new advertising
campaign to inform Australians about software piracy starts on
Sunday (16th May). The Business Software Association of Australia
(BSAA) will use a number of methods to inform software users
about the "wrongness" of illegally copying software, and will
back up its threats with $2500 rewards to each person whose
information leads to a successful prosecution.

The BSAA has a record of successful prosecutions on behalf of member
companies and intends to become even more vigilant. The
rewards are expected to substantially increase the number of
reportings of corporate computer users who allow or condone
illegal copying of software on individual machines and networks.

BSAA estimates that in excess of US$250M in software sales is
lost in Australia each year. It says that only one in three
products installed last year was legitimate. "And this only
counts those installations that would have been made even
if the software had to be paid for," said WordPerfect's
Australian Managing Director Doug Ruttan.

The BSAA is also lobbying government for harsher penalties.
At present these are AUS$50,000 for individuals and $250,000
for companies (around US$35,000 and $175,000).

Findings of a survey conducted for BSAA were that software
piracy has declined within the large corporate and government
sectors; awareness that copying was illegal was 92 percent in
government, 77 percent in education and 68 percent in large
corporations; piracy is highest in small and medium-sized
business and in the home market (where awareness of the
illegality was also low); most people who pirate believe they
won't be caught; there is confusion over who is liable in an
organization, with company directors often not realizing
that ultimately they are liable; the level of awareness of
the BSAA closely followed the degree of piracy.

BSAA estimates that its members represent 75 to 80 percent of the
software sold in Australia. BSAA now actively publicizes successful
cases against pirates, including users and vendors. On May 3 it
was awarded a permanent injunction against Star Computer of
Victoria and its directors and the company agreed to pay
damages to BSAA members including Lotus, Microsoft and WordPerfect.
Star issued an apology, in part saying, "We admit to having
engaged in unauthorized copying of computer programs by loading
them onto the hard disks of computers sold to our customers."

BSAA has also announced a case against J and S Computers
following a "trap" of purchases where they allegedly sold disks
loaded with software such as PageMaker, WordPerfect, MS DOS 6
and Lotus 1-2-3, for AUS$46.60.

(Paul Zucker/19930514/Contact BSAA on phone [phone] or
fax [phone] or on the toll-free hotline [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(SYD)(00006)

"NASA" Hacker Pleads Guilty To 14 Counts 05/14/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- An Australian computer
hacker who calls himself "Electron" has appeared in a
Melbourne court following a 1990 charge. 23-year-old Richard
Martin Jones is accused of a number of unauthorized electronic
access offenses including one of bringing down one of NASA's
computer systems.

Jones has been remanded while the court waits for a full report
on his activities and their ramifications. As he entered a
guilty plea, sentence will be imposed by the court as soon as
the report is prepared.

The court was told that Jones was a long-time hacker, operating
from his bedroom, and involved in a network of hackers who
regularly swapped access codes and system information. In
particular it was claimed that he entered a top-secret NASA
computer system and by his presence, caused the system to
lock-up for 24 hours. He is also claimed to have aided another,
unnamed person to obtain secure information about the US
NORAD (North American Air Defense System) via the NASA system.

Jones' phone was apparently tapped and Australian Federal
Police have recordings of him telling another hacker how to
access NASA. This person then allegedly did so and accessed
secure data and made unauthorized changes to files.

A number of other instances of interference with Australian and
US computer systems were cited in the hearing. Jones had access
to a computer system and the University of Melbourne (where he
is now a third year accounting student) and allegedly used this
as his gateway to a number of other systems around the world.

His defense lawyer claimed that Jones had used his hacking
activities to gain esteem from his peers, especially fellow
hackers. His doctor said Jones was a lonely, depressed person
who had withdrawn into the world of computers following his
mother's death. When he was charged for the offences in
1990 he underwent a month of psychiatric treatment.

The lawyer claimed Jones was obsessed with cracking computer
systems but that he never intended to do any harm. He asked that
the judge impose a non-custodial sentence in light of his
situation, his contrition and his cooperation with authorities.

(Paul Zucker/19930514)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SYD)(00007)

Pay-As-You-Use Software 05/14/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- An Australian software
design house has developed what it believes is an unique way to
sell software. QuikPay is a payroll system for small businesses
and they only pay for it as they use it.

The system records the number of paypackets produced, and prints
an invoice for the company to pay. At present this is $1 per
pay generated. Creator MicrOpay said that in today's hard
economic climate the system saves small businesses the initial
outlay normally needed to purchase such a system.

QuikPay will handle up to 100 current employees and caters to
all payment methods including electronic funds transfer, covering
up to 9 accounts. It automatically calculates leave loading,
overtime and income tax for each pay or on query. In addition
it can be used to approve leave applications, based on entitlement.

Each employee has a separate personnel file including banking
details, standard pay, standard additions, standard deductions,
rostered days off and annual leave. Ten non-contributory
superannuation schemes can be created within the system, with
rules customizable to each employer, fund and employee. Users
receive a manual with sample files, and a phone support hotline
is available.

(Paul Zucker/19930514/Contact IPR for press details on phone
[phone] or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEL)(00008)

India - TISL (Tata-IBM) Sales Up 05/14/93
BANGALORE, INDIA, 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Even as most hardware
vendors were complaining of a demand slump in March (the Jan-Feb-Mar
quarter generally accounts for 40 percent of the yearly sales,
reaching a crescendo in March), Tata Information Systems Ltd.
(TISL) reported good sales, despite the fact that the Tata-IBM
venture started delivering PS/2s and PS/VPs only in the last week
of March.

According to a TISL spokesman, the company has delivered 40 PS/2s
and 100 PS/VPs so far. Sales have been mostly to the manufacturing
and financial sectors with foreign companies being the major buyers.
Consequently, TISL has already built a client profile which includes
names like American Express, ITC (the biggest cigarette manufacturer
in the country, with interests in software among other things)
Pepsi Foods, Hindustan Lever and Cargil seeds.

The PS/2s are priced between Rs 2.1-4.5 lakh (around $7000 to
$15,000). PS/VPs are priced upwards of Rs 1 lakh (around $3,000).
The machines are being imported as the company's manufacturing
facility, in Bangalore, is not operational as yet. Executives
are still unclear as to when desktops will be manufactured locally.

TISL is also trying to sell Actionmedia II, IBM's multimedia
card-based on Digital Video Interactive (DVI) technology. The
company sees a big market for Actionmedia II which goes with PS/2s.

The company is planning to introduce a range of notebooks soon.
"We are still evaluating notebooks," disclosed Anal Jain, vice
president, marketing. On the software front TISL will be
subcontracting a lot of work to local software houses. Some
agreements in this direction are underway.

TISL would shortly be exporting hardware designs and
subassemblies to IBM plants abroad. The company targets to gross
over $1 million through hardware exports alone. According to
Mike Klein, managing director, TISL, IBM's International
Procurement Operation (IPO) has been functional as part of TISL
for some time now. More recently, IPO has identified some vendors
for PCB designs and power supplies. He, however, did not disclose
the identities of the vendors, contending that it was premature.

