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/nb930608

Text File | 1993-06-08 | 70KB | 1,528 lines

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

June 9 Named Virus Awareness Day 06/08/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- The National Computer
Security Association (an industry trade group which evaluates and
promotes anti-virus products) and 3M (manufacturer of computer
backup systems) will sponsor National Computer Virus Awareness
Day in Washington on June 9, 1993. Also on June 9 an InfoSecurity
Expo will take place in the Capitol Hill Hotel for information
security professionals.

This week, Representative Edward Markey's (Democrat, Massachusetts),
House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee is holding
public hearings on information security and the possibility of
anti-virus legislation.

According to a recent NCSA/Dataquest study, 63 percent of all
corporations surveyed have been hit with a computer virus, and
the NCSA was founded in 1989 to help corporations and individuals
protect their information systems from viral damage.

The NCSA points out that the Clinton/Gore administration's
proposed national data superhighway would make it even more
important to be certain that computers were protected from
possible virus infections.

(John McCormick/19930525/Press Contact: Robert Bales, executive
director of the NCSA, 717-258-1816)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(DEL)(00002)

iTRAN Toolkit Dev't Center Established In India 06/08/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Delhi-based ISCT Information
Technology Ltd. has signed an agreement, worth more than $5
million, with Independence Technologies Inc. (ITI) of the US,
a press release from the company claimed.

ISCT will act as offshore development center for ITI, primarily in
porting and enhancing its iTRAN toolkit products as well as the
transaction monitors to new operating systems such as Sun's Solaris,
RS 6000 Unix, NCR Unix, DEC's Ultrix. Currently, iTRAN toolkit
operate on hardware from Data General, Hewlett-Packard, MIPS,
Pyramid Technology, Sequent, Sun Microsystems and Tandem. ISCT plans
to have a 64 KBPS satellite link with ITI to be able to use ITI's
systems for porting and product enhancement activities.

ISCT's software division, which is less than an year old, has
similar agreements with other organizations such as Gupta
Corporation, also of the US, for executing offshore projects and
Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific for software development and training.
The company is distributor of client-server products from Gupta
Corporation and Trace system and for tracking mail from Application
Integrated Services of Canada. It may add to its range with
products developed by ITI.

ITI provides Unix-based software and programming products for
client-server and on-line transaction processing (OLTP) software
users such as banks, insurance companies and hotels. It also acts as
a value-added reseller of transaction monitor products such as Unix
Systems Lab's Tuxedo Systems/T, NCR's Top End and Transarcs Encina.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930604)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEL)(00003)

Danish/Indian Firms In PC Venture 06/08/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- A seven-year technical tie-up
between Baroda-based ORG Systems and Dansk Data Elektronik A/S (DDE)
of Denmark has resulted in a joint venture between the two. Both
firms will have equal stakes in the Rs 5 crore (around $1.7 million)
collaboration to manufacture, market and support the Supermax
range of computers. The project is also finding support from
the Danish public fund, IFU, that is likely to join as a
shareholder.

ORG Systems, the computer division of Sarabhai Electronics Ltd.
(SEL), sees the new venture as a gateway to international markets.
It will avail of DDE's established network of distributors and seven
subsidiaries to market both DDE and its products. "ORG Systems
hopes to increase its foreign exchange (earnings) by providing
technical support to DDE operations in other countries, and through
the sale of software packages developed at its software development
centre," says K.J. Divatia, chairman, SEL.

ORG Systems started operations in 1978 as a division of Ambalal
Sarabhai Enterprises. It was responsible for the country's first
versatile minicomputer for business data processing, ORG 2001. ORG's
computerizing expertise extends to welfare management system in New
York; 33 depots, branch and head office for distribution of Amul
products (the leading diary products cooperative firm in the
country); betting systems at race courses in Hyderabad, Bombay, Pune
and Calcutta; branches of State Bank of India (the largest bank in
India), the Life Insurance Corporation, Indian Airlines' departure
control system, telephone exchange management systems for Bangalore,
customs appraisal system for all ports, among other activities.

Since 1987, it has been manufacturing and selling DDE's Supermax
series of minicomputers. DDE, founded in 1975, offers Supermax, its
multi-CPU supermini system, for various user segments like
manufacturing, publishing, postal, telecom and transport services.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930604)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(DEL)(00004)

HCL HP, Wipro's Pentium-Based Systems 06/08/93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Pentium-based systems are
here almost simultaneously with the Intel's release of the chip
last month. HCL HP, a joint venture between Hewlett-Packard
and Hindustan Computers Ltd., and Wipro Infotech, the
second-largest IT company in India (HCL HP being number one)
have announced beta versions of machines featuring the
new chip.

These follow the release of systems abroad by Dell,
Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems.

Wipro Infotech has launched Synergy, a multiprocessor implementation
of Pentium, and Landmark EISA, a uniprocessor implementation on EISA
bus. Both feature Unix SVR4 environment. However, these systems will
reach buyers only after Intel begins volume shipments of the
Pentium. While Arjun Malhotra, director HCL HP, promises delivery by
the end of this month, not many expect these to hit the market
before September.

Although not benchmarked as yet, HCL HP's machines promise to
perform 1.5 to two times faster than 486 systems (with a five-fold
improvement in CPU performance). With its superscalar technology,
112 MIPS of performance and 128-bit memory bus, the entry-level
machine has a 16 MB memory, 0.5 GB storage and carries a price tag
of Rs 10 lakh (around $33,000). The system is positioned at the
lower end of the server market. The target applications are high-end
Unix, database, networking and computer-aided designing.

Wipro Synergy can deliver more than 200 transactions per second and
can add up to four Pentium processors. With Pentium, high-speed local
bus and a graphic accelerator, Landmark EISA is being positioned as
a high-end graphics workstation.

Incorporating RISC features such as a RISC integer unit, a
superscalar architecture and a separate cache for multiprocessing,
these Pentium-based systems could make dents into the RISC market.
There could be a clash with the high-end Meteor, a 486-based system
from HCL HP, and the low-end of HP 9000.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930604)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00005)

Cable Convention Features Multimedia Alliances 06/08/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- The
National Cable Television Association convention was dominated by
announcements of multimedia alliances. But much of the hallway
talk was more prosaic.

The talk was all about the Federal Communications Commission,
which crafted in-depth regulations on cable rates, then said it
couldn't enforce them without new money. Cable companies are
still wondering who President Clinton will name to head the
agency, and who'll get the second, nominally Republican seat of
Sherrie Marshall.

The industry is currently divided into two camps. Most of the
largest operators -- TCI, Time Warner, Cablevision -- were making
alliances for multimedia, aiming for interactive, 500-channel
networks for which the FCC's new regulations, which price service
based on a per-channel charge, would be irrelevant. Smaller
operators are resolved to fight the regulations, first on the
local level, then on the federal level, hoping that they can
recoup the costs of the fight in the rates and, thus, force rate
hikes which will lead to the regulation being ended.

But it was the alliances which drew the most press attention.
Time Warner said it will use chips from Silicon Graphics' MIPS
unit in set-top converters for its fully interactive network in
Orlando, Florida. That puts SGI in good position to supply
converters for other Time Warner networks down the road. Time
Warner wants to offer what had been considered online services
through its net, including banking, shopping, and gaming, from
subscriber TVs, using their remote controls.

