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/nb930618

Text File | 1993-06-18 | 74KB | 1,638 lines

(NEWS)(TRENDS)(TYO)(00001)

Tiny AT-compatible On A Card 06/18/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- Seiko-Epson has developed an
IBM PC/AT-compatible card as small as a regular credit
card, but with all the necessary features of a PC/AT packed
onto a tiny board. The firm claims it is the smallest
PC/AT-compatible card in the industry.

Seiko-Epson's PC/AT-compatible card contains Intel's 80386SL
processor, an I/O controller, a VGA controller, a 1-megabyte DRAM
and a flash memory. Also, this card has a 236-pin connector
which Seiko-Epson is trying to push as an industry standard.

Called Cardio386, the card is slated for release by Seiko-Epson
in October. The retail price is expected to be around 400,000
yen ($3,600). Total shipment is anticipated to be around 100,000
units per month.

Seiko-Epson is targeting this PC/AT-compatible card at factory
automation firms as well as personal computer companies on an OEM
(original equipment manufacturer) basis.

Seiko-Epson is planning to release an 8086-based PC/XT-compatible
card and an 80486-based DOS/V-compatible card in 1994.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930617/Press Contact: Seiko-Epson,
 [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00002)

Koala Habitat Database Aids Conservation 06/18/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- The Australian Koala
Foundation (AKF) has a new computer database that identifies koala
habitats in Australia. The $225,000 system is being called one
of the most useful tools ever developed for wildlife preservation.

The system has been produced with assistance from computer vendors
Hewlett-Packard, Ingres and Genasys II. The next stage in the
project is Koala Habitat Atlas which will be a Unix-based Genamap
running on HP computers. Spatial data on all aspects of the
relevant areas is being donated by the Land Information Center.
Funding has been secured for the next phase - the Tweed region -
from a number of Australian organizations and an American zoo
consortium coordinated by San Diego Zoo.

For the first time there will be a comprehensive information
resource on the Koala, including data on the species' fragmented
habitats, its population numbers, feeding patterns and migratory
habits. This information may lead to the species being removed
from the Endangered Species List as rare and vulnerable in the
state of New South Wales. Information collected in the field
will be added to the Land Information Center's spatial data to
produce the most complete and accurate compendium on the animal
and its habitat. The information includes tree communities
being used by the animals, location of fecal pellets and
ranging behavior.

The map will give invaluable evidence to planners in regions
where to date there is only anecdotal evidence as to the
presence of the shy and hard-to-see animals. 80 percent of the
remaining koala habitat is on private land. It is believed that
unless there is a coordinated regional strategic plan to
maintain the koala's habitat, it is futile to try to protect
small patches of the animal. For this reason, confining the
koalas to patches in small national parks is not the solution.
A Koala can travel over 50km in two weeks which can take it
well outside the protection of the national parks system, a
problem similar to the African elephant.

The atlas project is designed to identify the areas which are
crucial to the Koala's survival and how to integrate this into
the spread of human population.

(Paul Zucker/19930617/Contact: Australian Koala Foundation on
phone [phone] or fax [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(DEN)(00003)

Maxis Railroad Simulation Game Add-On 06/18/93
ORINDA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- One of the most
popular hobbies in the country is model railroading. Probably no one
knows how many basements are filled with the complex multi-level
model train layouts that include scenery, towns, people and vehicles.

Some of those enthusiasts choose to do their model railroading on
personal computers, and that's where companies like Maxis come into
the picture. Maxis publishes software that makes you the owner of
your own private railroad company, and all that's required is your
personal computer.

Now the company has announced a Macintosh version of its A-Train
Construction Set, software that allows the railroader to customize
his or her terrain.

Features of the add-on software include the ability to remove
items such as buildings or animals from any scenario or saved
game, or start from scratch with a blank screen to build the city of
your dreams. You can also accumulate trains, track, land, buildings,
even money, or sculpt the landscape to suit your playing strategy or
aesthetic sensibilities. You can add mountains or valleys, lakes or
rivers, forests, farms and crop fields, and operate as many as 27
trains simultaneously using A-Train.

Since A-Train is a game, you can also give your computerized
competitors assets such as airports, ski resorts, or sports stadiums,
then compete against them in business.

A-Train is a US version of a game originally published in Japan in
1990 by Artdink, based on a series of games that began in 1986. Maxis
says the game has sold over 50,000 copies since its US
introduction by the company in 1992. Maxis also publishes A-Train and
the construction set for IBM-compatibles and Amiga, and supports
Soundblaster, Sound Master, Adlib, Roland, Tandy, Macintosh and Amiga
sound cards.

The A-Train construction set for Apple Computer's Macintosh has a
suggested retail price of $34.95, and requires a Macintosh A500 or
above and two floppy drives or a hard disk. Other system requirements
include Workbench 1.3 or higher, and one megabyte (MB) of system
memory for low resolution monitors. The company says you need at
least 1MB of system memory and 512 kilobytes of fast memory for high
resolution monitors.

(Jim Mallory/19930617/Press contact: Sally Vandershaf, Maxis,
510-253-3705; Reader contact: Maxis, 800-336-2947 or 510-254-9700,
fax [phone])


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00004)

Non-Mobilink Nets Make Other Arrangements 06/18/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- When the MobiLink
consortium was announced earlier this year, combining most Bell-
based cellular nets under one brand name with a common roaming
agreement, the question arose as to what would happen to those
Bell-owned cellular companies which compete with other Bell-owned
units. An example of the problem is in Atlanta, where MobiLink-
member BellSouth competes with MobiLink-member PacTel.

Newsbytes has learned that the answer is fairly straightforward.
The "wireline" unit gets MobiLink, name and agreements, while the
"non-wireline" unit must make other arrangements. In the case of
Atlanta, this means PacTel will continue to use the PacTel brand
name, said spokesman David McNaughton. But, to compete
effectively, PacTel and other non-wireline competitors in the
Southeast have formed a new roaming agreement, called SouthReach.
Members include Bell Atlantic Mobile, as well as GTE and Contel,
both of which do business as Cellular One.

The four companies said SouthReach will offer automatic call
delivery and inter-system handoffs in a region covering more than
85,000 licensed square miles, and make calling in other
participating markets as simple and convenient as calling in a
customer's "home" market.

One feature of SouthReach gives callers the ability to reach
cellular customers traveling in the region without knowing their
exact location. The caller simply dials the customer's cellular
number and the call is automatically delivered. Previously, the
customer would have to manually activate commands for a call
delivery service or the caller would need to know the location
code of the customer. Another feature allows customers to
continue a call without interruption while traveling between
SouthReach carriers' systems. Calls crossing the service area
boundaries will be carried by unaffiliated long distance
providers.

McNaughton, whose title is director of marketing and business
development, noted to Newsbytes that the SouthReach deal may even
trump MobiLink competitor BellSouth, which serves the entire
nine-state region. "BellSouth doesnt have the whole region. There
are areas in the Carolinas owned by Centel and others." He added,
All four of the parties are part of the MobiLink agreement, but
they're segmented, and the people in the wireline market have
priority in terms of membership." What this means is that, in
Los Angeles, where PacTel and BellSouth also compete, PacTel
will have the MobiLink cache, while BellSouth must make other
arrangements.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930617/Press Contact: PacTel Cellular,
Rick Orchard, 404/257-5382)


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

AT&T Ships PassageWay 06/18/93
BRIDGEWATER, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- AT&T said it
is delivering PassageWay Solution, a Windows-based program that
lets companies manage their Merlin Legend telephones and process
calls from their PCs, or enables data from Merlin systems to
manipulate PC software applications.