TISL has totally taken over the marketing of AS/400s and RS/6000s
in India from IBM, Singapore. "IBM Singapore may come into the
picture only when a customer wants an invoice raised in dollars,"
said Klein.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930514)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(DEL)(00009)

India - TCS Intros Unigraphics Version 10 05/14/93
BOMBAY, INDIA, 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Bombay-based Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS) has introduced Unigraphics Version 10, claimed to
be industry's most powerful software for computer-aided design,
manufacturing, and engineering. The software has been developed
by Electronic Data System (EDS), wholly-owned subsidiary of
General Motors.

Version 10, Unigraphics's most significant enhancement to date,
provides a new user interface and enhances capabilities in the
areas of modelling, drafting, analysis and manufacturing. The
new version includes advanced product modelling, mesh-free
boundary integral analysis, kinematic analysis, assembly modelling
and integrated CAM features.

A new Motif-based interface is claimed to make V10 one of the
easiest systems of its kind to use, while further increasing
productivity. The new interface allows access to any part of
the product throughout its life cycle from the desktop.

Price varying between $8,000 and $1,50,000, depending on the
configuration, Unigraphics supports Digital, Hewlett-Packard and
Sun workstations. TCS plans to set up four data centers for those
"who want to use Unigraphics but cannot afford it."

Launched in India in 1987, the Unigraphics package has been
installed at Railway Coach factory, Kapurthala, Bajaj Auto,
Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi and Bombay), Space
Application Centre, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. and Regional
Engineering Centre, Roorkee and Trichi. Compared to 19
installations so far, TCS hopes to sell more than 10 packages
of the new version this year.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930514)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(MOW)(00010)

Motorola To Open Moscow Office 05/14/93
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Motorola has announced at a press
briefing that it will officially open its Moscow office on June 2nd.
The company also plans to build a distribution network across the
C.I.S. countries.

Among the plans of the company are to promote various wireless
technologies, including pagers and cellular communications,
which are not yet a household item in Russia. Motorola is also
said to be using a Russian Proton heavy space launcher to orbit
a number of its Iridium satellites.

Other company plans include the building of a distributor and
dealer network across C.I.S. countries, according to Shelagh
Lester-Smith, Motorola Europe director, communications systems.

Motorola has reportedly leased a large chunk of prime office space
at the newly built McDonalds office building in downtown Moscow.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19930514/Press Contact: Motorola Moscow, phone +7 095
181-7856)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(MOW)(00011)

Russia - Phone Prices Rise Again 05/14/93
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Moscow and St. Petersburg
phone networks has announced immediately raises in phone prices.

Phone companies pursued different goals in the process. St.
Petersburg authorities tried to punish private phone owners,
which "are being used by businesses to get cheaper residential
long distance rates." St. Petersburg authorities removed the
50% discount for residential phones. Meanwhile, the Moscow
City phone network worked out another plan, designed to
remove the advantages state-owned companies have over
residential rates. Both were raised -- residential 50%,
state-owned companies 100% and other businesses 200%.

Both cities still have a three-tiered tariff system, in which
night calls are the cheapest while daytime calls are four times
more expensive. Using the operator service, although slow and
unreliable, raises prices two more times.

As usual, the announcement appeared in both cities one day before the
hike was put into effect.

Inequity, however, continues to exist. The price for a call
from Moscow to St Petersburg at the peak time is 54 rubles (US$0.06) per
minute, while the other way around is 47 rubles (US$0.05) per minute.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19930514)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00012)

Computer City Names Third European Location 05/14/93
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Tandy Corporation
division Computer City has announced the location of its third
SuperCenter in Europe.

The company said this week that the third European outlet would be in
South Stockholm, Sweden. The company already operates SuperCenter
stores in Stockholm and Copenhagen, Denmark.

The new SuperCenter will be located at Kings Corner, across from the
IDEA furniture store, and will occupy about 1,485 square meters when
it opens in the third quarter.

Computer City SuperCenters in Europe sell Apple, Commodore,
Compaq, Canon, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Victor personal computers and
peripherals, as well as a selection of software, telephones, fax
machines, copiers, and furniture. Computer City spokesperson Ron
Trumbla told Newsbytes the company employs an average of 60 people in
each of its US outlets.

In addition to its European outlets, the company operates 20
SuperCenters in the US, and says it will add 15 additional
superstores this year and 16 more each year over the next two years.
Computer City estimates sales will approach the $1 billion mark in
1994, the third full year of operation. Trumbla told Newsbytes the
next US Computer City SuperCenter, the 22nd, will open in the Fort
Lauderdale, Florida area this summer. The 25,000-square-foot facility
will be located in the Sawgrass Mills Shopping Center in Sunrise.
Another store is scheduled for opening in Santa Ana, California, also
this summer, and construction has begun on a store in the Seattle
area.

(Jim Mallory/19930514/Press contact: Ron Trumbla, Computer City,
817-878-4969; Reader contact: Computer City, 817-390-3000, fax
817-390-2700)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEN)(00013)

Motorola Outlines Future Of 68000 Chips 05/14/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Motorola's Semiconductor
Products Sector, part of its Microprocessor and Memory Technologies
Group, says the future for its 68000 chip family is bright and will
spark new revolutions in electronic products.

The company says its strategy calls for rapid progress on a number of
fronts, including basic processing technologies, design engineering,
chip fabrication, and quality. That will include higher chip density,
integration, increased performance, and reduced design cycles.

Part of Motorola's vision for the 68000 series includes personal
computers that are easier to use, are more powerful, and have greater
versatility than anything currently available. It also predicts
smaller, smarter machines that include palmtop nomadic computers,
interactive home entertainment systems, and hand-held global
positioning and navigation devices for motorists, boaters, and
hikers.

The company says its higher density chips can increase chip density
from the present 68,000 transistors on the original 68000 processor
and the 1.2 million on the current 68040 model to a transistor count
approaching 100 million by the year 2000. With that kind of density,
Motorola designers expect to be able to place multiple CPUs (central
processing units), megabyte-size caches, and multiple parallel
pipelines on a single chip. Within the next two years, Motorola
expects the 68000 family of processors to surpass 100 million
instructions per second, and that number will reach one billion
instructions per second by the end of the decade. That's similar to
the computing power of today's top-of-the-line supercomputers.

In the functional arena, the company says as transistor count climbs,
integrated processors will be able to pack logic equivalent to a
large motherboard on a single chip, and that chip could include
multiple specialized processors, a full complement of system
peripherals, and even several megabytes of memory. The company
is also working on fuzzy logic, neural networks, digital
signal processing (DSP), wireless communications, and other
leading edge technologies.

Production time will also shrink, says Motorola, with the process of
adding peripheral logic to a core processor taking as little as one
week from specification to final mask by the year 2000.