TCI, the largest operator, signed a final agreement with General
Instruments for new cable boxes serving its proposed 500-channel
system. The boxes will use Intel 80386 chips and a version of
Microsoft Windows called Modular Windows. The new TCI order is
for one million of the boxes.

Cablevision Systems Corp., the fourth-largest operators, signed
an alliance deal with Digital Equipment Corp. for its Digital
Channel technology. The system will be used to link local area
networks over Cablevision's cables and put it squarely into
competition with NYNEX, the New York and New England area's
local Bell company. Cablevision also joined other cable operators
in signing joint ventures with Teleport Communications Group, now
owned by TCI and Cox Enterprises, which could turn dozens of
cable systems into "bypass" networks between large businesses and
their long distance services. If the Bells' monopolies are
lifted, and Teleport wins the kinds of rights it has in New York,
where its switches are located in NYNEX offices, then it could
make cable companies real competitors to local phone services.
Other firms which signed-on with Teleport included Continental
Cablevision, Comcast, Hyperion, Maclean Hunter Cable TV, Times
Mirror, and Viacom International, which is also testing
multimedia delivery on its systems with AT&T.

Scientific-Atlanta's deal with Kaleida Labs, an IBM-Apple joint
venture, for new cable boxes which could be based on the MIPS
chip drew a lot of interest, but so far that company has signed
no contracts with cable operators for the new boxes. Toshiba will
also have a hand in the new boxes.

The problem for all the alliance makers is that they currently
lack the "gotta-have-it" service which will spur people to
demand, and get, the new capacity. Multimedia is still waiting
for a product that will do for it what Visicalc did for the Apple
II, what Lotus 1-2-3 did for the IBM PC, or what the Super Mario
Brothers did for Nintendo. Most of the programming announcements
at NCTA were similar to existing services, like ESPN2 and TV
Macy's. An exception could be Prodigy's offer to put a version
of its online system into cable systems, but that was just the
announcement of an intention, not even the offer of a prototype.
But this is a train no one wants to be seen as missing. When the
multimedia Visicalc shows up, cable companies want to make sure
they're there for it.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930608)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00006)

IDB Sets Deal With Hughes 06/08/93
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Following by
one day its deal to use fiber network capacity to deliver
TV programs to networks, IDB Broadcast signed a long-term deal
with Hughes Communications to maintain its satellite capacity.

IDB said it has a long-term lease on a transponder of Hughes'
Galaxy 1-R satellite. IDB Broadcast intends to use digital
compression technology to fill that transponder with multiple
channels for cable operators, such as Action Pay-Per-View,
a service of Avalon Pictures, Inc. IDB will be among the first
companies to offer digital compression on a transponder, which
can lower costs for the programmer. IDB will offer the links as
part of a complete service including uplinking, signal monitoring
and compression decoding.

Galaxy 1-R will be launched by a McDonnell Douglas Delta II
rocket next March to replace the current Galaxy 1 at 133 west
longitude. The original Galaxy 1-R was lost in 1992 when an
engine aboard its Atlas/Centaur launch vehicle failed to engage.
The new Galaxy 1-R features 24 16-watt C-band transponders. Other
customers for transponders on the new bird include Home Box
Office, Cinemax, Comedy Central, ESPN, USA Network, The Disney
Channel, The Cartoon Network, Eternal Word Television Network,
Univision, The Nostalgia Network, The New Inspirational Network,
Country Music Television, ENCORE and The Golf Channel.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930608/Press Contact: Lori Gutknecht, IDB
Communications Group, 213-240-3758)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00007)

MCI Mail Announces New X.400 Connections 06/08/93
RYE BROOK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- MCI Mail
announced new connections to other companies' networks under the
X.400 mail-handling standard.

The most important of the new deals is one with CompuServe, which
is the second-largest consumer online service in the US, with
1.125 million members, according to the Jupiter Communications
Research firm of New York. Other deals were signed with BellSouth
and Pacific Bell. While these are the company's first connections
with regional Bell companies, neither BellSouth nor Pacific Bell
is yet a major player in electronic mail. With the new
connections, MCI has links to 54 services in 40 countries.

X.400 is a standard for linking disparate mail services using a
standard routing scheme. In addition to offering a standard way
of routing messages based on an hierarchy of messaging domains,
the system also offers a simple way of charging for the service
of sending messages between systems -- usually about 15 cents per
1,000 characters. While many people use Internet addresses, which
link to many services including MCI Mail, arranging for recovery
of costs involved in moving messages is not standardized.

MCI Mail also announced a link with Motorola's EMBARC wireless
messaging service. This means that MCI Mail messages can be sent
to EMBARC NewsStream wireless receivers, which can store them for
use on a laptop computer. EMBARC uses a small satellite frequency
band at around 931 megahertz to deliver one-way delivery of short
messages without wires.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930608/Press Contact: Jane Levene, MCI Mail,
914-934-6480)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(SFO)(00008)

Convert Videos To Interactive PC Applications 06/08/93
WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- VIS Development
Corp. (Waltham, Mass.) has announced "Avenue," a hardware/software
system said to allow corporations to convert videotape into PC-based
interactive multimedia applications.

Companies with large libraries of videotape can use Avenue to
turn that tape into state-of-the-art training or presentation
materials, available throughout the corporation.

"Avenue realizes the potential of multimedia by turning a PC
into a VCR with brains," says Carl Nelson, president of VIS
Development. "Avenue lets corporations free up the investment
they've made in videotape and makes it as accessible as the
corporate database."

Avenue uses a combination of hardware and software to
deliver what it calls superior motion video (at 30 frames per
second in either a full or quarter-screen window) on a
standard PC.

Avenue runs under Microsoft Windows 3.1 on a 386 or 486
processor equipped with 8MB RAM. It requires a 256-color
640x480 VGA display and an IBM/Intel ActionMedia II board
for video compression. Complete Avenue applications
start at $10,000, for which the client receives a turnkey
system in the form of CD-ROMs, each containing up to 45
minutes of edited video footage, associated text and
graphics, index information and complete user software.
VIS Development Corp. is at 100 Fifth Avenue, Waltham, MA
02154. Telephone [phone].

(Marguerite Zientara & Computer Currents/19930608)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00009)

Dragon Systems' Speech Recognition Used in IBM Products 06/08/93
NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Dragon
Systems is shipping two speech recognition products the company
developed for IBM Corp. Through a licensing and distribution
agreement with Dragon Systems, the IBM PC Company NA (Boca
Raton, Fla.) is offering IBM VoiceType Control for Windows and IBM
VoiceType 2 this month.

Instead of using complicated keystrokes or multiple mouse
movements, IBM VoiceType Control for Windows users can use such
voice commands as "File Open," "Font Italic," and "Calculator"
to manage files, format text and launch and swap applications.
IBM VoiceType Control comes with 350 built-in commands and the
capability of editing and adding up to a total of 4,000 commands.
The product costs $129, including microphone, and is available
from IBM.

Bringing large vocabulary free-text dictation to the desktop,
IBM VoiceType 2 lets users input text and data into popular
applications by speaking instead of typing. VoiceType 2 has a base
vocabulary of 7,000 words, all of which can be replaced with
words defined by the user or drawn from a specially developed
100,000-word backup list.

VoiceType 2 comes with built-in commands for such software
as WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3 and dBase, and provides tools
for creating voice commands that can consist of up to 1,000
keystrokes per command. VoiceType 2 runs under DOS, the DOS
prompt under Windows 3.1 or a DOS session under OS/2 2.0.
Available from both IBM and Dragon Systems, VoiceType 2 costs
$2,195, including microphone.