PassageWay can process or dial calls while operators handle other
things, as well as retrieve data on calls tied to local Caller ID
offerings. Later this year, AT&T said, it will deliver versions
of PassageWay for its Definity and Partner systems.

AT&T said it is busy recruiting independent software developers
to build PassageWay support into their programs. It says they can
use PassageWay to support Windows features like Dynamic Data
Exchange or use the program's own application program interface.
Programs that have already committed to supporting the system
include Campbell Services' OnTime calendar and group scheduler,
Remote Control International's TeleMagic PhoneLink sales and
customer support system, and Jensen-Joines' Commence information
management tool.

The software, which costs $360 at retail, requires a PC with an
80286 or faster chip, a minimum of two megabytes of memory and
two megabytes of hard disk space, along with Windows Version 3.1
or higher, and an available serial port. The program is optimized
for using Com ports three and four.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930617/Press Contact: Craig Settles, for
AT&T, 510-644-3837)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00006)

IBM, HP, Sunsoft In Object-Oriented Alliance 06/18/93
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- IBM,
Hewlett-Packard Co., and SunSoft Inc., have announced they plan to
work together to make it easier to move software across their
respective object-oriented software platforms.

The firms said they will start from standards set by the Object
Management Group (OMG), an industry standards body. Each company
will support these interfaces in its own distributed object
development programs: IBM's SOMobjects, HP's Distributed Object
Management Facility (DOMF), and SunSoft's Distributed Objects
Everywhere (DOE) project.

Officials said a set of common distributed object interfaces will
let software developers and information systems managers build
applications across multiple open computing environments, and
move them one to another.

Applications will have to be recompiled to move from one of the
platforms to another, said Mike Matthews, product marketing
manager for HP's distributed computing program, but no changes to
source code will be required.

IBM, HP, and SunSoft said they plan to provide common interfaces
for software developers at the Object Request Broker (ORB) and
Object Services levels.

The ORB is a mechanism by which objects transparently make
requests and receive responses across the network. All objects
use Object Services for communication, identification, consistent
use, and management. The ORB interfaces will comply with the
OMG's Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA)
specification and the Object Services will be based on the three
companies' submissions to the OMG.

Some of the technology is in place today, Matthews said, while
other pieces will appear over the coming year. The project does
not have a fixed completion date, he said, because OMG standards
are still evolving.

The companies plan to make the interface specifications publicly
available and offer them to the OMG for inclusion in future
specifications. Officials said they hope the agreement will speed
adoption of OMG-compliant technology by helping developers get
more from their development investments.

The deal complements the Common Open Software Environment (COSE)
initiative announced earlier this year by a group of vendors
including IBM, HP, and Sunsoft. Matthews said this alliance is
"very much within the spirit of COSE," though not directly
dependent on work being done under the COSE initiative.

(Grant Buckler/19930617/Press Contact: Rob Crawley, IBM, 914-
766-3963; Lynne Hanson, Hewlett-Packard, 408-447-1415; Laura
Ramsey, SunSoft, 415-336-0739)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(LON)(00007)

Andest Targets Market For Zero Power Modem 06/18/93
MILTON KEYNES, ENGLAND, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- After more than a year
in the market-place, Andest Communications' zero power modem (ZPM)
is still the only approved line-powered modem on sale in the UK. As
a result, the modem manufacturer claims that it has had a unique
chance to examine the market into which the device is selling.

According to Andest, the ZPM is selling into three markets:
the notebook or laptop PC user who wants to save space and weight on
the ZPM over power supply unit (PSU) or battery-equipped powered
modems; original equipment manufacturer applications
that only have a limited amount of power available to driver
peripherals; and in telemetry.

Of the three markets into which ZPM is selling, telemetry is
perhaps the most interesting, since meteorological stations and the
like are frequently unmanned and set up to operate automatically in
remote operations. This requires a high degree of reliance on the
modem, which, since it is line-powered, has very little to go wrong.

Tony Sellers, who commissioned the research, reckons that the real
growth in the market for ZPMs will come from resellers and systems
integrators who will be able build the ZPM into a wide range of
innovative solutions.

"It's a problem-solving type of product," he said, adding that, once
people realize that you can power up a modem from a phone line,
"they start thinking of all the applications which this makes
possible."

"We recognize there will always be some engineering required to
provide a total solution and we have set up a ZPM integration group
at Milton Keynes specifically to address this," he said.

(Steve Gold/19930618/Press & Public Contact: Andest Communications -
Tel: [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(LON)(00008)

 ****Olivetti "Self Service" Multimedia Kiosk 06/18/93
MILAN, ITALY, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- Imagine going down to your local
bank branch and, even though the branch is closed, sliding your card
through the door lock and entering a video lobby where you can
browse a video booth and even talk to headquarters bank staff via a
live video link.

You're talking about the multimedia kiosk, a state of the art
multimedia center in a photo-style booth that the San Paolo
Institute, one Italy's largest retail banking groups, is trialling
at three locations around Italy. Plans call to extend the
service to 300 branches by the end of the year.

The kiosk was developed by Olivetti and, according to the Italian
electronics giant, is the first application of the technology in the
world. The trial kiosks allow customers to have access to 20 or more
services, ranging from routine bank enquiries to browsing estate
agent catalogues in real time.

Information is presented to the customer in a multimedia format,
integrating videos, still images, text, graphics and sound onto a
few video screens. Control of the system is via a 14 inch color
touch-screen. At any time during the local browse mode, the customer
presses a special on-screen "button" and a small video image pops up
in the top corner of the screen. This area is usually filled by a
customer representative of the service being browsed who can talk to
the customer using a telephone handset if required.

Jerry Cahill, Olivetti UK's finance division manager, said that this
first application of the technology has been designed to act a remote
counselling service for banks and building societies to improve
customer service and reduce costs.

"It enables financial institutions to centralize finance specialists
while maintaining the level of service to the branch. The system
today can deliver the capability of having an 'expert' in every
branch," he said.

Given the increasing emphasis placed by financial services
organizations on improving customer services and pro-active point of
information and marketing systems, we expect to see kiosks like this
become commonplace across Europe," he said.

The heart of the Italian multimedia kiosk is an Olivetti PC, linked
to the headquarters using an integrated services digital network
(ISDN) connection. All video and audio links go through the ISDN
connection.

The aim of the system is to cut down the need to staff all bank
branches with high caliber specialist staff. By concentrating
resources centrally, accessible over a free link, for use when
required, the cost of banking services can be brought down, both
Olivetti and bank are claiming.

(Steve Gold/19930618/Press & Public Contact: Olivetti UK - tel: 081-
780-8232)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00009)

Canadian Company Offers Multimedia-Ready PC 06/18/93
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- 3D Microcomputers,
a manufacturer and distributor of PCs and related products, has
announced a personal computer with a compact disc read-only
memory (CD-ROM) drive built-in, plus a stereo sound card and
external speakers. 3D describes the IPC 486CD/FX as
"multimedia-ready."

The new machine has an Intel 486sx microprocessor running at 33
megahertz (MHz), and the standard package includes four megabytes
(MB) of memory and a 120-MB hard disk drive. A 200-MB drive is
available also, said Chuck Yeung, vice-president of marketing at
3D.

Yeung said he does not view the IPC 486CD/FX as a full-fledged
multimedia PC for business applications. It is meant to give home
and small business users a sense of what sound hardware and
CD-ROM can do for them, he said.