Engineers also see lower power requirements for the greater capacity
chips in the future, saying that the next few years will see a
static, 3.3-volt version of the 68040, called the 68040V, as well as
a low power 68300 processor. The 68060 and subsequent CPUs will have
a fully static 3.3-volt design from the outset, and Motorola
designers expect to be producing processors in the 1.5-volt range by
the end of the decade.

In terms of functionality, Motorola predicts general purpose CPUs,
streamlined embedded processors, low power chips, and specialized
processors for applications such as data communications, interactive
CD players, portable computing, and engine control. Applications are
also envisioned for speech recognition and advanced real-time video
and animation.

The company says the consumer computing market is characterized by
price sensitivity and high volume production. By integrating the
right mix of functions for a given application, reducing the chip
count, and providing low-voltage chips, consumers should have
available a variety of portable and hand-held devices. As Motorola
puts it, "The best is yet to come."

(Jim Mallory/19930514/Press contact: Candace Fitzgerald, Cunningham
Communication for Motorola, 617-494-8202)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(DEN)(00014)

Motorola Expands Paging Operations, Up To 1,000 New Jobs 05/14/93
FORT WORTH, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Motorola says it
will expand its Paging Products operations in Fort Worth, Texas, a
move that could create as many as 1,000 new jobs.

The company says the expansion will augment the existing Paging
Products unit's operations at Boynton Beach, Florida. "The growth of
our business has mandated the selection of an additional site for our
paging operations," according to Frank Lloyd, corporate VP and
assistant GM of the group.

Once approval is received from city and state regulatory agencies,
the division, which manufactures beepers, will locate design,
manufacturing, marketing, sales, support, and administrative offices
at the new facility. The division already employs about 300 people in
Fort Worth, most of those engaged in research and development. The
company says it plans to initially hire a "landing team" of about 150
to start work on the expansion.

"We intend to get a division in (Fort Worth) and that means a
potential of up to 1,000 jobs within about five years," says Motorola
spokesperson Ken Countess.

Motorola employs about 2,200 in Boynton Beach, and two months ago
opened a day care facility called KidStop, which can handle
up to 128 children, mostly Motorola employees.

(Jim Mallory/19930514/Press contact: Ken Countess, Motorola,
305-475-5603)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00015)

MCI Gains Market Share 05/14/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- MCI keeps racking
up market share with marketing innovations and there seems
little AT&T can do to reverse the trend.

Despite AT&T's full-court press to stop defections, for instance,
MCI reports it has won 10,000 new 800 numbers since they became
portable May 1. Toll-free lines were a business dominated by AT&T
before portability, at prices 20-25 percent higher than regular
toll calls, but MCI claimed it won over 6,500 new numbers from
AT&T alone, exceeding expectations. There are now over 1 million
800 numbers, however, so it remains to be seen how big a jump in
market share MCI's success so far represents -- analysts estimate
it may pick up 2-3 points.

While AT&T used access to the "700" exchange to offer "personal
phone numbers" to people who move around a lot, MCI is using them
for access to corporate private networks. By routing the wired
portion of a wireless call to the 700 number, businesses can save
money, and that can encourage them to bring their Virtual Network
business, which MCI calls Vnet, to MCI. The offering also makes
MCI a player in the booming cellular long distance market -- it
has not been involved in wireless communications before. The Vnet
cellular service also lets businesses customize the privileges of
individual callers, and consolidates all calls on a single bill,
MCI said. ID codes, which can be dialed after the phone number
and verified by a Vnet database, are an optional feature that
will help protect a company against fraud and misuse. Accounting
codes, also dialed after the phone number, allow calls to be
tracked by department, individual or project and prove valuable
when cellular phones are shared.

Another marketing innovation MCI is trying to bring together is
pre-paid phone cards. These are popular in Asia, where they can
be embossed for specific companies or events. Western Union is
offering the cards themselves, which come in denominations of
$5-50, are disposable, and are valid for six months, but MCI will
handle the billing on calls made with the cards. To use them from
a touchtone phone, callers dial a toll-free number, then the
eight-digit card number. A computerized voice then reads out how
much calling time is left on the card.

MCI is also trying to upgrade its network, which it made all-
fiber after buying Telecom USA a few years ago. Corning Glass is
AT&T's sole big rival in fiber cable, so MCI has turned to a new
Corning technology called dispersion-shifted fiber, which
requires fewer amplifiers than regular fiber, to do this at low
cost. The new fiber has been laid in Texas and California, and
will be part of a new route between Salt Lake City and Chicago to
be installed late this year.

AT&T has been trying to fight MCI with commercials stating that
the difference in price is only a matter of a penny or two, and a
new study from the Telecommunications Research and Action Center
seems to bear that out. Small firms like Allnet were price
leaders a year ago, the study concluded, but the "big three" have
since caught up. And the study had high praise for AT&T's new "i
Plan" calling plan, which automatically puts callers into a
calling plan based on calling patterns, without a monthly fee.
AT&T's share of the market, however, has declined to around 60
percent, and it may prove difficult to turn the tables because of
programs like MCI's Friends and Family, which requires people to
stay with the company or lose a 20 percent discount on calls made
to specific numbers. The TRAC study urged consumers, especially
heavy users of long distance services, to go with a calling plan
and avoid standard rates.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930514/Press Contact: David Thompson, MCI,
800-289-0073)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00016)

FCC Passes The Hat 05/14/93
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- The Federal
Communications Commission will need more money to enforce last
year's cable reregulation act. The agency recently issued
hundreds of pages of new rules implementing the act on 10,000
cable operators, who can appeal local rate reductions back to the
FCC.

Interim Chairman James Quello estimates it will take $12 million
for the rest of fiscal 1993, and $16 million more next year, to
hire the lawyers and accountants needed, although he has no idea
where to put them. Under former chairman Al Sikes, the agency
rejected a move outside the downtown area that would have given
it more room. To get the $16 million, moreover, Quello wants to
charge cable operators, who are subject to the regulation, 2.5
cents per subscriber per month, which they can gleefully pass on
as evidence that regulation only raises prices and doesn't lower
them. The House Appropriations Committee, aware of the PR
benefits to operators, has refused to approve the extra money,
but the full House and Senate are likely to do so.

The problem, observers say, is that the reregulation law is too
complex. In order to get a compromise law past a Republican
President's veto, the FCC was given the job of crafting formulae
for pricing, and the law mandated both local hearings and
appeals. Had Congress written a simple, per-channel charge into
the act the operators would have screamed, but on their own dime,
not the government's. Of course, the simpler law might not have
passed. Still, sponsors of the Cable Act continue to insist that,
at the end of the day, most cable bills will decline 10 percent
or more, a savings of over $1 billion. Many operators are
determined to be as obstructionist as possible to see that
doesn't happen, then lay the blame on the government.

