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/nb930706

Text File | 1993-07-06 | 90KB | 1,949 lines

(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00001)

Ungermann-Bass Offers On-board SNMP For MasterLAN 07/06/93
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- The Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP) is extremely important for the
management of devices on many local area network (LAN)
configurations. Now Ungermann-Bass has announced an on-board
SNMP agent for its MasterLAN ISA Network Adapter Card for
Ethernet networks.

The company claims that the on-board SNMP agent is a better
alternative to using one residing in host memory or by using a
proprietary driver agent as the driver or proxy agent. The price of
the MasterLAN adapter is not scheduled to increase because of
the enhancement.

According to the company, current memory-intensive applications
make the amount of memory available in a workstation an important
link in the efficiency of a network. The company claims that
traditional SNMP agents take up to 40 kilobytes (KB) of memory. The
MasterLAN SNMP Agent saves memory because it does not require
any host memory. The company also says that all SNMP message
processing is performed on the adapter card itself, which saves
on host processing cycles.

In announcing the technology, Jack Moyer, general manager for the
Ungermann-Bass Desktop Products business unit, said: "SNMP network
management to the desktop allows the user to monitor and control
every MasterLAN-equipped workstation in the network from
NetDirector, or any other SNMP-compliant network management
system."

Ungermann-Bass' NetDirector is available in OS/2 and Unix versions
and provides a range of network management tools offering such
features as continuous network monitoring and reporting of any
errors in a graphical format.

The company says that MasterLAN with SNMP Agent is designed to
support future applications that will run on the card independently
of the host PC, including support for Virtual Network Architecture
(VNA) to the desktop.

The MasterLAN ISA SNMP Agent also includes standard MIB II
support. No proxy agent is required as the agent communicates
directly with the network management system. The agent includes
its own self-contained UDP (User Datagram Protocol) protocol
stack on the card, and is therefore host protocol independent,
claims the company.

The MasterLAN SNMP agent also includes a BootP client
application that can be used for initializing the agent's IP
(Internet Protocol) address, its subnet address mask, and the IP
address of its default router gateway.

The SNMP agent for MasterLAN is being offered as a free upgrade
beginning in August to existing customers who have previously
purchased MasterLAN ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) adapters.
AT the same time it will also be included at no extra charge on
all MasterLAN ISA adapters.

(Ian Stokell/19930701/Press Contact: Jim DeTar,
408-987-6531, Ungermann-Bass)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00002)

Wall Data Support of Novell's AppWare 07/06/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Wall Data has
announced support for Novell's AppWare development strategy.

As a result, Wall Data's RUMBA Tools for AppWare will include an
object-oriented application loadable module (ALM) that integrates
with AppWare. The company says that this will provide users easy
access to host applications and information regardless of network
connectivity or desktop environment.

In announcing the support, John Wall, executive vice president and
founder of Wall Data, said: "Wall Data is the first connectivity
software company to announce its support of Novell's new
infrastructure for network application development. This
announcement further enhances our relationship with Novell."

According to the two companies, the RUMBA software and tools,
in conjunction with Novell's AppWare technology, will allow
developers to "easily and rapidly build graphical and distributed
network applications that run on multiple platforms."

"Our customers will benefit from Wall Data's support of AppWare
with Wall Data's RUMBA software," said John Edwards, executive vice
president of Novell's Desktop Systems Group. "Novell and Wall Data
have a complementary strategy to support applications running on
multiple platforms in a distributed environment. AppWare and RUMBA
work together to improve the efficiency of network application
development by delivering the power of the network by shielding
developers from its complexity."

RUMBA Tools for AppWare, coupled with RUMBA software, will
enable these new applications to integrate with multiple host
applications running on IBM mainframes, AS/400s and RS/6000s,
as well as Digital Equipment Corp.'s VAX computers, claims Wall
Data.

In addition, the company maintains that RUMBA Tools for AppWare
and RUMBA software will enable developers to create cooperative
processing applications using Advanced Program-to-Program
Communications (APPC).

The company says that RUMBA Tools for AppWare will be
available later in 1993.

In March Newsbytes reported that Wall Data was one of five major
Systems Network Architecture (SNA) vendors that announced support
for Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The companies, which
included Attachmate Corporation, Digital Communications Associates,
Eicon Technology, Network Software Associates, and Wall Data,
reportedly represent more than 70 percent of the market for
connecting corporate desktop computers to IBM hosts.