The system will come with a bundle of CD-ROM titles, including:
Microsoft Bookshelf '93, a collection of seven popular reference
books; the multimedia edition of the Microsoft Works for Windows
integrated software; the 21-volume Grolier's Encyclopedia on
CD-ROM; and the Microsoft Multimedia Pack, a CD of graphics, clip
art, games, and utilities.

MS-DOS 6.0, Windows 3.1, and Microsoft's Excel, PowerPoint, Word,
and Project software are also preloaded.

The system has a 14-inch Super VGA color monitor, a Microsoft
mouse, a Sound Wonder stereo sound card, and external speakers.
It uses an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) system bus with
seven expansion slots, has one internal and five external drive
bays, and comes with 128K bytes of external cache memory. The
chassis is a mini-tower type with a 200-watt power supply.

The suggested retail price is C$2,579. 3D is focusing on the
Canadian market, Yeung said, but is also looking at the United
States. Sales in many international markets will have to wait
until the CD-ROM titles bundled with the machine are available in
other languages, he added.

(Grant Buckler/19930618/Press Contact: Chuck Yeung, 3D
Microcomputers, 416-479-8822, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(TOR)(00010)

Cognos Allies With Database Vendors 06/18/93
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- Cognos has
announced alliances with four major database software vendors.
The maker of application development and decision support
software, which has dual headquarters in Ottawa and in Burlington,
Massachusetts, announced collaborative business alliances with
Informix, Ingres, Oracle, and Sybase.

Cognos officials said the company views these alliances as
strategic steps in addressing the client-server application
development market. Products from the four database companies are
largely used on servers in client-server systems.

Cognos' desktop query tool, Impromptu 2.0, and its PowerPlay 3.0
desktop executive information system software, can already read
data from all four vendors' databases. These deals will lead to
closer ties between PowerHouse, Cognos' application development
software, and the four databases, said Michael Greeley, a
spokesman for Cognos.

The first fruit of the alliances is expected to be tighter
integration with Sybase in a new release of PowerHouse for Unix
systems this fall, Greeley said. Over the coming year, similar
links to the other databases will come to market.

Greeley said that in the past Cognos viewed the database vendors
as competitors, but is now looking on them as partners. "Database
independence has become a prerequisite to a lot of the big
decisions," he said.

Under the terms of the alliances Cognos can participate in the
database firms' beta testing programs and be involved in joint
marketing projects such as technical fairs and seminars. Cognos
will also get preferred terms on software licenses, support, and
training. Its membership in Sybase's Synergy program for
independent software vendors also includes access to on-line
technical information.

(Grant Buckler/19930618/Press Contact: Michael Greeley, Cognos,
617-229-6600)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00011)

Philly Area Depending on BBSs 06/18/93
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) --
The Delaware Valley is hoping computer bulletin board technology
can put its economic development into high gear.

A new BBS using Galacticomm's Major BBS is going online as a
pilot program of the Ben Franklin Technology Center in
Southeastern Pennsylvania. But Newsbytes has learned that's just
a first step. A spokesman for the center said the group is also
looking toward developing a higher-capacity board that will serve
the entire region, capable of handling hundreds of simultaneous
phone calls. The largest BBSs in North America, Canada Remote and
Exec-PC, handle just about 200 calls at once.

The initial board is called the "Strategy 21 Network" and is
designed for economic development officials. Like most business
boards, it offers e-mail and databases. Newsbytes was told that
Major BBS was used in part for access to the Raster Image
Processing, or RIP, technology the company implemented in
February. RIP, since implemented by Mustang Software for its
Wildcat BBS and Qmodem communication programs, gives the board a
more graphic look -- more like Microsoft Windows, we were told.

The idea is that people using the board can coordinate their
economic development efforts. Participants include Bell of
Pennsylvania, local utilities, and local development authorities.
The host system is provided by PenCycle, managed by Pennsylvania
Recycling Council.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930618/Press Contact: Phillip A. Singerman,
Ben Franklin Technology Center, 215-382-0380)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00012)

 ****Big Future Seen For Adobe Acrobat 06/18/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- Business Link, a
service bureau which uses fast ISDN data lines to collect print
jobs from magazines and designers, said it will use the new
Portable Document Format, or PDF, of Adobe Acrobat.

Michael Schoolnik, the company's vice president-business
development, told Newsbytes he sees a big future for the format.
Current customers send files using ISDN and Switched 56 fast-data
services, he said. "We're finding these publishers' subscribers
could read the publication online if they also have a
subscription" using the format.

"It's a young idea, and we're trying not to over-do it, but we're
talking about having these files on our server, telling our
clients about other clients' files, so they can read it or
download it." As a practical matter, "Our customers are
designers, ad agencies, and packagers. They could have changes
made before publication, if necessary." This would save "make-
goods" on botched ads, by letting the buyers proofread exactly
what's about to be printed, he speculated.

To become practical, however, anyone looking at the .PDF file
would have to be downloading it with a fast digital service, not
a regular modem. "You can't read a PDF file well online using a
modem," he said, so "It's going to take time" before this becomes
a practical offer.

Schoonick emphasized to Newsbytes that, for now, this is a very
small network, because so few people use ISDN or Switched 56
services. "We have deployed maybe 50 ISDN lines. There are ad
agencies, service bureaus and designers. That's a very small
network. I don't want this to be more than it is. But as we sell
more lines in New York, we will be able to offer previews."

He added, "We're still trying to educate the phone companies. We
don't want to mislead people at all." It will take time for
Acrobat to make its mark online.

Meanwhile, Knight-Ridder's PressLink service announced plans to
use Acrobat for creating new online offerings. PressLink was
originally launched in 1985 as a means of distributing text and
graphics among the company's newspaper, but was turned into a
stand-alone service in 1989 for distribution of electronic
documents. PressLink offers an extensive on-line database of
photos, graphics and text, mainly to newspapers. PressLink has
also added an Acrobat bulletin board to its on-line Media Mall.
The company also plans to make Media Express and PressLink
available in Acrobat format later this year. PressLink has a
total subscriber base of 3,000 people at more than 950 customer
sites.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930618/Press Contact: Adobe Systems, Linda
Prosser, 415/962-3840; PressLink, Todd Carter, 703/758-1745;
Business Link, Michael Schoolnik, 212/268-0777)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00013)

Comcast Cellular Offers New Services 06/18/93
WAYNE, PENNSYLVANIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- Comcast, one of
the first companies to combine ownership of cable, cellular and
telephone properties, moved to enhance its Philadelphia-area
cellular service with information services and a voice-dialing
system. In the Delaware Valley, Comcast does business as
Metrophone.

The info services are now available at *411 -- the * or star key
is often used by cellular phone companies to initiate a call to a
special computerized information system. As its name implies,
 *411 is designed as a cellular replacement to the 411 number used
to get phone numbers through wired networks. But Comcast is
offering more. The service, Comcast Connect, offers listings by
city or street as well as type of business, so if you want a
pizza, the service can find you a delivery truck in your area. In
addition, Comcast operators stay on the line until the call goes
through, and even connect a customer to another number if the
first listing isn't what they wanted.

Comcast also began testing a voice-activated dialing system
called VoiceTouch. After a summer-long test with 300 customers,
the company hopes to roll it out as a commercial service by the
fall, and introduce it in other Comcast marketers later in the
year. The service lets customers store a personal voice
directory, so they can speak the words "call office" and have the
system dial their office number automatically. Or you can say
the digits you want to dial, and the system will dial them
automatically. Comcast said its VoiceTouch can recognize a
subscriber's voice if they're ill, and refine recognition of the
directory for faster operation.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930618/Press Contact: Melissa Nichols,
Comcast Metrophone, 215-975-5123)


(EDITORIAL)(TRENDS)(ATL)(00014)

Editorial - Working At Home 06/18/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- By Dana Blankenhorn.
In the last week, studies in both Australia and the US have
shown that people who work at home are just as productive as
their office-bound counterparts, even drinking less and taking
fewer drugs.