In other FCC action, Quello and Commissioner Ervin Duggan decided
not to recuse themselves from a decision to waive media ownership
rules and let Rupert Murdoch get back the New York Post. The
agency eased construction deadlines for SMR radio stations like
those of Fleet Call, and proposed other rules which will help
such companies compete with cellular phone operators. Finally,
the agency adopted reforms for about 1,300 small, local companies
which could ease their state regulatory burdens, and required
local companies to give long distance providers name and address
billing, known as BNA, for telephone calling cards.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930514/Press Contact: FCC Press, 202-632-
5050)


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

Digital Cable Converters 05/14/93
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- General
Instrument Corp., the leading provider of cable set-top converter
boxes, announced what it calls the DigiCipher II digital
television system, making it more compatible with the MPEG-2
standard. The company's Jerrold Communications Division, which
makes its set-top converter boxes, said the new system will
immediately be made part of its DigiCable terminals starting next
year.

At the recent National Association of Broadcasters show, GI
showed off DigiCipher in two ways. It is an option for HDTV
transmission, and it allows multiple channels to go out on one
satellite transponder, a capability HBO and PBS are using for
multi-casting. At the show company executives said "the digital
gears will grind" between DigiCipher and MPEG-2, and this
announcement seems to indicate they'll grind finely indeed. The
new offering offers "dual mode" compression, either optimized for
television applications, or an MPEG-2 compatible mode for
operating with computers and other devices. The new Jerrold
converter, meanwhile, can handle either mode.

Earlier this month, GI signed off on a deal with Intel and
Microsoft Windows to incorporate 80386 chips and a version of
Windows called Modular Windows in future cable set-top converter
products needed by companies like TCI to deliver interactive
cable systems handling 500-750 channels. A demonstration of that
technology was also part of the company's NAB booth.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930514/Press Contact: General Instruments,
Rick Friedland, 312-541-5000)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00018)

 ****Govt Studies While Airlines Act On Computer Use 05/14/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- An increasing number
of airlines are banning the use of computers during portions of
flights even before the federal government concludes its tests on
personal electronic devices. Preliminary results from
government studies are due in October and may indicate whether
portable CD players, electronic games, and even notebook
computers can actually interfere with the avionics (aircraft
electronics) needed by pilots to safely navigate their planes.

NorthWest, Continental, and US Air had banned use of personal
electronic devices some time ago under certain circumstances,
American announced similar restrictions this week, and NBC News
reported yesterday that TWA will soon restrict their use.

So far the bans apply only to the takeoff and landing portions of
a flight, exactly the times when it would be difficult to use a
computer anyway, as well as times when the aircraft is forced to
fly below 10,000 feet.

Although computer makers deny any problems, some pilots say that
electronic devices, all of which contain computers, can interfere
with critical aircraft electronics, endangering all passengers.

The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) will take the results
of ongoing federal and private studies into account when it
eventually sets an official policy on the inflight use of both
entertainment and business tools.

Computers, as well as electronic games all emit electromagnetic
signals which can cause interference with other electronic
devices. Anyone can demonstrate this to themselves by placing an
operating computer next to a television which is disconnected
from cable signals.

This potential interference isn't usually obvious because so many
televisions are now fed programs using shielded cables which also
provide such strong signals that they usually overpower most
interference. The radio and navigation equipment in an airplane
are not isolated in the same way and the metal skin of the
aircraft can cause relatively weak signals from the passenger
area to be conducted throughout the plane.

It will probably come as a surprise to many people that CD
players are also classed as computers, but at the heart of all CD
audio players is a complex digital to analog conversion system
and a complete special purpose computer based on the Unix-like
OS-9 operating system.

It is by no means certain that such electronic instruments
actually cause any interference, but aircrews are nervous about
potential problems because their main concern is safety.

On a recent Swiss Air flight returning from Europe, Forrest Mims,
the well-known science writer who just received the prestigious
Rolex Award for an amateur science project which had been
rejected by Scientific American magazine, the cabin attendant saw
him using a home-made instrument and was concerned.

Upon presenting his credentials and demonstrating that the device
did not contain any sort of computer, he was invited into the
control cabin as an honored guest, but the incident shows that
restrictions on inflight use of electronic devices are not limited
to US carriers.

Mr. Mims happened to be measuring the thickness of the ozone
layer using a simple device he invented which some say does as
good a job as multi-million dollar satellites launched by NASA.

Other passengers holding unusual electronic devices are not
likely to be treated with the same consideration as an
internationally famous amateur scientist and the problem facing
airlines is whether it is worth the potential risk to aircraft
and passengers to wait for a final determination from the FAA
before banning the use of such devices during critical, close-to-
the-ground maneuvering.

Although business users, who are big money makers for airlines,
are complaining about the restrictions, this probably won't
influence the airline management very much if the majority of
carriers join the ban.

(John McCormick/19930514/)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(WAS)(00019)

Roundup - Stories Carried By Other Media This Week 05/14/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Roundup is a brief
look at some computer stories carried in other publications
received here this past week.

Communicationsweek for the week of the 10th reports on pitfalls
of 4GL (fourth-generation programming languages), citing the fact
that distancing a programmer from the actual code makes it
impossible for the developer to really understand what is going
on with a new program, making it difficult to debug, optimize, or
tune the application.

Computerworld dated May 10 says that Hewlett-Packard is focusing
on light-based technology to link wireless systems via infrared.
This system is less versatile than radio frequency (RF) links but
doesn't require government (FCC) licensing and offers better
security, if only because the system only operates in direct
line-of-sight. The story says that Microsoft will release Mobile
Windows, a portable-user version of the Redmond operating
environment, by this fall.

Informationweek for this week features a discussion on the role
of technology in reducing health care costs through moving far
beyond claim automation to maintaining patient records
electronically.

May's Computer Monthly focuses on large screen monitors and along
with a chart, there are descriptions of more than a dozen
monitors.

A redesigned June Byte (don't worry, Jerry Pournelle's column is
still there) looks at the many different Windows versions which
will soon be available. From Windows for RISC workstations to
Windows NT and even a Windows link between PCs and the cable TV
box, Byte says Windows is redefining the PC.

The May issue of I.T. Magazine carries a report from a Toronto
lawyer who says Canadians will soon have new protection against
bad software - class action suits! The author says, as we all
suspected, that the usual highly restrictive shrink-wrapped
license agreements are not binding and that users can join forces
to sue even for small amounts of individual damages.

Federal Computer Week dated May 10 says that, despite claims from
3M that its CD-ROM discs are good for 100 years in normal use or
600 years in archival storage conditions, The National Archives
and Records Administration is supporting IBM-type 9-track 3480
magnetic tape cartridges as the only storage document suitable
for archival electronic data storage.

Government Computer News dated May 10 reports that Representative
John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) will soon introduce his latest
procurement reform bill. The bill will raise the threshold for
buys requiring cost and pricing data from vendors from $100,000
to $500,000. Rep. Conyers has been fighting for years to reform
procurement regulations.