(Ian Stokell/19930701/Press Contact: Douglas Engle,
206-883-4777, Wall Data Inc.)


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

Specialized Mobile Radio Net Set For The US Southeast 07/06/93
GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Dial Page
announced plans to build a digital Specialized Mobile Radio
network across North and South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and
eastern Georgia. The plan will be carried out by a new unit of
the company called Dial Call.

Specialized Mobile Radio, or SMR, are thin calling channels
around the 900 MHz frequency range which were licensed on a local
basis in the 1980s. Federal Express was the first company to
build a network of such stations in order to transmit data.

Motorola is the largest licensee today. In the last few years,
new digital technologies from Motorola and Racotek have
encouraged licensees to build networks out of their licenses,
hoping to compete head-on with cellular telephone systems.

In the latest move, Dial Page has entered into agreements or
letters of intent to acquire licensees needed to create its own
digital SMR network in the Southeast. Dial Page is best known
for its paging and messaging services in the southeast. In
addition to offering phone and data service, the network will
also let it offer enhancements to its paging services, with
alarms, inter-active electronic mail, and dispatch applications.

Fidelity Capital, which is the largest SMR licensee in New
England, is a part of this plan, having agreed to combine its SMR
operations in North Carolina with Dial Call's in a general
partnership. The company also got a Federal Communications
Commission waiver giving it five years to build its network. Dial
Page president Jeffrey R. Hultman, in a press statement, called
Dial Call a natural outgrowth of his company's existing paging
operations.

To finance the program, Dial Page has sold stock to investors
including Boston Ventures, The Hillman Company, J.P. Morgan
Capital Corporation and Fleet Equity Partners. The company is
entering into a competitive market, however. In March, three
southeastern SMR operators -- American Mobile Systems, JCC
Holdings and Transit Communications, announced plans to merge
into a new public company to pursue enhanced SMR opportunities
in the Southeast.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930701/Press Contact: Thomas A. Grina, Dial
Page, Inc., 803-242-0234)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(TOR)(00004)

ATI 14,400-bps Fax Modem Fits PCMCIA Slot 07/06/93
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- ATI Technologies
Inc. has unveiled a 14,400-bit-per-second (bps) facsimile modem
that conforms to the Personal Computer Memory Card International
Association (PCMCIA) standard for plug-in circuit-card
peripherals.

The 14400 ETC-Express sends and receives fax documents at 14,400
bps, ATI said, and can use data compression techniques to
transmit data files at effective speeds as high as 57,600 bps. It
will work with any Group 3 fax machine, dropping to a lower
transmission speed if the machine at the other end cannot support
14,400 bps (many fax machines are limited to 9,600 bps).

The modem will also adjust its speed in the middle of a call as
line conditions change, dropping to a lower speed to maintain
transmission quality and speeding up again if conditions improve.
This will work whether another ATI modem or one from another
manufacturer is at the other end, said Andrew Clarke, a spokesman
for ATI.

The modem also has an auto sleep mode to save power when it is
not in use, the company said.

PCMCIA slots are found mainly in portable computers. However, IBM
recently announced an energy-saving desktop model, the PS/2e,
that uses PCMCIA slots instead of conventional expansion slots.
With an industry push toward power-saving computers apparently
getting under way, PCMCIA may become a standard on more than just
notebook and laptop machines.

The ATI 14400 ETC-Express is to be available late this summer at
a list price of US$499, making it the first 14,400-bps PCMCIA fax
modem to sell at a price below US$500, ATI said. It will carry a
five-year warranty.

ATI also dropped the list price on its external 9600 ETC-E fax
modem from US$389 to US$229 and that of its 2400 ETC-FAX internal
modem from US$149 to US$129.

(Grant Buckler/19930701/Press Contact: Andrew Clarke, ATI
Technologies, 416-882-2600 ext. 8491, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(SYD)(00005)

Australia's Commonwealth Bank Switches To Windows NT 07/06/93
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Some four years ago
Microsoft boss Bill Gates visited Australia to announce that
Australia's largest bank, the Commonwealth, had decided to "go
OS/2," making it the world's largest OS/2 site. That was when OS/2
was a Microsoft product, but now it has been announced that the
bank is now to become a 100-percent Windows NT site.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) currently has more than
1400 OS/2 1.31-based LANs (that's 1400 networks, not just PCs)
using Microsoft LAN Manager and SQL server. Now it has decided to
switch the lot over to Windows NT. The CBA made its decision after
looking at the option of moving to the next version of OS/2 and
thereby following IBM, or of staying with Microsoft and migrating
to the NT operating system.