I've been working at home for 10 years, so my reaction is
something like this: "Duh-uh." And the latest studies just touch
on the advantages. My neighborhood is safer because burglars are
never sure when I'll be in or out. My wife, who has a desk job,
knows she can rely on me for chores like food shopping, cooking,
or picking up the kids when she has to work late. All this makes
for less stress.

For me, however, the best part of telecommuting is I'm my own
boss. I'm a one-man business doing what I want, when I want. One
of my favorite jokes is that, in the 1950s when I was a kid, dad
went to work while mom and the kids stayed home. Now, in the
1990s, dad stays home while mom and the kids go to work, or in
their case a day care center.

But the real reason many companies are saying nice things about
telecommuting today is more pernicious. They want to pay us less.
As an independent contractor, I'm responsible for taking taxes
out of my own checks, and I'd have to buy health insurance if my
wife's job didn't come with it. I do piece work, and when I'm not
actually pounding the typewriter -- if I'm getting a cup of
coffee or going to the bathroom -- I'm not making money. All this
fits in well with business' drive to "temp" the American
workforce. By turning us all into independent contractors,
big business can pay only for the work we do, and not for our
presence. Unlike some people, I'm not dumping on this trend --
it's just something we as "employees" or "contractors" need to
deal with, in how we price our services and how we look at those
we serve.

But there are some things which must change if more of us are to
work at home, especially with computers. We need to change some
local zoning laws which currently discourage telecommuting. We
need to change some labor laws which assume people working at
home are doing cheap piece-work labor. More important, we need to
upgrade the electrical and phone systems coming into our homes,
and for that we need help from utilities. I want ISDN, and I
still don't have it, and I want it at a price I can afford.

But all this can be worked out. If you're locked in an office,
consider this. I'm wearing my usual summer work uniform, a gimme
t-shirt and shorts. I just stopped for an egg and watched a
comedy show on the cable. I'm heading from here to my kids'
"father's day lunch" at day-care. And I'm probably making more
money than you are. If you work with your head, in other words,
it doesn't matter where you are. You can be productive, and you
can make a living. Think about it.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930618)


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

Internet Services For Libraries 06/18/93
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- It sounds too
good to be true -- open DRANET, an Internet-linked service
offering magazine full-text and index databases, and new
databases from Cambridge Scientific Abstracts. Technically, any
Internet account can access DRANET, and any DRANET subscriber can
access other Internet services.

But wait. This is too good to be true, admits Joe Bonwich of
DRA. DRANet has just 50 members, all of them university
libraries. To access the service, you must have a Z39.50 client
software package and Internet connection. Despite the fact that
increasing numbers of homes and businesses have Internet access,
"You can't get to it from a home computer. It's a library to
library, host to host system. It's set up so libraries can tap
into periodical indexes and share databases."

And that won't change. "We don't sell it to businesses. The
product is available only to libraries right now. Businesses are
tricky. There are some PC-based systems setting up client Z39.50
access. If they have that the business can purchase access from
that. You can call for a price from us. The price is in the
thousands to access the network, and add-in prices of $500-$2,000
per year for the databases. Butler University in Indianapolis and
the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Public Library are the latest libraries to
subscribe to Open DRANET, bringing the total to 51. But despite
the name, it's not that open.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930618/Press Contact:Joe Bonwich, Data
Research Associates, 314-432-1100)


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

Bellcore Offers System for National Messaging 06/18/93
RED BANK, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- Bellcore, the
research arm of the regional Bell companies, wants to help those
companies get into more long distance services. To that end, it's
released what it calls a technical document on a system called
Message Transport and Routing Service. MTRS would be offered to
messaging services providers on a national basis, starting at a
July 1 Industry Forum hosted by NYNEX, the regional Bell for New
York and New England.

MTRS enables a messaging subscriber to use one telephone number
to transmit an electronic message in any media, whether voice, e-
mail or fax, from one mail system to another, regardless of the
system's provider. MTRS SR-INS-002662, which describes the
system, contains feature definitions, describes how the service
can operate in conjunction with existing messaging systems, and
contains two possible national network architectures that could
support MTRS. It's aimed at suppliers of messaging service
equipment, big businesses, governmental agencies, universities
and information service providers who might use the system, as
well as local and long-distance telephone companies.

Generally, the Bell companies have been frustrated in their
efforts to offer much more than local wired service or cellular
service. The Bells blame regulations which keep them out of the
long distance markets, although despite their huge capacity for
handling data they've been unable to crack such markets as frame
relay and X.25 data networking in a big way.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930618/Press Contact: Bellcore, Barbara
McClurken, 201/740-6467 )


(NEWS)(IBM)(LON)(00017)

 ****IBM Ready To Launch PC-DOS 6.1 06/18/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- IBM will launch its own version
of MS-DOS 6.0. The package will be known as PC-DOS 6.1 and will be
issued as part of Big Blue's ongoing licensing arrangement with
Microsoft, Newsbytes head learned.

The official unveiling of PC-DOS will be at PC Expo, which opens
next week in New York. Similar announcements are planned from other
IBM headquarters around the world.

Steve Walker, IBM UK's marketing programs manager, said that PC-DOS
6.1 solves a large number of problems that early users of MS-DOS 6.0
reported, including some of the conflicts with other TSR (terminate
and stay resident) packages. A new version of Memmaker, the DOS 6.0
memory manager, is included in PC-DOS 6.1, which has been updated to
take account of other memory managers in active use, such as
Quarterdeck's QEMM, version 7.0 of which was released earlier this
year.

Pricing on PC-DOS 6.1 has yet to be finalized, although US
executives with IBM, discussing the package with a group of UK
journalists at its Austin, Texas, headquarters, said that the
eventual price will probably be within $5 or $10 of the Microsoft
RRP of MS-DOS 6.0.

The extra price will enable IBM to ship a full suite of utilities
with PC-DOS 6.1, such as Central Point's Anti Virus, rather than
the stripped-down utilities. According to Walker, this will greatly
simplify IBM's planned 24-hour support line operations.

"Our aim to provide 24-hour support for this version of DOS has
taken some organizing. We have direct links with the producers of
the utilities and, quite frankly, if we are offering a full version
of the utility, it makes life a hell of a lot easier for our guys to
be able to offer support," he told Newsbytes.

One interesting feature of PC-DOS 6.1 is its ability to offer
customized error message management. This feature is for IBM's
resellers, who will be expected to customize the error messages to
dovetail in with other IBM-supplied software.

(Steve Gold/19930618/Press & Public Contact: IBM UK - Tel:
071-928-1777)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(LON)(00018)

EC Finally Approves HDTV Funding Project 06/18/93
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- It's taken more than a year,
but the European Commission has finally agreed its proposed high
definition television (HDTV) project with the British Government.

The EC's original plan to invest around a billion European Currency
Units (ECUs) was knocked back time and again by the British MPs (member
of parliament) and officials at various meetings. This week's last
ditch attempt to offer European TV companies 228 million ECUs over
the next few years, provided they develop a European digital HDTV
system, appears to have met with British approval.