Dragon Systems is at 320 Nevada Street, Newton, MA 02160.
Telephone [phone].

(Marguerite Zientara & Computer Currents/19930608)


(NEWS)(IBM)(SFO)(00010)

LaserData Document Management For PCs, LANs 06/08/93
TYNGSBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- LaserData
has introduced GroupFile for Windows, a PC-based application
that provides multi-format document management capabilities and is
said to run on stand-alone PCs and on local area networks
(LANs).

GroupFile reportedly is fully functional right out of the box
and can be easily customized by users to match individual
work styles. GroupFile's document management functions capture,
organize, display, manipulate and store documents of any type,
including scanned images, word processing files, graphics,
spreadsheets and database information.

GroupFile is said to include such easy-to-use features as
built-in document filing hierarchies and indexing fields,
and to provide multiple search methods for quickly retrieving
documents. User- defined "hot links" can be created to
electronically bond documents and facilitate navigation
through a collection of associated documents. GroupFile is
said to have an intuitive graphical user interface based on the
Microsoft Windows environment. GroupFile applications are
scalable and easy-to-integrate with corporate network standards
for large workgroups and enterprise implementations.

GroupFile runs on industry-standard 386 and 486 PCs
operating MS-Windows and runs on Novell NetWare networks.
The single-user Personal Edition costs $499. Prices for
the Network Edition start at $8,990 for five users, ranging
to $19,875 for 20 users. For installations with more than
20 users, the price is $4,495 for server software and $769
for software for each client. LaserData is at 300 Vesper
Park, Tyngsboro, MA 01879. Telephone [phone].

(Marguerite Zientara & Computer Currents/19930608)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00011)

Chips Offer Smallest PCMCIA Form Factor, Phone Emulation 06/08/93
FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Cirrus Logic has
introduced a chip set billed as offering both the smallest PCMCIA
form factor on the market and the first modem chip to combine
telephone emulation with data and fax.

The company's new CL-MD9624ECP integrates the PCMCIA Release 2.0
interface and Card Information Structure (CIS) into a two-chip set,
thereby eliminating two additional chips included in competing
chips, officials said in announcing the product.

The new telephone emulation capability incorporated into the set is
aimed at providing similar functionality to that of a telephone
answering machine.

Like its predecessor, the CL-MD9624EC2, the CL-MD9624ECP will be
used for credit card-sized PCMCIA cards that can be inserted into
slots on the latest generation of portable and desktop computers.

The CL-MD9624ECP provides the same 4:1 data compression and high-
level error correction as the CL-MD9624EC2, allowing data
transmission at rates of up to 2400 bps (bits per second) and fax
transmission at up to 9600 bps.

The chip set supports the CCITT V.22 bis and V.22 and Bell 212A and
103 standards for data, the CCITT V.29, V.27ter, and V.21ch2
standards for fax, and the expanded AT ("Attention") command set
for voice.

Compliance with Release 2.0 of the PCMCIA specification means that
cards using the chips will be able to "execute in place" (XIP), or
execute directly from memory, a feature that leaves computer RAM
untouched.

Release 2.0 also calls for a hardware-independent application that
manages PCMCIA services, ensuring that systems software
communicates with PCMCIA sockets from all computer vendors in the
same way.

CIS defines a software layer that sits on top of socket services,
seeing to it that the socket-services layer talks to all PCMCIA
cards in the same manner.

One of the chips in the two-chip set is a digital signal processor
(DSP), packaged in a 100-pin very thin quad flat pack (VQFP). The
other is a sigma-delta front end (SAFE), packaged in a 44-pin VQFP.

Samples of the new PCMCIA chip set will be available to OEMs this
month. The chips are priced at $40 per two-chip set when purchased
in quantities of 1,000.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930608/Press contact: Joe Fowler, Cirrus
Logic, 510-226-2239)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00012)

Kiplinger's CA Simply Money 06/08/93
ISLANDIA, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Software giant
Computer Associates International has teamed up with The
Kiplinger Washington Editors, publisher of a personal
finance magazine, to enter the home finance software market. And
computer users concerned about their budgets should like the
introductory price: CA plans to give away the first million
copies free, except for a $6.95 shipping charge.

The price will go up to $69.99 after the first million copies are
gone. However, CA also stands to make some money in the long term
on the giveaways, since there will be future updates to the
financial management advice built into the software.

CA officials said Simply Money provides not only basic checkbook
management but facilities for tracking mortgages and investments.
It can also be useful for small businesses, said Marc Sokol, CA's
vice-president of product strategy.

In addition, the software offers financial advice on a variety of
topics, based on the expertise of Kiplinger's editors. For
instance, it will detect excessive use of credit cards and
provide suggestion on credit management. It also provides
information on legal requirements when hiring home help. "We like
to think that if Zoe Baird had this product she'd be attorney
general today," Sokol quipped, referring to President Bill
Clinton's original nominee for that office, who withdrew after
questions surrounding her employment of a nanny for her children.

The software will also come with links to the CompuServe and
Prodigy electronic information services, allowing users to check
stock quotes, news, and other online information.

Officials said the software emphasizes ease of use. "This program
is going to be used because of the ease of use and because ...
there is a lot of good advice in it," said Knight Kiplinger,
editor in chief of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.

To help launch the product, CA commissioned a survey of 1,001
Americans on the subject of personal finance. Among other
findings, the company said it found roughly one third of those
questioned had personal computers, but fewer than one third of
those used personal finance software. At the same time, 60
percent said they wished they were better at managing money.

Also, Sokol noted, "77 percent of those surveyed expressed severe
difficulty about consulting financial planners." Those people did
not like the idea of showing their finances to a stranger he said
-- a concern the software's built-in advice is meant to address.

Kiplinger's CA Simply Money is being introduced only in United
States initially. It runs on personal computers using a 386 or
later processor and equipped with Microsoft Windows 3.1.

The free copies will go to the first million people who call the
company's toll-free number 1-800-FREE-MONEY.

(Grant Buckler/19930608/Press Contact: Bob Gordon, CA,
516-342-2391, fax [phone]; Public Contact: Computer
Associates, 516-342-5224 or 800-FREE-MONEY)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00013)

Canadian Product Launch Update 06/08/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- This regular
feature, appearing every Monday or Tuesday, provides further
details for the Canadian market on announcement by international
companies that Newsbytes has already covered. This week:
Toshiba's new line of notebook computers and hints of CA's plans
for its new personal financial package in the Canadian market.

Toshiba of Canada Information Systems Group followed up a Comdex
announcement by its sister company in the United States
(Newsbytes, May 25) by launching a series of notebook computers.
The Canadian announcement took place at the SIIM computer show in
Montreal June 2-4.

Toshiba's new models are: the T1900/120, a monochrome notebook
with a 486SX processor, which is shipping now at C$2,749; the
color T1900C/200, shipping now at C$4,359; the T4500C/200 color
notebook, shipping now at C$6,249; the T4600/200, a new
top-of-the-line notebook with the power-saving 486SL chip, due to
ship in July at C$5,449; the color T4600C/200, shipping now at
C$7,649; and the T4600C/340, due to ship in July at C$8,849.