(John McCormick/19930514/)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00020)

DEC Has Distributed Computing Environment for OSF/1 05/14/93
MAYNARD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Digital
Equipment has announced an implementation of the
Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) standard for its DEC
OSF/1 variant of the Unix operating system. Digital DCE for DEC
OSF/1 expands Digital's portfolio of products compliant with the
Open Software Foundation (OSF) DCE standard, DEC said.

According to DEC, the new product gives application developers
all the services they need to create distributed applications
that run across a variety of platforms. Such applications will
let computer users get at all network resources and applications,
regardless of which vendor's hardware or operating system they
are using or where the resources physically are.

DEC also announced Custom DCE Services, including technical
training, in-depth design analysis, and guidance to help
customers build DCE applications.

The vendor said it plans to provide other DCE products over the
next year, including added DCE products for its OpenVMS operating
system on VAX and Alpha AXP hardware, DCE products for PCs, and
an implementation of the DCE Distributed File System.

Digital said the DCE for DEC OSF/1 software includes all the
foundation technologies specified by the OSF DCE architecture.
It has four parts: Digital DCE Runtime Services, which allows use
of resources across the network; Digital DCE Cell Directory
Server, which names and locates network resources; Digital DCE
Security Server, which controls network log-ins and access to
data and services; and the Digital DCE Application Developers'
Kit, which gives programmers a common C-based Interface
Definition Language (IDL).

DEC said DCE for DEC OSF/1 is the foundation of a Distributed
Computing Software (DCS) product portfolio that will help its
customers speed up the implementation of new client/server
computing models.

The company said it is working with several independent software
vendors to develop DCE-based software, and with customers to
incorporate DCE into their applications.

Digital DCE for DEC OSF/1 is due to be available in July. Prices
will vary based on package components. Digital's DCE consulting
services are available now.

(Grant Buckler/19930514/Press Contact: David Farmer, Digital,
603-884-4467)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00021)

Canada's Unitel Offers Calling Plans 05/14/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Unitel
Communications Inc., the national long-distance phone company, is
out to lure Canadians away from the regional phone companies with
four long-distance discount plans.

One of the new plans is aimed at residential users, two at small
to medium-sized businesses, and one at organizations that use
long-distance service heavily.

Unitel's Close Connections plan is for residential long-distance
customers who want to save on calls to as many as a dozen numbers
they call frequently. Close Connections is both a discount plan
and a way for Unitel to obtain sales leads. To use it, a Unitel
customer must provide Unitel with the names of one or more people
he or she wants to be able to call at a discount.

The original customer then gets a 15-percent discount off
Unitel's rates on calls to the named parties for at least 90
days. During that time Unitel will contact those people, or the
original customer can contact them, and try to get them to sign
up for Unitel's long-distance service. If they do so the original
customer continues to get a discount on calls to them.

Stephanie MacKendrick, a spokeswoman for Unitel, said the company
has been careful to avoid problems with this selling scheme.
Unitel offers customers the option of contacting their friends
themselves rather than having Unitel do it, she said. Before
contacting a prospect itself, Unitel will check the name against
the Canadian Direct Marketing Association's database of people
who have asked not to receive junk mail or telephone
solicitations, and if the person is on the list Unitel will
notify the original customer and not make contact. Unitel also
promises not to resell the names it obtains through the plan,
MacKendrick said.

Unitel's new Precedent and Unison plans are aimed at small to
medium-sized businesses. The Precedent plan, aimed at those
spending C$170 to C$1,000 per month on long-distance, gives a
minimum of 25-percent savings off phone company rates for North
American calls in peak hours, a 10-percent savings on overseas
rates, a 10-percent volume discount on long-distance spending
over C$250 per month, and an added 10-percent discount on calls
to one frequently called area code chosen by the customer. The
plan costs C$100 per month, plus a C$100 installation fee for
each location after the first one.

The Unison plan gives customers a 20-percent discount on
long distance calling if they spend more than C$250 per month.
That is in addition to Unitel's basic discount of 15 percent off
phone company rates, MacKendrick said. Customers can also
consolidate voice and facsimile calls for discount purposes. The
plan costs C$9.95 per month for the first four phone lines, and
C$9.95 for each additional four or less lines to a maximum of
C$49.95 per month.

The Quadrant plan, aimed at heavy long distance users who spend
more than C$25,000 per month on long distance service. Volume
discounts kick in after a minimum of C$5,000 per month in
long distance charges.

The Quadrant plan is to be available May 24 in Ontario, Quebec,
and British Columbia, and in other provinces "as soon as
possible," MacKendrick said. The other plans are available right
away in the six provinces Unitel currently serves: British
Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island,
and Nova Scotia. Unitel plans to begin service later this year in
Alberta, Manitoba, and Newfoundland, MacKendrick said.
Saskatchewan, where telecommunications services are still
provincially regulated, continues to resist long distance
competition.

(Grant Buckler/19930514/Press Contact: Stephanie MacKendrick,
Unitel, 416-345-2482; Public Contact: Unitel, 416-345-2365)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00022)

Bell-Northern Research Opens Lab 05/14/93
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Bell-Northern
Research (BNR), the research and development arm of Bell Canada
and Northern Telecom Ltd., has opened a new 600,000-square-foot
laboratory that consolidates most of its Ottawa-area research
facilities at the company's headquarters.

BNR has added the new Lab 5 to its headquarters research site in
the Ottawa suburb of Nepean. The entire site now covers 1.3
million square feet and employs more than 3,100 people.

John Hewer, a spokesman for Bell-Northern, said the new lab will
focus on high-speed broadband network development work, including
work on Northern Telecom's Magellan Passport enterprise switch.
The new facility is also the home base of Bell-Northern's own
global wide-area network.

Lab 5's conference center has numerous audio and video
conferencing facilities, with videoconference links available to
98 cities around the world, Bell-Northern said.

Operations from several locations around the Ottawa area have
moved into the new space, Hewer said. This was done because some
leases were expiring and because "in the research and development
business, the more you get people together and interacting, the
better the results are," Hewer explained.

Bell-Northern now has two research sites in the Ottawa area, with
a total of about 4,500 staff. The company also has facilities in
the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan.

Bell-Northern Research is owned 70 percent by Northern Telecom
and 30 percent by Bell Canada.

(Grant Buckler/19930514/Press Contact: John Hewer, Bell-Northern
Research, 613-763-5342)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00023)

MacroMedia Adds Deformation Tools, Now Comes For Windows 05/14/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Macromedia's
MacroModel 3D modeling tool is now available for Windows as well as
the Mac, and both versions are equipped with newly developed
deformation capabilities.

MacroModel 3D 1.5 is targeted at graphic design and multimedia as
well as CAD (computer-aided design), said Rix Kramlich, product
manager, in an interview with Newsbytes.

"It's a double precision floating point program, meaning that it's
CAD accurate. But the new deformation tools, together with added
file compatibility, mean that some very interesting things can be
done in graphic design and multimedia," he explained.