According to Hanja Maij-Weggen, the Dutch public works minister, the
British have climbed down on their original objections that a Euro-
HDTV system was unworkable. Sources close to the EC suggest that a
last-minute switch-around of British ministers may have a lot to do
with the change of heart.

Maij-Weggen was quoted in the British media as saying that Patrick
McLoughlin, the replacement for Edward Leigh, in the EC discussions
was a lot more cooperative and constructive than his predecessor.

Interviewed on British TV, McLoughlin was adamant that he had not
conceded anything that Leigh has not. He said that Britain's views on
the subject of HDTV technology had changed because the EC had agreed
that Japanese TV companies, such as Sony, would have a chance to
receive the investment funding.

Final details of the plan will be thrashed out over the next six
weeks, now that the EC has agreed the project in principle. The good
news is that the EC's original plans to develop the analog MAC
HDTV system (DMAC) have now been dropped in favor of all-digital
technology.

Another key feature of the deal is that the EC will not hand over
its cash to the TV companies without a firm commitment that
every dollar the EC invests will at least be matched
by another dollar from other sources.

(Steve Gold/19930618)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TOR)(00019)

Software Developer's To Buy PC Tools 06/18/93
HINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- The Software
Developer's Co. Inc., said it has signed a letter of intent to buy
California-based Personal Computing Tools Inc. (PC Tools), for an
undisclosed amount of SDC common stock.

PC Tools, a privately owned catalog distributor of PC-based
software and specialty hardware products for engineers,
scientists, and technicians, has annual revenues of about $3
million, officials said. Software Developer's has revenues of
about $34 million per year, company spokesman Steven Oremland
said.

Software Developer's expects to complete the deal by the end of
June.

The deal will help Software Developer's expand beyond its current
business -- supplying tools to programmers -- into a "much larger
niche" in the scientific and engineering market, Oremland said.
He said that market comprises about five million people, and PC
Tools has a strong presence there. Company officials said they
expect continued growth in the market.

SDC will add PC Tools' catalog to its line of direct marketing
vehicles and add more products to it.

The company plans to integrate PC Tools' California-based
operations into its own in Massachusetts. Oremland said it
appears unlikely that any of PC Tools' 13 employees will be
offered jobs with his firm.

(Grant Buckler/19930618/Press Contact: Steven L. Oremland, The
Software Developer's Co., 617-740-0300)


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00020)

IBM Canada Offers 30-Day Free Trial Of ValuePoints 06/18/93
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- In an effort to get
more buyers interested in its PS/ValuePoint line of personal
computers, IBM Canada is trying a new tack: allowing
potential customers to try one free for 30 days.

IBM Canada is mailing out an offer to about 100,000 small and
medium-sized businesses across Canada, drawing on names of those
who have inquired about the ValuePoint PCs in the past as well as
a purchased mailing list, a spokesman for the company said. The
first 300 to respond and meet some basic requirements will get a
ValuePoint to try out for a month.

To qualify, potential customers have to be registered for the
federal Goods and Services Tax -- a simple way of indicating that
they operate some kind of business -- and pass a basic credit
check, the spokesman said.

The offer covers all ValuePoint models except those in the
mini-tower chassis, which are in short supply, he said.

After 30 days, the customer will have the option of buying the
machine or returning it to IBM and paying nothing.

The ValuePoint machines, launched last year, are IBM's attempt to
lure price-conscious buyers back from the lower-priced compatible
machines that have eaten into the company's share of the PC
market in recent years.

The free-trial offer is a Canadian innovation that IBM has not
tried elsewhere, the spokesman said.

(Grant Buckler/19930618/Press Contact: Steve Wright, Atkins &
Ellis for IBM Canada, 416-368-6880; David Keating, IBM Canada,
416-946-4185)


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

Canada Unitel Signs Amway To Help Sell Long-Distance 06/18/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- Unitel
Communications Inc., the national Canadian carrier that got the
regulatory green light last year to offer long-distance service
in competition with established telephone companies, has signed a
marketing deal with Amway, the US-based direct sales
organization.

The deal is similar to one that exists between Amway and MCI
Communications, an American long-distance company. Stephanie
MacKendrick, a spokeswoman for Unitel, said that deal has proved
to be MCI's biggest source of residential long-distance business,
and Unitel hopes working with Amway will do as much for its own
sales.

Amway describes itself as a "network marketing company." It signs
up individuals as representatives, and they then sell Amway
products. The 34-year-old Michigan-based firm claims sales of
more than $3 billion annually, with one million representatives
in 50 countries and territories worldwide.

Amway Canada has about 100,000 representatives across Canada,
MacKendrick said, and their distribution closely matches the
areas in which Unitel provides long-distance service.

Amway representatives won't sell Unitel's services, but will
simply tell their customers about them and leave it up to the
customers to contact Unitel, MacKendrick said.

MacKendrick acknowledged that Amway may have a poor image with
some people because of past questions about its sales practices,
but denied that this could reflect badly on Unitel. "I know in
the past there have been some issues with Amway," she said, "but
they have been well sorted out."

She added that in making the deal, Unitel insisted that Amway
follow practices laid down by the Canadian Direct Marketing
Association, such as refraining from contacting people who have
placed their names on lists indicating they do not want to be
approached by direct marketers.

(Grant Buckler/19930618/Press Contact: Stephanie MacKendrick,
Unitel Communications, 416-345-2482)


(REVIEW)(GENERAL)(SYD)(00022)

Review of - Hot Links, Guide To Linking Computers 06/18/93

From: Osborne McGraw Hill

Runs on: Disks run on IBM PC/AT (286 or higher) running DOS

Price: $29.95 in the US.

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

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Paul Zucker 06/18/93

Summary: This book by Mark Eppley and David Hakala also
includes three communications utilities on a 3.5" disk. It
comes from the developer of the well-known LapLink software.
It not only explains just about everything you ever wanted to
know about connecting PCs together, but it also has software
for connecting PCs and transferring files without a network.

======

REVIEW

======

There's no such thing as a simple way to connect PCs. Anyone who
has ever tried to install a network or get a modem working knows
that there is a series of annoying little problems waiting to
pop up, one by one. And the more software and hardware you have
installed in the PC, the more chance there is of some sort of
conflict that prevents things from working.

For instance, do you really understand what interrupts are?
Can you have the same interrupt for two logical devices in the
machine? How fast can you send data over a wire? Will that
high speed modem really send data at 50,000 bits per second?

The chapter headings in Hot Links are: Basic linking know
how - parallel and serial communications; Sharing printers
among several PCs; Linking PCs to exchange files and electronic
mail; Sharing files - three types of local area networks;
Long distance linking - modems and online services; Linking
laptop computers at home and on the road; Linking DOS-based
PCs and Macintoshes; Linking PCs to mainframes; Wireless links;
New linking challenges - little tiny computers; Installing
Hot Links Software; Using Desk Connect; Using File Manager;
Using Lapwrite.

The last four chapters refer to the software included with the
book, on a 3.5" diskette. The first program lets you link two
PCs by a simple cable (which is available by mail order for
$20). The second is a file manager that is equally useful in
moving files and directories around on a single machine or two
machines connected by Desk Connect. The last is a lean word
processor for use on laptop computers.

Although a proportion of the book covers modem communications
and associated topics such as bulletin boards and dial-up
information services, the information covered is much wider in
scope. It ranges from the basic concepts that help users
understand why something isn't working correctly, to a good
coverage of the way things are moving and what we should expect
in the next couple of years. These topics include cellular phone
communications, infra-red and wireless communications, hand-
held PCs and personal assistants.