Computer Associates Canada Ltd. is not immediately launching
Kiplinger's CA Simply Money, the personal finance package just
released by its US-based parent company (Newsbytes, June 8).
Company spokesman John Schoutsen said the firm does expect to
release the software in Canada, and hopes to announce more
detailed plans by the end of July.

(Grant Buckler/19930607/Press Contact: Sam Orthlieb, Toshiba
Canada, 416-470-3478 ext. 252; John Schoutsen, Computer
Associates Canada, 416-676-6700)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(TOR)(00014)

Unisys Sues Michigan Firm 06/08/93
BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Unisys Corp.
is taking a Michigan used-computer dealer to court, charging the
company duplicated Unisys software and installed counterfeit
memory chips in second-hand Unisys computers.

Unisys has charged Macro Computer Products, Inc., of Rochester
Hills, Michigan, with copyright and trademark infringement. Two
executives of Macro, Marlin Kovaleski and David Shellenbarger,
were also charged.

Mark Lipscomb, a spokesman for Unisys, said his company alleges
that Macro copied Unisys operating software illegally, then
placed the software in programmable read-only memory (PROM) chips
which it used to upgrade used Unisys computers. According to
Unisys, the chips were labelled to look like genuine Unisys
parts.

After a raid on Macro's premises in mid-May, the Federal District
court for the Eastern District of Michigan issued a preliminary
injunction to prevent Macro from destroying any Unisys software
or proprietary information in its possession and from using,
distributing, or advertising copyright or proprietary software
not licensed from Unisys.

Unisys is seeking a permanent injunction and unspecified monetary
damages. It is also asking the court to make Macro recall
products that infringe Unisys copyrights or trade secrets, and
destroy all infringing articles.

(Grant Buckler/19930608/Press Contact: Mark Lipscomb, Unisys,
215-986-6948)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00015)

Northern Telecom Reports Australian Digital Net Live 06/08/93
MAIDENHEAD, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Nortel Matra
Cellular and Nortel Australia have reported that they have
successfully installed and brought into service the GSM digital
mobile telephone network for Optus Communications in Australia.

GSM stands for groupe speciale mobile and is a fast-growing digital
cellular system that offers perfect call quality and the ability for
customer IDs to be held in smart cards that can be transported
between phones and countries if required.

The Optus GSM network went live in Australia on May 20, after two
months of trials. Initially, digital mobile service will be offered
in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, and there are plans to
progressively roll out the service to other capital cities in Oz by
Christmas, and then to more than 80 percent of the population by
1997.

The system uses Nortel Matra cellular mobile switching centers
(MSCs) and home location registers (HLRs). Phones move around the
network, but are tracked by the MSC, referring back to the HLR
whenever an outgoing or incoming call is made.

Because the Optus network is GSM, its subscribers have access to
advanced features such as call forwarding, call waiting and voice
mail. Even more advanced features such as ring when free (sometimes
referred to as camp on busy) and delayed voice messaging are
expected soon.

The contract is worth A$177 million to Nortel Matra and is now in
year two of a five-year cycle. According John Kranenburg, managing
director of Nortel Australasia, the implementation of Optus is the
first phase of the company's plans for GSM.

"We have established a center of excellence that will allow us to
support Optus and other customers. We're pleased to have contributed
to Optus' success in connecting the GSM service on time and look
forward to capitalizing on the investments we've made to the benefit
of both Optus and the realization of other opportunities in the
Pacific," he said.

The A$177 contract for Nortel Matra is only the tip of the spending
iceberg for Optus. According to Ian Boatman, COO of Optus
Communications, the GSM network will cost around A$5,000 million
over the next five years as it rolls out.

(Steve Gold/19930608/Press & Public Contact: Northern Telecom Europe
- Tel: [phone]; Nortel Australia - [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00016)

Apple Hires Russian Company To Add Cursive To Newton 06/08/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Apple
Computer's Personal Interactive Electronics (PIE) division has
announced it will incorporate technology for cursive
handwriting recognition, developed by Russian computer
scientists and programmers, into the Newton family of personal
digital assistants (PDA).

The technology comes to Apple through a deal with Paragraph
International, a Russian company established in Moscow in 1989.
Paragraph recently opened offices in Sunnyvale, California,
where the continuing work on cursive handwriting technology
will take place.

Stepan Pachikov, president & chief executive officer of
Paragraph, said: "This is a key relationship for us, and one
which contributes to our vision of taking technology developed
in Russia and turning it into successful products in the United
States."

Apple says the Newton family of products is expected to ship
this summer and will retail for under $1,000. The technology
behind the Newton, known as Newton Intelligence, has been
licensed to Sharp, Motorola and Kyushu Matsushita Electric (which
develops products under the brand name Panasonic). Siemens and
its daughter company Rolm are also combining Newton
Intelligence with their technology to produce a product called
the Notephone.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930608/Press Contact: Frank O'Mahony, Apple
Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(LAX)(00017)

Taking The Heat - $40 Device Cools Pentium 06/08/93
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- The heat
problems with the Pentium processor, to be released in new
personal computers (PCs) beginning this summer, are no secret.
However, Norman Bailey of Pcubid, inventor of the CPU Kooler
for the 486 chip, says he's ready with the Pentium CPU Kooler.

The Pentium has whopping 3.1 million transistors and the more
transistors, the more heat. Without thermal control, the
Pentium can reach temperatures that are at or above degrees
Celsius, which is the boiling point of water. With plastic used
so heavily in motherboards, the heat produced by the Pentium
could cause serious damage not only to the chip itself, but to
the chip socket and the motherboard. Heat problems with the 4-
to-5 watt 486 will be nothing compared to what can happen with
the 16-to-18 watt Pentium, Bailey said.

While Intel has released specifications regarding the way the
Pentium needs to be placed and cooled inside the PC cabinet,
original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) trying to save money,
don't always follow those instructions, according to Bailey.

The original CPU Kooler for the 486 was a big success. So
successful in fact that Kooler clones are already flooding the
market. Users with repeated intermittent error problems on
their 486 machines reported that installation of the CPU Kooler
solved those problems. One of the biggest fans of the CPU
Kooler is Jeffery Voss, of Voss Engineers, Planners, and
Surveyers. Voss had critical drawings and deadlines that forced
him to back-up his 486 system three to four times a day,
because failures were so frequent. After installation of the
CPU Kooler, those problems went away.

Simple in design, the CPU Kooler is a heat sink with a fan on
top that gets its power from one of the extra cables that power
the disk drives. If extra cables are not available, a "Y"
adapter can be used to power the Kooler. The 486 Kooler reduced
the 486 operating temperature by 90 degrees. Clones of the Kooler
are rampant, but Bailey has added additional features to his
Pentium Kooler and redesigned his 486 Kooler to set them apart
from the crowd.

One feature is the Kooler now offers a way for users to monitor
the temperature of the CPU during the computer's operation. A
hole in the center of one of the sides of the heat sink allows
a $15 Radio Shack Digital Thermometer to monitor the
temperature of the CPU at all times. Users requested the
ability to monitor the temperature because the fan on the CPU
Kooler is so quiet they can't hear it running. Bailey designed
the fan so it would be silent and says clones of the product
often have not taken the fan noise into consideration.

The new CPU Kooler is also only 0.6 inches high, just over one
half inch, which makes it fit in even the narrowest PC cabinet.
The Kooler is also optimized so the position of the fan over
the heat sink is at the precise height. This height allows the air
vortex, created by the spinning of the fan's propeller blades,
to offer the maximum "heat destruction."