Kramlich told Newsbytes that the deformation tools allow even a
novice user to deform -- or twist, bend and taper -- simple objects
into intricate 3D shapes.

A wrought iron fence design, for example, can be quickly created
out of a simple square. "Without these tools, you'd have to be a
real power user to do something like that in 3D," he noted.

MacroModel 1.5 also brings new cross-section modeling and
bevel/extrude tools. The cross-section modeling tool originated in
Macromedia's Swivel 3D program for the Mac, said Kramlich.

"The cross-section tool lets you build some really intriguing
models. It's kind of become a standard on the Macintosh side," he
stated. Included, as well are the same lathe and skin tools
offered in MacroModel 1.0, a program that was available for the Mac
only.

The Mac and Windows versions of MacroModel 1.5 provide binary
compatibility, so files created on one platform can be used on the
other without the loss of data that conversion can produce.

Further, the software now supplies .EPSF file import from Adobe
Illustrator, .RIB (Pixar's Renderman) and .BMP (Windows) file
export, and .DXF (AutoCad) and .WMF Metafile (Corel Draw)
import/export.

The .EPSF files can be used to produce PostScript files, noted
Kramlich. "PostScript files are nice because they're scalable," he
commented. Designs modeled in MacroModel 1.5 can be output to
Renderman for rendering.

The Mac version of MacroModel 1.5 is available separately for
$1,495, or bundled with Renderman for $1,795 or with Macromedia's
Three-D for $2,495. The Windows version can be purchased only as
a bundle with Renderman, at a price of $1,795.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930514/Press contact: Jill Ryan, Macromedia,
tel [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00024)

IBM Expands PS/1 Computers In UK 05/14/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Just eight months after
the "value" range was launched through the company's resellers,
the PS/1 line has been revamped and expanded. The new machines,
which include a new multimedia PS/1, effectively enhance the
specifications of the PS/1 line, while reducing prices across
the board.

Steve Walker, IBM's marketing programs manager, told Newsbytes that
the existing PS/1 computers will be phased out, once supplies had
been exhausted in the company's reseller channel. He did not rule out
the possibility of the old PS/1s being "bargain binned" through
catalogue and discount outlets, as the original PS/1 and PS/2 laser
printer are being sold at the moment.

"We will look at all methods of moving the old machines," he said,
adding that the new machines will be available within the next week.

Pricing on the nine new PS/1s, which include the multimedia system,
start at UKP 1020 and range up to UKP 1,815. Processors range from
486SX to 486DX, with the DX-based machines coming with an Intel
Overdrive slot fitted as standard.

The multimedia machine, which comes with a CD-ROM (compact disc read
only memory) drive, costs UKP 1,340. This price includes a selection
of software, including Alone in the Dark, Battlechess, Advantage
Tennis, Power Pack, World Atlas and a CD Catalogue.

All the new PS/1s come with several packages preloaded on to the
machines' hard disk. The packages include DOS 6.0, Windows 3.1, and
Microsoft Works for Windows 2.0. A PS/1 tutorial and index are also
supplied and preloaded. Quicken 2.0 for Windows is also supplied, but
is not preloaded.

Walker described pricing on the new PS/2s as aggressive. "We had
several lessons to learn about pricing," he said, adding that the
machines are more expensive than low-cost clones, but carry the "IBM
seal of quality."

Nick Coram-Wright, PC specialist at Context market research, said
that he viewed the pricing as very aggressive. "It's going to be an
attractive machine to small businesses. I like the idea of pre-loaded
software and local bus video," he said.

(Steve Gold/19930514/Press & PUblic Contact: IBM United Kingdom -
Tel: [phone])


(EDITORIAL)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00025)

Editorial - Today's Utility Is Tomorrow's Menu Option  05/14/93
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- By Linda
Rohrbough. For those writing utilities for computers, let me
present you with this axiom, "Today's utility is tomorrow's menu
option."

This may seem rather obvious to old timers who have been around
this industry a while, but it's been proven again with the
introduction of MS-DOS 6.0 and the accompanying groaning and
crying on the part of DOS utility developers. However, as Peter
Norton said, the utilities market consists of looking for holes
in the operating system and filling them, mindful of the fact
that the developers of the operating system will eventually
fill the holes themselves. The game is to stay ahead.

Unfortunately, in the DOS utilities market there isn't much
"ahead" left. The computing industry is preparing to make
another shift, from DOS to the graphical user interfaces (GUIs)
of the future, much like the shift from CP/M to DOS. What drove
the shift from DOS's predecessor CP/M was the introduction of
the database. CP/M was just fine for many activities, including
word processing and would have lasted for years more had dBASE
not appeared on the market. With the introduction of power
hungry database products, 64 kilobytes of memory wasn't enough
anymore.

Now what's driving the shift to GUI is animation and video. We
need those tools to communicate with each other and to educate
our kids, just like we needed databases to help run our
businesses. While DOS will have a life after GUI is dominant,
its life will be much like the life of CP/M, which is still the
basis of many of the word processing machines you see in office
supply stores. But the market for it won't be broad enough to
justify investing time and effort in utilities for it.

So the market for utilities now is in the GUI market. But of
necessity those tools will have to be different, just as the
DOS utilities were different than those for CP/M. But don't
forget, when you find those holes in the operating system to
fill, that today's utility is....

(Linda Rohrbough/19930409)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(WAS)(00026)

Review of - The Major BBS, 05/14/93

Runs on: 80286 and faster MS-DOS computer with 2MB extended
memory, MS-DOS 3.3 or later, hard drive, and modem(s).

From: Galacticomm, Inc., 4101 SW 47th Ave., Suite 101, Fort
Lauderdale, FL 33314. 305-583-5900 voice, 305-583-7846 fax, or
305-583-7808 BBS.

Price: $246 (two user)

PUMA Rating: 3.75 on a scale 1=lowest to 4=highest

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: John McCormick, 05/14/93

Summary: The Major BBS is a powerful, multi-line bulletin board
system with many built-in and available options, which is still
easy even for a novice to set up and operate.

======

REVIEW

======

Electronic bulletin board systems are rapidly gaining favor both
in business and government as well as in private use. The latest
estimates place the number of private BBS in use in the US
alone at over 60,000, with new boards going online daily.

The Major BBS is one of the most powerful and expandable boards
available, yet it is extremely easy to install and run. In fact,
a two-side card listing only 14 steps contains all the
information to install and fire up a basic BBS.

One of the few choices you have to make at the beginning is the
type of board you intend to run. By this I mean will it be a
publicly available board, open to any caller, or a commercial
board that only allows samples until a user pays for full
membership.

The five preset defaults are: Public Model, Customer Service
Model, Sign-Up Model, Private Model, and For-Profit Model. Once
this basic choice is made the installation proceeds and the
software even determines what hardware your system contains.