This is the sort of book that you don't mind reading from cover
to cover, and then refer to when a problem arises. Many people
will find it useful in broadening their understanding of what
can and can't be achieved. Others will skip the basic
explanations of computer principles but find much of
value in topics such as UARTs or network cables types.

There is a hefty resource directory in the back of the book. It
lists the contact details for dozens of computer companies
mentioned in the book. And at the very back of the book is a mini
mail-order catalog of Travelling Software products such as LapLink,
cables, specialist linking packages and the famous Road Warrior
Toolkit which can be used for getting access to just about any
phone system (in a nice way, of course).

(Paul Zucker/19930610)


(REVIEW)(IBM)(WAS)(00023)

Review of - Career Opportunities on CD-ROM 06/18/93

Runs on: MS-DOS-compatible computer with CD-ROM player, 512K RAM
memory available, MS-DOS CD-ROM Extensions, MS-DOS version 2.11
or higher.

From: Quanta Press Inc., 1313 Fifth Street SE, Suite 208C,
Minneapolis, MN 55414. 612-379-3956 voice or 612-623-4570 fax

Price: $70

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

Reviewed for Newsbytes by: Rick Bender, 06/18/93

Summary: Career Opportunities on CD-ROM is an excellent way to
explore your qualifications for a college major or job field with
ease and speed and to view detailed job descriptions for federal
and private employment.

======

REVIEW

======

As a college senior about to enter the job market, I found Career
Opportunities on CD-ROM to be a great help in searching quickly
and easily through the mountains of information describing a wide
range of careers. Career Opportunities provides addresses and
contact people for those looking for a position in the near
future, and, if you're looking for a more immediate, temporary
position, the job profiles include list contacts for internships
and summer job possibilities.

Using Career Opportunities, you can search databases for key
words or phrases related to your occupation or field of interest
- in my case, journalism. Typing "journalism" at the prompt
yielded a wealth of information related to reporting, writing,
and editing, such as: job description, working conditions,
average incomes, job outlook, education requirements, breakdown
of regional employment, contacts, and other information.

I found the "personality characteristics" section of the Career
Opportunities profile, which lists some traits of people who will
be successful at a career in a particular field, very useful in
helping me narrow my search within the very broad field of
journalism. It also helped me consider more carefully how my
temperament, not just my writing abilities, would fit in (or not
fit in) sufficiently with the nature of the work to let me become
a successful journalist.

The list of contacts included at the end of each job occupation
description can be very helpful in finding just whom to go to for
further information/hiring possibilities.

Under "government careers" in the majors/areas of study
subheading, you can read about each government agency related to
your field, its history, and employment possibilities. This is a
lucrative possibility since there are about 17 million federal,
state, and local government employees. Career Opportunities also
lists government pay levels and educational requirements for some
occupations.

Career Opportunities is very easy to use, because all you have to
do is enter the key word you want to search for and press Enter.
The menus explain the rest to you as you go.

I would recommend Career Opportunities to any high school or
college student wanting to find out more about his/her field of
interest. College students in particular will find this reference
CD-ROM useful because of the "additional information" entries and
contact addresses and numbers.

===========

PUMA Rating

===========

PERFORMANCE: 4 Quick and easy to use.

USEFULNESS: 4 A good reference tool to find out more about many
careers.

MANUAL: 4 Very brief, but complete and easy to follow.

AVAILABILITY: 4 Mail order direct from Quanta, Bureau of
Electronic Publishing, and many other CD-ROM dealers.

(Rick Bender/19930611/Press Contact: Mark Foster, Quanta Press,
612-379-3956 voice or 612-623-4570 fax)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(BOS)(00024)

Enterprise '93 - Bull's New Strategy For Changing Market 06/18/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- Groupe Bull is
repositioning itself to take advantage of its key strengths in the
changing global marketplace of the 90s, officials of the Paris-
based global corporation said yesterday at Enterprise '93, an
international conference being held this week in Boston.

Cosponsored by Groupe Bull, the Open Software Foundation (OSF), and
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Enterprise '93 is
aimed at helping to demystify the information technology decision-
making process for selected top executives of companies from around
the world.

About 7000 executives are attending the event, along with members
of the worldwide computer, business and general press. In a press
briefing yesterday, Groupe Bull strategists told journalists that
the corporation's historical focus on proprietary mainframe and
minicomputer systems has been replaced by a new emphasis on systems
integration and multivendor open systems support.

Groupe Bull encompasses US-based Bull HN, as well as Zenith Data
Systems Corp. (ZDS), Bull SA France, Bull SA Europe, and Bull
Systems Products. Of Bull's $5.7 billion in revenues for 1992, 38%
were derived from France, 36% from elsewhere in Europe, 20% from
North America, and 6% from other regions of the globe.

Groupe Bull's repositioning involves establishing separate arms for
systems integration, open systems support, and maintenance of
existing mainframes and minicomputers from Bull and other vendors,
officials said.

"We've had the image of being a traditional computer company. This
repositioning represents a complete rupture from the past," noted
Jacques Lebhar, executive vice president, Tour Bull. "If we want
to give Europe its best chance in the global marketplace, we must
place our hardware and software at the service of integration."

To carry out the repositioning, Bull is drawing on its own
expertise in such areas as large and complex systems, databases,
imaging, transaction processing, and networking, while teaming up
with a potpourri of partners, he added.

Donald Callahan, director of Business Technologies Communications,
told the journalists that Bull's repositioning is being spurred by
transformation of the global market from a system-driven to a user-
centered place.

This change calls for improved customer service, as well as
enhanced collaborative efforts, according to Callahan. "We must
work with customers to allow information to flow across the
infrastructure wherever it's needed," he commented.

Jacques Weber, executive vice president of Groupe Systems and
Integration Services, supplied details on the three new operational
areas. Bull has instituted systems integration units in each
cluster, or group of neighboring countries, serviced by the
company, he said.

Each systems integration project is managed by a project manager,
who selects staff for the project and is ultimately responsible
for profitability of the effort. Customer pricing is determined
through MOSIC (Management of System Integration Contracts), a
system based on risk assessment.

In Europe, three large projects now under way include a flight
simulation environment for the French-based CEV (Centre D'Essai en
Vol) and defense contracts with NATO in Brussels and Great
Britain's Unicom.

In the Unicom contract, Bull is partnering with Northern Telecom
and Logica. Bull won the contract, worth $100 million pounds, over
two competing parties: IBM (with partner Computer Sciences
Associates) and EDS.

Bull's new open systems support unit represents a group effort by
Bull North America, Bull UK, and Bull's Amsterdam office, he said.
About 7000 employees are involved worldwide.

The new unit for mainframe and minicomputer support, Operation
Facilities Management, was launched in France in February. The
French unit gained its first customer in May, and entered into its
first partnership in June.

"We have similar plans for the US and UK. I cannot tell you more
now, but I hope to do so by the end of the year," remarked Weber.

In an interview after the briefing, Chris Kindermans, director of
Operations Support Europe for Groupe Systems Integration and
Services, told Newsbytes that two other large systems integration
contracts Bull holds in Europe include a tax revenue system in
Poland and a voting system in Belgium.

The system in Belgium is especially complex, because there are
about 14 or 15 different political parties in that country. In the
latest elections in Brussels, government officials had to tally the
votes for 20 offices and 600 office-seekers, said Kindermans.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930618/Press contact: Debbie Tabone, Clarke &
Company for Bull, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(BOS)(00025)

Enterprise '93 - CIOS Have High Expectations, Survey Says 06/18/93
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- In a press
briefing at Enterprise '93 yesterday, Deloitte & Touche outlined
the results of its fifth annual survey on "Leading Trends in
Information Services."