The biggest problem Bailey sees coming with the new Pentium
chips is replacing the 486 with the Pentium. "There may be half
a million to a million zero insertion force (ZIF) socket
motherboards out there, and users expect to be able to replace
their 486 chip with a Pentium CPU," Bailey said. Possible
scenarios from the heat of the Pentium range from intermittent
data loss or melting of the ZIF socket to damage to the
Pentium chip itself. The Pentium CPU Kooler can bring down the
temperature of the CPU to much more acceptable levels of about
twenty degrees above the inside temperature of the case. The
inside temperature of the case, of course, depends on the room
but is usually five degrees above the room temperature or 80
degrees Fahrenheit.

In addition, users who upgraded 486 systems might want to
consider the CPU Kooler. By going to a one-gigabyte (GB) hard
drive, for example, users can find the extra heat energy from
the new drive can cause them problems where they had none
before. Bailey says he's had several cases of users buying CPU
Koolers in upgrade situations precisely for those reasons.

Also, air movement in the cabinet is what is required to make a
heat sink work. Bailey says a simple experiment can tell users
if air movement is happening inside the cabinet. Tape single
ply toilet paper to the sides of the cabinet inside, then watch
through the back or through one of the disk drive slots to see
if the toilet paper moves when the computer is on. Any air
movement should flap the toilet paper. Users with just a heat
sink on their CPU who are concerned about heat can purchase
just the fan portion of the CPU Kooler to attach to their heat
sink to be sure the heat is being dissipated.

The Pentium CPU Kooler is $39.95, the same price as the 486
Kooler. The current retail price of the Pentium chip alone is
estimated at $1,100 to $1,500. Bailey says installation is a
two-minute job and does not require removal of the current CPU.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930608/Press Contact: Norman Bailey, Pcubid
Computer Technology, tel [phone], fax [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00018)

Phoenix Acquires SRI, Its Japanese Distributor 06/08/93
NORWOOD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- To take
advantage of the emerging worldwide fusion of PC and consumer
electronics technology, along with an anticipated boom in domestic PC
sales in Japan, Norwood, MA-based Phoenix Technologies has acquired
its Japanese distributor, Strategic Research Institute (SRI) KK.

"Japanese manufacturers are prime customers for us, and the
acquisition will help us to support them more quickly and
directly," a company spokesperson, Michael Deutsch, told Newsbytes.

Under the agreement, Tokyo-based SRI will now become Phoenix
Technologies KK. (Phoenix KK), a wholly owned Japanese
subsidiary of Phoenix Technologies Ltd. Terms of the deal were
undisclosed.

Phoenix officials are expecting the SurePath BIOS Licensing
Program, recently launched by Phoenix and IBM, as well as new
standardization efforts by Japanese manufacturers, to help fuel
explosive growth both domestically and internationally, according
to Deutsch.

The SurePath program provides OEMs with the authentic IBM BIOS
code, preventing the previous need to obtain the code through
reverse engineering, he told Newsbytes. "The need for reverse
engineering is what started the whole clone market," he explained.

Another pertinent development in Japan is the formation of the Open
Architecture Design Group for standardization of PC designs around
the Intel architecture and DOS/V, a Kanji version of DOS, said
Deutsch.

The new SurePath BIOS interfaces with PC hardware and software to
ensure compatibility with these international standards, he noted.

"Through the acquisition, we'll also gain from the fusion of
consumer electronics and PCs. The Japanese will be leading in that
market. We'll be able to take technology developed there and
integrate it into the PC architecture," he added.

Like Phoenix, SRI is a software engineering firm. As Phoenix'
exclusive representative in Japan for the past six years, SRI has
played a key role in establishing Phoenix's services to Japanese PC
manufacturers, according to Phoenix officials.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930608/Press contact: Michael Deutsch,
Phoenix, 617-551-4184)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00019)

Dell Seeks Japanese Portables Partners 06/08/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- After taking a $20 million
write-off that caused stockholders to file suit alleging securities
violations, Dell Computer is now searching for partners in Japan to
help it breath life back into its notebook computer business.

Dell spokesperson Roger Rydell told Newsbytes that Dell's chief of
portable computer development, John Medica, was in Japan for a week,
returning last weekend. Medica's mission was to talk with potential
partners to aid in the rebuilding of Dell's notebook computer
business. Medica stopped development on most of the dozen or so
notebook product designs that were to have been introduced this
summer, saying several of the units were deemed too expensive and too
slow to bring to market. Rydell said there were also other reasons,
but declined to be specific. Dell CEO Michael Dell said last week
that his company had also underestimated the complexity of
engineering and manufacturing portables.

Rydell wouldn't discuss specific issues that were discussed by Medica
and Japanese companies, but wouldn't rule out the possibility of an
OEM agreement with one or more Japanese manufacturers or a financial
partnership. "We're looking for key players who can help us better
provide for notebook customers. We haven't limited our thinking."
Rydell said no specific decisions have been made yet. "Part of the
reason for John's trip is to try to uncover the potentials and make
an education decision as to what kinds of partnerships make the most
sense for us," Rydell told Newsbytes.

Rydell declined to discuss the specific companies contacted, but said,
"We're not looking for small opportunities, we're looking at large
opportunities."

Dell officials told Newsbytes it has received nine lawsuits, filed by
disgruntled investors after Dell stock dropped on announcement of
disappointing first quarter earnings. The suits allege that Dell
withheld information about dropping most of its notebook computer
development, causing a financial loss to shareholders who had
recently purchased Dell stock, after the shares dropped more than $7
per share when the financial results were announced.

Because it plans to "be patient and have the right partners and the
right products," it's unlikely that Dell will not bring many notebook
computers to market until the latter half of the year, according to
Dell spokesperson Michelle Moore. "We're looking for a long-term fix,
not a short-term fix."

(Jim Mallory/19930608/Press contact: Roger Rydell, Dell Computer,
512-794-4100)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00020)

ZDS Pen-based Notepad Computer 06/08/93
BUFFALO GROVE, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Zenith Data
Systems today announced a pen-based notepad computer the company
calls a hybrid of a notebook computer and a pen tablet.

"The Z-Notepad is a perfect hybrid. It's both a good notebook
computer and a good pen tablet. You can use the Z-Notepad with a pen
only, a keyboard only, or as a pen and keyboard combination,"
according to David O'Connor, executive vice president of the ZDS
product group.

The new unit is based on the Z-Note 425Ln Model 120, and is powered
by Intel's low power-consumption 25 megahertz (MHz) Intel 486SL
microprocessor. Standard configuration includes 4 megabytes (MB) of
system memory, a 120MB hard drive, and built-in Ethernet-compatible
hardware. The notepad replaces the standard monochrome screen with a
nine-inch monochrome electromagnetic digitizer with a 24-inch
connecting cable, which can be detached from the keyboard portion of
the notepad. That allows users to lay the pad flat on a table or
desk, or it can be used while held in the user's lap.

"Unlike most pen-tops, the (Notepad) display can be used in
almost any position. It's a very 'human' approach to pen-based
computing," according to O'Connor. Z-Notepad uses Microsoft's Pen
Windows operating system, which allows input from a keyboard or
a pen.