There are about 1,000 user-editable text files which can be used
to change nearly every message a user will see, and many hundreds
of basic system options that determine just how The Major BBS
works. Fortunately, you can make these changes over the months
and years you will operate the board, just leaving the board in
the default mode.

Actually it may be best to make as few changes as possible
because people who have called other basic Major boards will have
no trouble learning how to navigate your board. The only initial
changes I recommend are in a few opening messages and basic
default settings related to the number of file libraries and
discussion forums (3500 max) you can host.

Of course a BBS is nothing without files to download, games to
play, or a flock of members exchanging e-mail and the software
can only provide a framework for the SYSOP's online personality,
but your actual board can be on the air within an hour of opening
the package - ready for you to begin uploading files and
accepting callers.

There are two basic ways to build your Major BBS, either online
from the console, or offline using the many supplied utilities.
It is normally easiest to upload large numbers of files using the
offline utilities, perhaps even transferring them from CD-ROMs or
other computers (using Laplink - not included), then logging them
in in batches.

A powerful operating screen allows the sysop to monitor ongoing
usage, system statistics, and otherwise control board operation
without actually logging on to the system. These statistics
provide extensive graphics representations of just how many users
are calling the system, what they are doing while online, and
what time of day they are calling.

Watching while users actually use the board will provide a sysop
with valuable information about what changes need to be made to
make the board more user friendly. There is no way the software
publisher can fine-tune a board completely because each board
will attract a different mix of users with their own peculiar
skills and background.

Although the basic board only supports 2 dial-in users and one
from the console, Galacticomm offers other versions of the
software and special modem boards which allow a single PC to
operate up to 255 lines simultaneously.

Surprisingly enough, even a slow PC-AT will support up to 16
users at 2400 baud and even 4 at 9600 baud so even a very
inexpensive 386SX will provide all the power most operators will
need to support a couple dozen users.

Although The Major BBS is extremely easy to configure and
operate, it can also be expanded to support online game doors,
remote system connections through local area networks and X.25
(packet-switching network), multiple multi-user databases, even
online order entry with real-time credit card verification.

The latest version even offers fax out capabilities for users,
but I did not have that version available to evaluate.

The Major BBS supports ASCII file transfer as well as ZMODEM,
YMODEM-G, YMODEM Batch, XMODEM-1K, XMODEM, KERMIT, and Super
KERMIT.

Special features which come with the basic system include the
ability to hold real-time teleconferences and to automatically
conduct surveys by asking user-defined questions of callers and
automatically tabulating the results.

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

PUMA RATING

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

PERFORMANCE: 4 Powerful, easy-to-use, and fast even on basic
systems.

USEFULNESS: 4 Probably the best combination of power,
expandability, and ease of use.

MANUAL: 3 This is the only place Galacticomm falls down, the
manual is not as well organized as it could be, making it
difficult to locate some information. On the other hand, the
online help is excellent and makes up for most of the print
manual's faults.

AVAILABILITY: 4 Easy to obtain directly from Galacticomm.

(John McCormick/19930514/Press Contact: Galacticomm, 305-583-
5990, 305-583-7846 fax, or 305-583-7808)


(REVIEW)(GENERAL)(ATL)(00027)

Review of - Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry 05/14/93

From: Random House, 201 E. 50th St., New York, NY 10022 212-572-
2245

Price: $24.50

PUMA Rating: = 3 (1 lowest, 4 highest)

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Dana Blankenhorn 05/14/93

Summary: Well-written, but maybe late.

========

REVIEW

========

The book business is tough. It can take two years to research and
write a good book, another six months to edit and deliver it, and
in that time the story can fade away.

That's the big problem with "Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an
American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your
Children." In the last year Nintendo's Super NES has been getting
hit hard in the US game market by Sega's Genesis, and has lost
market share. The company even lost a lawsuit to protect its
monopoly on games to Lewis Galoob Toys' "Game Genie." And it's
become apparent that, as games get better, kids get bored with
them better. (Of course, "Time" Magazine reports that Hillary
Clinton has lately taken to Nintendo's Game Boy in a big way...)

Another problem here is that the heart of the story is over by
the time you reach page 56. This is the story of Hiroshi
Yamauchi, who inherited a Kyoto-based playing card company and
turned it into a games powerhouse through the force of his will.
It is also the story of Sigeru Miyamoto, the genius who created
Mario and his world from his child-like imagination. Past their
introduction, the story devolves into the Golden Rule, in which
he who has the gold makes the rules. In this case, the gold is
the Famicom, a game-playing machine far ahead of its time, and
Super Mario Brothers, the most addictive video game yet invented.

David Sheff is a fine writer, a fine reporter. He got a lot of
access to top Nintendo executives. He worked hard, and it shows.
Compared to most business stories, this is a page-turner. What I
would have liked were some pictures of Yamauchi, Miyamoto and
other top executives, some pictures of Nintendo's headquarters,
even some shots of its booth at trade shows and other events. No
such luck.

There is a hint that Sheff knows his thesis is overstated, that
Nintendo, despite its success, is not going to take over the
world. The book is dedicated in part to his son, Nicolas, "who
introduced me to Nintendo, but now prefers reading." That sums it
up.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930507/Press Contact: Becky Simpson, Random
House, 212-572-2141)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00028)

HP To Acquire DuPont's BT&D Joint Venture In UK 05/14/93
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Hewlett-
Packard has agreed in principle to buy UK-based BT&D
Technologies Ltd., a joint venture between British
Telecommunications and DuPont. The proposed acquisition
is due to be completed by June 30.

Andrew Ould, spokesman for HP, told Newsbytes that the
acquisition is important for two reasons. "First, it filled a
gap in our product line. This will give us a complete range of
communications components to offer our customers - whether
they are wired, wireless or fiber optic."

Continued Ould, "Secondly, HP has decided to place a greater
amount of emphasis on offering products for the
telecommunications market. There is huge growth in this market.
HP will not be a service provider, but there is vastly increasing
demand for the components and systems and products that the
service providers need to deliver their services."

Founded in 1986 to capitalize on emerging markets for fiber
optics in communications, BT&D is a joint venture between BT,
which owns 40 percent, and DuPont, which owns 60 percent.
About 455 people are employed by BT&D at its Ipswich, England,
facility. The facility is the center for the company's
headquarters, semiconductor fabrication, components
manufacturing, research and development, and sales and marketing
operations. Another 35 people are employed in the United States
and Japan.

In announcing the acquisition, William F. Craven, an HP vice
president and general manager of the Components Group, said:
"BT&D is among the world's leaders in high-speed fiber-optic
components. Combining its strengths with HP's extensive line
of existing products will give HP the world's broadest range
of fiber-optic communications components."

The acquisition is subject to the "negotiation and approval of
definitive agreements and requires the approval of the Executive
Committee of HP's board of directors and of DuPont and BT," said
the companies.

In conclusion, Ould told Newsbytes, "The specific technology we
will be getting from BT&D is very sophisticated, very advanced,
high-speed fiber optic laser technology. In the digital data
utility of the future this technology will be very important."