The year 1992 ended on a note of cautious optimism, according to
the survey, which was conducted among over 500 CIOs (chief
information officers). After three years of persistent malaise,
the economy showed some faint signs of restored vitality, leaving
information executives more hopeful than in the past.

However, respondents' expectations for the future were often
greater than reality would seem to merit, H. Thaine Lyman, director
of the company's Systems Integrations Center of Expertise, told
journalists at the briefing.

Other trends that stood out in the survey included a much higher
interest in Windows/Windows NT than in OS/2, an accelerating
movement toward superminicomputers, workstations and PCs, and a
strong increase in the number of business reengineering projects
under way.

About four times as many CIOS rated Windows/Windows NT as more
important to their companies than OS/2, and in many industries, the
higher interest in the environments from Microsoft was
overwhelming.

Well over 80% of the executives in financial services,
manufacturing, food consumer products, distribution, health care,
and publishing found Windows/Windows NT to be more important than
OS/2. Conversely, only about 60% of the survey participants in the
energy, oil and gas businesses gave that response. Interest in
Windows/Windows NT was also more muted in the transportation,
insurance, retail, and banking/thrifts industries.

As a group, the respondents said that just over 60% of all their
applications are running on the mainframe, down from about 70% the
previous year. Re-engineering initiatives rose even more
dramatically, from 1.6 per respondent in 1991 to 4.4 per respondent
in 1992.

Reengineering remained most extensive in the fields where it has
held sway longest, approaching 6 per respondent, for example, in
manufacturing. The initiatives were much less numerous in service
businesses, especially in financial services, banking/thrifts, and
insurance.

According to Lyman, though, most of the reengineering efforts in
manufacturing now fall within service areas -- such as customer
service, accounting and finance, and order processing -- perhaps
because the manufacturing and product development sides of these
businesses have already been reengineered.

But in the area of reengineering, respondents' expectations failed
to live up to reality. When asked to rate the expected benefits
and actual benefits of re-engineering on a scale of 1 to 10, the
executives tended to rank the expected benefits about 1 to 2 points
higher.

Lyman added that, in general, many executives are expecting to add
new technologies that appear objectively to be outside affordable
limits.

For example, the percentage of applications using client-server
technology ranged from only about 1% in distribution to just over
10% in financial services. In 1994, though, executives in the
distribution sector are expecting more than 20% of their
applications to be client/server-based. Those in the financial
services sector predict that figure to be over 25%.

Similarly, only about 50% of respondents in all industry areas are
now using CASE. Nearly 80%, however, expect to be employing CASE
by 1994. Meanwhile, the same respondents projected, on average, an
increase of only 1% in departmental budgets for 1993.

Use of handheld computers, the perceived importance of Unix,
expected and actual benefits of outsourcing, staff turnover rates,
and areas of personnel shortage are a few of the other areas
covered in the extensive report.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930618/Press and reader contact: H. Thaine
Lyman, Deloitte & Touche, tel [phone]; Debbie Tabone, Clarke
& Company for Bull, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00026)

Japan's UCOM Vice Chair Comments On Chip Market Share 06/18/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- Little has caused so much
attention in the international trade markets as the claims and
counter-claims involved in foreign manufacturers' share of Japan's
domestic semiconductor market. Following the announcement of
first quarter 1993 foreign market share, Hidehiko , senior
Japanese industry executive has offered his comments.

Japan's imports of foreign semiconductors into the domestic market
dropped from 20.2 percent in the last three months of 1992, to
19.6 percent for the first quarter of 1993.

Yoshida is senior executive vice president of Toshiba and vice
chairman of the Electronic Industries Association of Japan Users'
Committee of Foreign Semiconductors (UCOM). Yoshida was elected
UCOM chairman on May 31, and will take over the post on June 20.

Said Yoshida, "We recognize that the foreign semiconductor market
share is influenced to a great extent by a variety of factors,
including economic conditions in Japan, exchange rates, and the
supply capabilities of foreign semiconductor manufacturers. We
would like to stress our position that fluctuations in foreign
market share figures should not sway sentiments toward
satisfaction or disappointment."

The EIAJ and the United States Semiconductor Industry Association
(SIA) held talks in Tokyo on June 4. As an outcome of that meeting
Yoshida said, "We are confident that foreign suppliers fully
understand the importance of promoting design-in and constructing
long-term relationships to provide the utmost benefits for both
semiconductor users and suppliers."

In response to demands by some quarters in the US that the
government demand from Japan a 20 percent market share average
throughout 1993, Yoshida said, "We could not accept such a demand,
which could go against the basic approach taken by EIAJ and
SIA at the June talks. Adhering to the 1991 Japan-US semiconductor
agreement, we will keep working to fulfill its purpose, which is to
provide foreign semiconductor suppliers with further market access
opportunities in Japan."

As reported previously by Newsbytes, foreign-manufactured microchips
made up an estimated 20.2 percent of the total Japanese domestic
market for the last quarter of 1992.

Just a week ago Newsbytes reported that SIA's chairman, Gil Amelio,
who also serves as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of
National Semiconductor, issued support for President Clinton's
trade policy toward Japan, saying: "In the case of semiconductor
trade, a quantitative yardstick to measure progress, and strong
government and industry cooperation, along with the industry's
commitment to serving the Japanese market, have been essential
to the increased market share that has been achieved in Japan."

"The SIA will continue to pursue the program of the past seven
years which focuses on increased market share in Japan
consistent with our demonstrated competitiveness in world
markets. At a time when American semiconductor manufacturers'
market share outside Japan is greater than fifty-six percent,
it is clear that more progress must be made before the Japanese
market can truly be considered to operate solely on free market
principles."

"There should be no misunderstanding regarding the SIA's
resolve to gain greater access to Japan's semiconductor market.
There should also be no mistaking our willingness to work in
partnership with the US government and seek whatever actions
may be needed to ensure continued progress."

(Ian Stokell/19930618)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(DEN)(00027)

Microsoft Awarded $1.1 Million In Taiwan Piracy Suit 06/18/93
TAIPEI, TAIWAN, 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- The Taiwan High Court has ordered
a Taiwan company to pay $1.1 million to Microsoft Corporation for
counterfeiting Microsoft's MS-DOS 3.3 and 4.01 operating system
software.

The settlement is reportedly the largest ever awarded in
Taiwan for civil copyright infringement, and was awarded against
Datastate Corporation. That company has 20 days to appeal the
decision. No one from Datastate was available for comment.

Microsoft Regional Manager Yang Shaw-gang issued a written statement
to reporters after the court handed down its decision, saying the
judgement was a "clear indication" that pirates would be tracked down
and convicted. He said the piracy problem in Taiwan can be alleviated
with continued support from the government and police.

About a month ago three Taiwanese were convicted of counterfeiting
MS-DOS and Windows software. Two of the offenders received four-year
jail terms and a third was sentenced to a two-year term.

On May 1, US trade representative Michael Kantor placed Taiwan on
the US government's "priority watch list" of countries suspected of
violating American copyrights. The US government has threatened
trade sanctions unless Taiwan steps up enforcement of intellectual
property rights by the end of July. Some experts believe violations
of US copyrights by Taiwanese companies cost American companies
more than $700 million last year.