Available options include larger-capacity hard drives, external disk
drives, and Flash BIOS. ZDS says any Z-Note computer, including the
Model 320LB introduced in April 92, can be upgraded to a Z-Notepad
for $1,199, with the conversion work being done by ZDS-approved
service centers. The cost covers the installation of a pen-capable
monochrome LCD display and the loading of the Microsoft Windows for
the Pen Computing operating system.

ZDS spokesperson John Bace told Newsbytes the 425Ln Model 120 is sold
by ZDS for $2,999, or buyers can purchase the system modified as a
notepad system for the same price. The price of ZDS systems sold by
resellers are set by the reseller and may be higher or lower than
when purchased from ZDS direct.

Bace said the notepad systems and the notepad necessary to modify an
existing Z-Note computer are available in the warehouse, and will
ship in the next few days. "For all intents and purposes the systems
are immediately available," says Bace.

(Jim Mallory/19930608/Press contact: John Bace, ZDS, 708-808-4848;
Reader contact: ZDS, 800-553-0331, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(DEN)(00021)

 ****Bill Gates To Show "Blueprints To The Future" Tomorrow 06/08/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Microsoft Chairman
Bill Gates will unveil his "Blueprints To The Future," a plan
industry observers say uses Windows software as a link between fax
machines, photocopiers, computers, and telephones, in New York City
tomorrow.

Gates' idea isn't exactly new. In the late 1970s, technicians at
Xerox Corporation's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), the birthplace
of many computer concepts in common use today, had a vision of an
electronically integrated office, but it never got to market. Now
Gates is expected to launch "Microsoft at Work," a software
standard he hopes will facilitate that vision, and give Microsoft a
dominant role in development of the digital office.

Some of the ideas which may be presented include eliminating the
line at the copy machine by sending a command from an office computer
to the copier, which would print and bind a lengthy document. Or a
directory of phone numbers displayed on a small screen attached to
the office telephone, with the list being stored on the phone user's
computer. Sales people in the field might scrawl a hand-written note
on the screen of their battery operated pen-based notepad computer,
then fax the note to the office via a cellular modem. A digitized
voice message might even be attached to the fax file. Gates sees
Windows as the software glue and the user interface that brings all
the elements of such systems together.

Microsoft isn't saying much about tomorrow's announcement except that
Gates will appear "with a host of unexpected partners." However,
major telephone companies announced a new computer-to-phone switch
standard last month, and that group is expected to be part of the
overall "Microsoft at Work" strategy. The group included
microprocessor maker Intel Corporation, and telecommunications
companies AT&T, Northern Telecom, and Siemens-Rolm. A spokesperson
for Kirkland, Washington-based McCaw says his company has also been
working closely with Microsoft to integrate its digital packet data
protocol for cellular use with the emerging protocol, according to
the British news service Reuters. Other companies expected to
announce products and services based on the new software reportedly
include Compaq Computer Corporation, Minolta Camera Company, Sprint
Corporation, McCaw Cellular Communications, and US West.

It is rumored that in order to facilitate the deal, Microsoft will
agree to stay out of the hardware market. Some analysts believe the
technology won't be a major contributor to Microsoft's bottom line in
the immediate future. However, it certainly has the potential to give
the software giant an even stronger grip on the personal computer
software market.

(Jim Mallory/19930608)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00022)

Egghead Establishes Unit To Service Small Businesses 06/08/93
ISSAQUAH, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Discount software
dealer Egghead Software announced this week it has established a new
business unit specifically designed to meet the software,
accessories, and peripheral product needs of the rapidly growing
small to medium-sized sector of the business market.

Called Business 4 Business, the new program will provide specialized
products and services to companies with 15 to 125 employees.
Previously Egghead has served customers of all sizes through a
single corporate and government sales group.

Egghead cited US Small Business Administration (SBA) figures
indicating that the number of small businesses in the US grew
nearly 14 percent between 1976 and 1990. Egghead President and CEO
Timothy Turnpaugh said the Business 4 Business program will allow the
company to focus attention on that growing market.

With formation of the Business 4 Business unit, Egghead now has four
distinct channels. The corporate and government sales group will
concentrate exclusively on large corporations and government
agencies. Business 4 Business will focus on small and medium-sized
businesses, and its retail stores will serve users with less than 15
computers. The company also operates a toll-free mail-order service
for customers who prefer to shop by phone.

Business 4 Business Program Manager Dana Jones says her division's
experts are particularly knowledgeable about software and peripherals
such as networking, printer sharing, electronic mail, desktop
publishing and inventory management applications. "Our
representatives have the background, training, and resources to
present customers with concise reports on the best options for
meeting their software needs."

Egghead operates CD-ROM-based product information centers, which
Jones says provides Egghead representatives with instant access
to the most current information and reviews of software and
peripheral products. "We're able to provide data that our
customers simply don't have the time to research."

Business 4 Business representatives will also have access to
Egghead's tech support, free 30-day product evaluation program, and
24 or 48-hour ground delivery service. Business 4 Business customers
will also have access to their reps through a toll-free telephone
line, and later this year will be able to charge purchases through a
special credit card option that calls for paying the balance under a
revolving credit plan.

(Jim Mallory/19930608/Press contact: Megan McKenzie, Egghead
Software, 206-391-6266; Reader contact: Egghead Software,
206-391-6266 or 800-344-4323)


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

 ****Wireless RadioMail For PowerBooks; Info Service For PCs 06/08/93
SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- The move
towards portable computing does not just benefit portable
computer manufacturers. There are also a multitude of services
and niche markets designed to take advantage of the trend.
One such service is RadioMail Corp's wireless electronic
mail (e-mail) service.

Already established for other platforms, it is now available
to users of Apple Computer's PowerBook and PowerBook Duo
systems. Using the service, PowerBook users can send and
receive e-mail messages without a telephone connection.

The company also claims that its new NewsFactory service
is the first wireless service for on-demand delivery of
breaking news and financial information to users of portable
computers.

RadioMail lets PowerBook users send messages to, or receive
them from, virtually any wired or wireless e-mail address in
the United States, including Apple's AppleLink mail system,
claims the company.

RadioMail's two-way gateway service uses the RAM Mobile Data
radio frequency (RF) network. The company says that, beginning
this summer, RadioMail also will be available over the Ardis
wireless network.

RadioMail is now available on DOS-based portables and Hewlett-
Packard handheld computers, as well as the Apple PowerBook
platform.

In announcing the new service, Geoffrey S. Goodfellow, RadioMail
chairman and founder, said, "Recent research found that nearly
all PowerBook users who access networks do so primarily to
send and receive e-mail. More than half of those reach networks
from off-site locations."

RadioMail client software for PowerBook is based on Eudora, an
electronic mail application developed by San Diego-based
Qualcomm.

The company says that PowerBook users can connect to RadioMail
through an Ericsson GE Mobidem or Motorola InfoTac packet radio
modem. A $99 setup fee includes a disk and instructions for
installing RadioMail software on the PowerBook. The RadioMail
wireless e-mail service is priced at $89 per month, with the
first month free to new subscribers. The Eudora software costs
$49, although users receive a $25 credit on the first month's
invoice.

The NewsFactory service is available immediately at no extra
charge to RadioMail subscribers on platforms. The company
says that NewsFactory is available in more than 6,000
US cities.

NewsFactory provides information in three formats: headlines,
brief summaries, and Dow Jones average information. The
company says that, within the headline and summary formats,
the user can select general news, domestic business,
international business or sports.