(Ian Stokell/19930514/Press Contact: Andrew Ould,
415-857-2367, Hewlett Packard Co.)


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

WordStar, SoftKey To Merger; WordStar Posts Losses 05/14/93
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- At the same
time as the company announced an operating loss of $2.9 million
for its third quarter ending March 31, 1993, WordStar International
has signed a definitive agreement to merge with SoftKey Software
Products.

However, the agreement is not a done deal, as it is still subject to
"certain conditions, including regulatory and judicial clearances
in Canada and in the US, and approval by the shareholders of each
company."

The companies claim though that the combined company will be
"one of the world's largest consumer software publishing
companies," with reported sales for the two companies' past
fiscal years totalling $90 million.

More than 100 titles for Windows, Macintosh and DOS will be
offered by the combined company, with its products being sold
in 50 countries by about 4,900 retail stores worldwide. The
combined company will have over one million registered users.

In announcing the merger, Ron Posner, WordStar CEO, "We now
have the critical mass to become a leader in consumer software.
Our combined strength in products, marketing and distribution
will result in a more cost-efficient organization that's more
competitive on a North American and international basis. We
intend to grow through mergers and acquisitions as the industry
consolidates."

However, that last statement rings a little hollow after
WordStar's third quarter financial report. During the third
quarter, WordStar acquired software vendor ZSoft.

The company attributed the third quarter operating loss to lower
product prices as a result of "an industry trend to reduce prices
of software, an adverse impact from currency exchange rates,
and a worldwide decline in its DOS-based word processing
business."

However, Kevin O'Leary, president of SoftKey remained optimistic,
saying, "SoftKey will be able to sell our list of 79 software titles
through WordStar's direct marketing and through its international
distribution network. SoftKey also will be able to offer its
products to such WordStar OEM (original equipment manufacturer)
customers as Dell and Apple. Simultaneously, WordStar's 23
products will immediately gain access to SoftKey's impressive
network of retail customers."

The merged company will be headquartered in Novato, California,
where WordStar is currently based, with O'Leary serving as
chairman of the combined company. Posner will serve on the
board and will "focus" on acquisitions and strategic issues.

SoftKey's chairman and CEO, Michael Perik, will be CEO, with
WordStar's president, Yoav Stern, as president of the new
company.

Under terms of the deal, SoftKey shareholders will be entitled to
receive, for each common share held, either 3.6 WordStar common
shares or 3.6 new SoftKey non-voting exchangeable shares. Each
exchangeable SoftKey share will be exchangeable at any time for
one common share of WordStar and will carry the right to direct
the voting rights of the equivalent of one common share of
WordStar. WordStar will own all of the common shares of
SoftKey.

The companies hope that the transaction will qualify as a pooling
of interests basis for US accounting purposes, the accounting
scheme that garnered so much public interest during AT&T's
takeover of NCR. This would enable SoftKey's Canadian
shareholders to defer taxation until they elect to convert their
SoftKey exchangeable shares.

After the transaction is completed, SoftKey shareholders will
own or have the right to acquire 75 percent of WordStar's common
shares, while WordStar shareholders will own or have the right
to acquire 25 percent of the common shares of WordStar.

The companies maintain that, based on the close of trading on
May 12, 1993, the market capitalization of the combined
company would have been approximately $260 million.

However, WordStar announced net revenues of $5.9 million and
an actual operating loss of $2.9 million, excluding merger and
reorganization charges, for its third quarter ended March 31, 1993.
But the company says that, after booking reorganizational charges
and costs incurred as the result of the merger with ZSoft of $7.4
million, the net loss for the quarter was $10.2 million, or $0.44
per share.

For the nine month period ended March 31, 1993, WordStar reported
revenues of $23.3 million. However, the fiscal nine month net
loss was $19.5 million, or $0.91 per share.

Talking about the financial report, Yoav Stern, WordStar's
president, said, "During the quarter, we made substantial progress
toward our goal of reducing operating expenses and diversifying
our product offerings. We reduced our workforce, consolidated
facilities, completed the merger with ZSoft and acquired
WriteNow from T/Maker. We also improved our balance sheet by
raising $9.9 million for common stock and warrants through two
private placements. The merger with SoftKey will further
improve our competitive position."

(Ian Stokell/19930514/Press Contact: Ron Posner or Yoav
Stern, 415-382-8000, WordStar; or Kristin Keyes,
415-513-8800, McLean Public Relations)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00030)

Informix Splits Stock; Plans Stock Repurchase 05/14/93
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Informix
has announced that its board of directors has approved a
two-for-one stock split payable in the form of a dividend. At
the same time the company has also said that it will begin a
stock repurchase program, whereby its common stock may be
purchased "from time to time" in the open market.

In addition to the split, Informix stockholders have approved a
proposal to increase the number of authorized shares of common
stock from 45,000,000 to 150,000,000 shares.

The record date for the stock dividend will be Friday, May 28. The
company says that stockholders of record on that date will be
mailed new stock certificates that represent their additional
shares, with the mailing beginning June 11.

The company says that the stock dividend will increase the
number of common shares outstanding from approximately
31.8 million to approximately 64 million.

In terms of the stock repurchase scheme, the company says that
the aggregate number of shares to be repurchased will be up to
1,000,000 (which amount will be adjusted to reflect the
two-for-one stock split).

In announcing the stock schemes, Phillip White, Informix's
chairman and chief executive officer, said, "The decision was
made to provide shares necessary for the company's stock
purchase plan and stock option plans without further diluting
current stockholders. The company has a strong cash position
and will finance the repurchase of its stock with cash."

The company added that, except for "reissuances in connection
with employee stock programs, there presently are no other
specific plans for shares which might be repurchased."

(Ian Stokell/19930514/Press Contact: Informix Corp., Margaret
Reilly, 415-926-6025)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LAX)(00031)

AST Looking At DEC's Ireland Manufacturing Facility 05/14/93
DUBLIN, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 MAY 14 (NB) -- Reports from
Ireland indicate AST may be looking to purchase the former
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) Clonmel manufacturing plant
in County Tipperary, Ireland.

DEC closed the Clonmel plant in 1991 and in February of this
year announced 780 people would be laid off in the shutdown of
manufacturing in Galway, Ireland.

Sources at AST were unable to confirm the Clonmel purchase
reports, but said the company is looking for manufacturing
sites in Europe. Newsbytes notes Ireland is attractive to
international companies because the Irish government offers tax
breaks as high as 100 percent to companies which choose to locate
manufacturing facilities there.

AST is a strong player in the personal computer (PC) market and
has managed to grow while other companies are floundering in
the current PC price wars. The company reported its 1993 third
quarter shipments were up 70 percent over last year and revenue
reached nearly $1 billion in 1992.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930514/Press Contact: Gerry Baker, AST, tel
714-727-7959, fax [phone])