(Jim Mallory/19930618/Press contact: Microsoft Public Relations,
206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(DEN)(00028)

Dell Sees $1 Billion Revenue Growth In FY94 06/18/93
AUSTIN, TEXAS, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- Dell Computer Corporation
Chairman Michael Dell told the company's shareholders this week that
the company expects to increase revenue growth by $1 billion during
fiscal year 1994.

"This year (FY 1994) we intend on adding $1 billion of revenue onto
our business," Dell told shareholders assembled for the company's
annual meeting. The company reported revenues of $2.01 billion in
fiscal year 1993.

Dell later told reporters his remarks were not meant as an estimate
and that he is comfortable with total revenues for the year of about
$3 billion, according to the British news service Reuters.

Dell Computer turned in a disappointing first quarter with earnings
for the period of $0.25 per share compared with more than twice that
for the same period last year. Dell attributed the first quarter
results to problems with the company's notebook computer business,
and told shareholders the company is taking "aggressive action" to
re-build the notebook business. Notebook sales accounted for about
six percent of total revenue in the first quarter. Dell said it
should be 20 to 25 percent of revenues.

Asked whether Dell would manufacture its own notebook computers or
contract with another company, Dell would only say the firm is
evaluating various options including those two alternatives. The
company recently hired John Medica to rebuild its notebook business,
and Dell spokesperson Roger Rydell told Newsbytes recently that
Medica was in Japan for a week this month talking with potential
partners to aid in the rebuilding of Dell's notebook computer
business.

One of Medica's first acts was to stop 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 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. Part of the reason for
John's trip was to try to uncover the potentials and make an educated
decision as to what kinds of partnerships make the most sense for
us," Rydell told Newsbytes.

Speaking about a Securities and Exchange Commission review of the
company's currency hedging and trading activities, Chief Financial
Officer Tom Meredith said yesterday the company has had "virtually
very little contact with the SEC recently."

During the meeting shareholders approved Price Waterhouse as the
company's independent auditors for 1994, and approved the 1993 stock
option plan as well as certain amendments to the company's 1989 stock
option plan. Shareholders also re-elected Michael Dell and Bobby Inman
as directors for three-year terms, and elected Michael Jordan to his
first three-year term as director.

(Jim Mallory/19930618/Press contact: Roger Rydell, Dell Computer
Corporation, 512-728-4100; Reader contact: Dell Computer Corporation,
800-289-3355)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00029)

 ****Sculley Out As CEO, How Bad Are Things At Apple? 06/18/93
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- While John
Sculley says he isn't leaving Apple Computer, he is being
replaced as chief executive officer (CEO) by the company's
president and chief operating office (COO), Michael Spindler.
Sculley's new role appears to be to run around the country, and
the world, looking for "new business opportunities" for Apple,
but analysts are speculating about how bad things are at Apple.

Sculley said in a prepared statement, "My personal interests
have long been in defining the opportunities and technologies
for Apple in the convergence of computing, communication, and
content. There is so much to be done here, and now I will be
able to concentrate fully on these activities while Michael
runs the company. I am energized by the possibilities for
Apple's continuing growth and remain committed to Apple."

The chain of announcements coming from Apple the last few weeks
leaves question as to whether or not things are worse than
Apple is letting on. The company took what appears to be the
final blow in sixty-three months of litigation against Microsoft
and Hewlett-Packard in the judge's dismissal of Apple's case.
US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker granted a motion on the
part of Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard to dismiss the last
remaining copyright infringement claims Apple had against the
Microsoft Windows operating system versions 2.03 and 3.0 as
well as HP Newwave. Apple was suing for $5.5 billion in
damages, but the suit never made it to trial. Company
representatives say Apple will appeal the decision, but
speculation in the computer industry is Apple won't have much
of a chance.

At the same time the Judge's decision was announced in the
Apple/Microsoft suit, John Sculley was widely reported as
saying he suggested IBM purchase Apple. He maintains he made
the suggestion when he was interviewed earlier this year by an
IBM search committee who was looking for a new CEO for the
failing computer giant.

The second week of June, Apple announced stockholders should
expect earnings will be lower for the first half of this year
than in the same period last year. This was despite the
assertion that Macintosh unit sales are up thirty-five percent.
Apple blamed the personal computer price wars, saying it had
to cut its profit margins to stay in the game.

Just this week, Apple announced price cuts of between nine and
eleven percent and rebates on its Macintosh Centris, Macintosh
IIvx, Powerbook, and peripheral products. Analysts have
downgraded their earnings estimates for Apple and Standard &
Poor's said the company's narrower gross margin and higher
research and development costs would offset an estimated seven
percent revenue gain.

The biggest news was yesterday when Sculley was quoted in a USA
Today article stating he was leaving Apple Computer to start a
new high-tech venture on the East Coast. Apple representatives
denied the report saying it simply wasn't true. "John has no
plans to leave Apple. He is 100 percent committed to the
company," Apple public relations specialist Kate Paisley told
Newsbytes.

Today, however, Apple announced Sculley was being replaced by
Spindler as CEO. Spindler was quoted in a release from Apple
saying, "John will focus on our outside alliance partners in
our emerging businesses. We will continue to work together on
technology and product strategies, and he will maintain offices
both in California and on the East Coast since many of our new
business relationships are in the East and abroad. John and I
have crafted so much of Apple's business strategy together and
I'm glad that I will be able to continue to count on John's
full-time support."

Spindler joined Apple in 1980 as marketing manager for European
operations. Prior to joining Apple, he was European marketing
manager for Intel Corporation, the company best known for its
technology leadership in components for the IBM and compatible
PC market. Before working for Intel, Spindler spent eight years
as European marketing manager for Digital Equipment Corporation
(DEC) and he also has held positions at Schlumberger Ltd and
Siemens A.G.

How bad are things at Apple? Dan Ness, an industry analyst with
Computer Intelligence, told Newsbytes, "If it was really,
really bad they would have put Sculley completely out of the
company. But the move does suggest they are serious about
change at Apple."

Apple knows it is at a critical point, according to Ness. Two
things have "caught up" with Apple now -- the strong
introduction of Microsoft Windows 3.1 and the PC price wars.
These forces have put Apple under tremendous pressure and
Apple's answer traditionally has been to explore new territory,
Ness maintains.

Apple has already started development of Star Trek, which is the
Macintosh operating system developed for the Intel platform and
is doing more work in the field of telecommunications. Ness
pointed to Sculley's comments concerning his new role at Apple,
noting the words computing, communication, and content and
saying a lot could be read into those words.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930618/Press Contact: Christopher Escher,
Apple Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Spectrum HoloByte To Merge With MicroProse 06/18/93
ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUN 18 (NB) -- As part of a
larger trend within the entertainment software industry towards
consolidation, Spectrum HoloByte has announced its intention to
merge with game fellow game-maker MicroProse.

The deal, worth an estimated $10 million, is not yet completed,
although the companies hope it will be finalized by June 30.

A report in the Washington Post says that the two companies
combined would account for about 17 percent of the market for
computer games, excluding cartridges for video games such as
Sega and Nintendo. Spectrum holds about four percent, while
MicroProse has about 13 percent.

However, MicroProse is cash-strapped and posted a loss for 1992.
According to the Post story, Spectrum has already invested $1
million into the company this week, and will put the other
$9 million in next week.

Spectrum stands to own about 60 percent of the merged company,
with MicroProse shareholders owning the rest.

The Post report says that MicroProse owes an estimated $3 to
$5 million to Signet Bank, and the bank has agreed to extend a line
of credit to the company for daily operations while the merger
negotiations continue.

No-one was available for comment at either company by
Newsbytes dead-line.

(Ian Stokell/19930618)