Information for NewsFactory is gathered from 16 news wire
sources, including United Press International, Business Wire,
PR NewsWire, Japan's Kyodo (Japan), and Russia's Tass.

(Ian Stokell/19930608/Press Contact: Geoff Goodfellow,
415-286-7800, RadioMail Corp.)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(SFO)(00024)

Sun Units Ship Enhanced SunLink, SPARCworks 2.0 06/08/93
WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Two Sun Microsystems
units have announced new software products for the company's
Solaris 2.0 operating system. While SunConnect says that it
will begin shipping a new version of its SunLink (OSI)
communication platform, SunPro has announced the availability
of the SPARCworks Professional Ada 2.0 development software.

According to Sun, SunLink OSI 8.0 provides customers with a
"powerful platform for implementing SunConnect's high-
performance new suite of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)
communication products, SunLink File Transfer, Access and
Management (FTAM), SunLink X.400, SunLink Common Management
Information Protocol (CMIP) and SunLink Virtual Terminal (VT).

SunLink OSI 8.0 allows diverse computing systems to share
resources and information across departmental, organizational
and international boundaries.

The SunLink OSI 8.0 platform is designed to be compliant with
industry and the US Government Open System Interconnection
Profile (GOSIP) V2 specifications.

In announcing the product, Jean-Pierre Baudouin, director of
product development at SunConnect, said: "We've been working
closely with our government customers for years providing
them with the functionality and enhancements they've asked
for in our OSI products. Our products offer enhancements that
go beyond meeting base OSI requirements."

According to the company, SPARCworks Professional Ada 2.0
consists of the SPARCompiler Ada 2.0 MIL-STD-1815A validated
Ada language system, and the SPARCworks/Ada 2.0 suite of
programmer productivity tools.

SPARCworks Professional Ada 2.0 is claimed to offer
faster compilation and application performance, as well as
enhanced tool integration through the ToolTalk software
from SunSoft. Version 2.0 is also claimed to improve
compilation and runtime performance, and to enhance tool
integration.

The SPARCworks/Ada 2.0 toolset incorporates ToolTalk
messaging to link individual tools and help third-party
software vendors to integrate their tools with
SPARCworks/Ada and access them through the SPARCworks
Manager.

The company is offering a free, 30-day evaluation CD of
SPARCworks Professional Ada 2.0 as part of the "Try-and-Buy
Evaluation Program" through SunPro authorized resellers.
SPARCworks/Ada 2.0 costs $2,500.

(Ian Stokell/19930608/Press Contact: Bill Jeppesen,
415-336-4768, SunConnect; Pattie (Walters) Barco,
415-336-4638, SUnPro)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(SFO)(00025)

SuperMac Ships Color Printers, Teams With HP 06/08/93
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- SuperMac
Technology has announced volume shipments of its new
ProofPositive family of color dye-sublimation printers. At the
same time the company has announced that it has teamed up
with Hewlett-Packard in order to provide a range of service
options for ProofPositive users.

SuperMac claims that it is the first company to deliver Adobe's
software-based Configurable PostScript Interpreter (CPSI)
Level 2 raster image processor (RIP) for dye-sublimation
printers.

According to the company, the technology, together with the
EfiColor color management software that comes with the
printers, allows ProofPositive to deliver continuous-tone
color and performance that automatically takes advantage of
faster CPUs (central processing units) as they become available.

In announcing the product, John Taylor, SuperMac's prepress
product marketing manager, said that the technology is just
what "color-publishing and prepress professionals at magazines,
advertising agencies, creative service departments, and design
firms need to make proofing decisions in house, right on the
desktop."

ProofPositive comes in a full-page digital-imaging bundle
costing $8,999 and a full-page bundle with Adobe's CPSI Level
2 software costing $10,499. Both are available immediately.
A two-page bundle with Adobe's CPSI Level 2 software is
listed at $19,999, and is set for shipment later in June.

The company says that all three bundles come with a SCSI
(Small Computer Systems Interface) interface, Electronics for
Imaging's EfiColor color management software for on-screen
and press emulation capabilities, a full ribbon, and 100 sheets
of paper. The digital-imaging model also features an Adobe
Photoshop export module for increased printing speed.

Meanwhile, SuperMac and HP are offering three types of service
contracts for ProofPositive printer customers: installation,
on-site service, and depot service.

Printer installation and on-site service are available in the a
number of areas, including Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis,
Columbus, Ohio, San Francisco, and Washington. Under terms of
the installation option, an HP customer engineer will set
up the printer, install printer driver software, and print test
files to ensure that printer is ready to use.

The on-site service contract calls for the dispatching of an HP
customer engineer to the customer's site if a problem cannot
be resolved by phone. The depot service option offer buyers a
two-business-day turnaround at the nearest HP service depot
open for printer repair.

(Ian Stokell/19930608/Press Contact: Deborah Doyle,
408-773-4446, SuperMac Technology)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00026)

SynOptics Announces Partners, Intros SuperAgent 06/08/93
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Managing
devices from multiple vendors is a major problem for system
managers. Now, SynOptics Communications claims that it is
helping to catalyze the client/server industry by sharing access
to network management information residing in its network
fabric.

Additionally, the company also claims that it has developed
a new technology, called SuperAgent, that delivers a "richer
level of information to management applications about
network behavior and attributes."

SynOptics says that is opening access to its embedded
intelligence so that other vendors can develop global enterprise
management (GEM) applications, which would make it easier to
manage multiple vendors' hardware and software systems with
a single application. The company claims that it is working
with Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, NetLabs, and Novell.

Also, SynOptics is working with NetLabs to develop two
new GEM applications: AssetManager and Vision DeskTop. The
company claims that the software is the first applications to
automate, integrate and simplify the task of inventorying and
managing the hardware and software assets residing on a
SynOptics network.

SynOptics will share its new SuperAgent technology with
NetLabs.

The company says that SuperAgent software uses open
standards and is distributed throughout the enterprise,
acting as middle-men for information that feeds to
management applications. They perform specific functions
such as correlating faults, collecting inventory information
and mapping topology.

(Ian Stokell/19930608/Press Contact: Tim Helms,
408-988-2400, SynOptics Communications Inc.)


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

 ****Time Warner, SGI Making Cable Multimedia System 06/08/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Time
Warner and SGI, Inc. (SGI), have announced they will begin
work on an interactive multimedia cable system that will be
prototyped first in Orlando, Florida by the end of 1993.

SGI, manufacturers of the MIPS reduced instruction set
computing (RISC) microprocessor, will receive research and
development funding from Time Warner Cable to develop a digital
multimedia set-top device. The device is planned to allow
consumers access to services such as video-on-demand,
educational resources, interactive video games, and home
shopping.

Called the Orlando Full Service Network, the prototype will be
run on the delivery end by the Challenge Server, a family of
large computers from SGI designed to deliver continuous
rate sound and video. Challenge digital video servers provide
the ability to store information, such as hundreds of videos,
in digital format for instant delivery to television screens,
the companies said. The Challenge systems can each support up
to thirty-six R4400 MIPS RISC processors.

On the other end, the television set-top box will have a MIPS
processors for the horsepower to offer high-speed
communications, interactive three-dimensional graphics, an on-
screen user interface, and compression and decompression for
audio and video.

Jim Barton, vice president of technology for SGI, says the
company is not interested as much in the set-top boxes as the
server end of the delivery system. So it is possible a variety
of set-top boxes in development, including the one being
developed by the Kaleida, Motorola, Scientific Atlanta
collaboration, could work in the SGI/Time Warner cable delivery
system.

Barton also said the advantage to partnering with Time Warner
is they will have both the role of a content provider and an
operations company. Time Warner Cable, a division of Time
Warner Entertainment, describes itself as the nation's second-
largest cable television operator, serving 7.1 million
television homes in 36 states. Time Warner Entertainment also
owns Warner Brothers and Home Box Office.

SGI will also supply the MIPS multimedia software engine for
software developers to create new applications for interactive
digital cable television systems, the companies said. The
multimedia software engine programming environment will be
available to developers by end of this summer, the
companies said.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930608/Press Contact: Jill Grossman, Silicon
Graphics; Reader Contact tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00028)

Dial-Up Network Link For Mobile Users Unveiled 06/08/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Digital Pathways UK has
announced the Centrum Remote dial-up bridge/router from Centrum
Communications in the US.

According to Digital Pathways, the bridge/router allows mobile
and/or remote users access to all the services of their corporate
network from any phone connection, including cellular phone users,
yet with no claiming changes in the way they work when connected
locally.

Roger Lewis, Digital Pathways' managing director for the UK, said
that Centrum Remote provides users with both dial-up routing for
branch office connectivity, as well as dial-in remote networking
from a notebook or laptop PC while on the road.

Dial-up routing offers significant savings over traditional wide
area networking in terms of dedicated leased line links, as well as
expensive remote routers. Digital Pathways also claims that using
dial-up LAN to LAN routing, all parts of an organization can be
connected to the corporate network in a cost-effective manner.

"For the network manager, who must manage and maintain the corporate
network, Centrum Remote offers the first true enterprise-wide remote
networking solution and addresses stringent requirements for multi-
protocol support, network management and security," explained Lewis.

Centrum Remote is available in a wide number of configurations and
at differing price levels. The system can support up to 16 phone
lines, balancing the load across them as required. In use, the
system can use remote callback to ensure security and can even be
pre-programmed to call specific sites at specific dates and times.

(Steve Gold/19930608/Press & Public Contact: Digital Pathways - Tel:
0256-882191; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00029)

 ****Lotus To Acquire Database Software Vendor 06/08/93
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Lotus
Development has confirmed rumors it will acquire privately
held Approach Software of Redwood City, California, thus
becoming the fourth major software company to buy out a database
software vendor in past couple of years.

Three-year-old Approach sells a relational database package also
called Approach, launched last year, with built-in forms,
mail-merge, and report writer functions.

Jim Manzi, president and chief executive of Lotus, said the
package "is squarely aimed at the sweet spot in the Windows
database market." He described it as a "database product for
normal people" rather than for programmers.

The companies said they have signed a definitive acquisition
agreement and expect to complete the transaction, which will be
accounted for as a purchase, within 30 days. Lotus said the
acquisition could result in a one-time pre-tax charge against
earnings of up to $20 million in the quarter in which the
transaction is completed. Company officials would give no further
details on the terms of the deal.

Lotus will begin marketing Approach 2.0 when the transaction is
completed, officials said. A company spokesman said features such
as SmartIcons will be added to the software this fall to make it
more like existing Lotus products. Later this year, the company
plans to add Approach to its SmartSuite package of applications.

The product, based on client/server technology, comprises three
components: a client-based graphical user interface, a relational
layer, and a series of data-access engines called PowerKeys. With
PowerKey engines, users get native access to corporate data
stored in dBase, Paradox, FoxPro, Oracle SQL, SQL Server, and DB2
formats. It works with any Novell NetWare, Microsoft LAN Manager,
Banyan VINES or Artisoft LANtastic local-area network, officials
said.

Approach is "optimized for the average person to be productive,"
said Kevin Harvey, president and chief executive of Approach.
Manzi said more powerful programmable databases are beyond the
expertise of most computer users.

Approach will be merged into Lotus' Database and Graphics
Products Division. Harvey, who founded Approach in August 1990,
will remain as general manager of the operation, which will stay
in Redwood City. He will report to Tim Davenport, vice-president
of Lotus' Database and Graphics Product Division.

All of Approach's 42 managers and staff have been offered work at
Lotus. "A small company this size can be easily integrated into
Lotus," Davenport said.

Lotus does not currently sell a database package. Its
database-related products include DataLens, a driver that gives
Lotus applications access to data stored in other vendors'
database software, and the still-unreleased Notebook applications
development tool for professional programmers, a spokesman said.

Rivals Microsoft and Computer Associates International
both beefed up their own PC database offerings last year by
buying, within weeks of each other, Fox Software and Nantucket
Inc., both makers of dBase-compatible packages. Earlier, Borland
International Inc. had bought Ashton-Tate, maker of the
standard-setting dBase IV database software.

The suggested retail price for Approach 2.0 is $399. System
requirements include a personal computer with a 286 or higher
processor, two megabytes (MB) of memory, a hard disk, Microsoft
Windows Version 3.0 or higher, a VGA or higher resolution
monitor, and a mouse or other pointing device.

(Grant Buckler/19930608/Press Contact: Richard Eckel, Lotus
Development, 617-693-1284; Jaleh Bisharat, Approach Software,
415-306-7887)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00030)

Wordperfect Ships Document Templates 06/08/93
OREM, UTAH, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 8 (NB) -- Wordperfect Corporation says
it is now shipping a package of more than 40 custom document
templates to make it easier for users of its word processing programs
to produce business documents with minimum effort.

Called Wordperfect ExpressDocs, the templates will include fax cover
sheets, newsletters, resumes, form letters, invoices, and other
popular documents.

"One of our major objectives with word processing is to automate most
office tasks," says Wordperfect for Windows product marketing manager
Jeff Hunsaker.

The company says ExpressDocs, which will ship with Wordperfect 5.2
for Windows, aren't just pre-created documents, but are interactive
and can prompt the user for specific information such as the name on
a fax cover sheet. When installed, the templates are accessed from
the pull-down File menu and can be used as is or edited to meet the
user's specific needs. An added Button Bar includes options for drop
caps, watermarks, page borders, and decorative paragraph breaks to
help users create documents.

ExpressDocs was created by LaserTools Corporation, the company that
also makes other Wordperfect accessories including TrueType for
Wordperfect, Fonts-on the-Fly, and PrimeType for Wordperfect. "We're
proud of ExpressDocs and hope Wordperfect users will enjoy using and
creating professional-looking documents that have pizazz," says
LaserTools CEO Randy Spurrier.

ExpressDocs is now shipping in specially marked packages of
Wordperfect 5.2 for Windows. Current version 5.2 users can get
ExpressDocs separately for $19.95 by contacting Wordperfect
Corporation on its toll free line. ExpressDocs has a suggested retail
price of $49.94 when sold separately.

An interim release of Wordperfect 5.2 for Windows started shipping in
April and is available to current users for $12.50 from Wordperfect
Corporation. The company says the update includes KickOff, a new
startup utility; enhancements to the File Open dialog box; and better
integration with Borland's Quattro Pro for Windows.

(Jim Mallory/19930608/Press contact: Liz Tanner, Wordperfect
Corporation, 801-228-5004; Reader contact: Wordperfect Corporation,
800-321-4566 or 801-225-5000, fax [phone])