It was the first customer in the world to receive a beta copy of NT
and with its OS/2 experience was able to made a considered judgement,
"a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of both options," according
to Microsoft.

The CBA has planned on a two-year migration and believes it will
take that long because of the sheer number of machines, not because
of any anticipated problems. Microsoft would not comment on what the
CBA would pay to go the NT route, but there is a clue in what CBA's
IS assistant general manager, Brian Morris said. "We are very pleased
that Microsoft agreed from the start to work with us to ensure that
the financial implications to the CBA of the decision to pull out
of OS/2 would be minimized."

(Paul Zucker/19930702/Contact Brian Morris, CBA on phone +61-2-378
0101)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00006)

PC Expo - Speech Interfaces For Word, Excel And More 07/06/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- In one of the most
popular booths at PC Expo this week, Verbex Voice Systems unveiled
speech interfaces for nine major PC applications: Microsoft Office
(Microsoft Word, Mail, Excel, PowerPoint), WordPerfect, Aldus
Pagemaker, Asymetrix Compel, Corel Draw, and AutoCad for Windows.

Aimed at non-typists and computer novices, the new interfaces allow
command, control, navigation and data entry to take place by
speaking in words, phrases, or complete sentences.

The interfaces are based on "continuous speech," a technology
developed by Verbex to provide a "natural" means of addressing the
computer. "Unlike other products on the market today, Verbex's
interfaces truly work. They respond to a user's voice with speed
and accuracy," asserted Jeff Heithall, director of marketing.

Each interface is language independent and recognizes a user's
voice regardless of dialect or accent. The interfaces are
scheduled for availability in August, at prices starting at $99.95.

According to Heithall, the nine interfaces introduced at PC Expo
represent only the first sampling of hundreds of speech-ready
applications to be available from Verbex and third-party
developers.

Verbex is also offering a kit for creating "continuous speech"
applications. The kit includes an ISA-bus compatible Speech
Commander DSP (digital signal processing) board, a noise cancelling
microphone, complete documentation, and Respond for Windows speech
response development software. The Listen for Windows Power User's
and Speech Developer's Kit (SDK) will be priced at $695 through
September 1.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930702/Press contact: Jeff Helthall, Verbex,
tel [phone]; Jordan Chanofsky or Cheri Grand, Technology
Solutions for Verbex, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00007)

Shany's AlertVIEW Supports NetWare's NMS 07/06/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Shany Inc.,
claims that its AlertVIEW program is the first product to be
integrated with Novell's NetWare Management System (NMS) up to
the NMS data base level.

Doug Kolb, Shany's technical director, told Newsbytes that,
"NMS and AlertVIEW working together give the global network
administrator the ability to actually monitor and manage application
activity on workstations and then automatically have the problems
corrected."

The AlertVIEW local area network (LAN) application management
software monitors programs that run on network PCs, gathers
information about errors or potential errors, sends the relevant
messages to the user and LAN manager, and then corrects the
problem.

Said Kolb to Newsbytes, "AlertVIEW monitors the activities of
users, and applications and operating systems on workstations. NMS
allows the reporting of events that occur around the network in a
central location on a graphical map. Our product provides information
about application activity to the global enterprise that is described
on the map."

According to the company, among AlertVIEW's features are: the
integration of NMS Alarm Monitor and AlertVIEW Event Manager,
with a common alert log simplifying the task of identifying network
problems; the integration with NMS Map, so that diverse tasks, such
as controlling remote workstations, can all be performed from the
NMS Map; the writing of application-related information directly to
the NMS database, which allows NMS to better support workstation-
level management; and the providing of alert forwarding services
that include a modem gateway and a cc:Mail electronic mail gateway.

NMS supports the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP),
a standard designed for managing diverse networks and protocols.
The company claims that AlertVIEW allows managers to decide which
alerts should be reported at the local level and which should be
forwarded to a central SNMP console.

Among other features, AlertVIEW includes: Scheduled Procedures,
which automatically initiate operations at managed workstations;
an Autodiscovery capability that detects and defines parameters
for users; and remote access capabilities.

AlertVIEW is designed for both LANs and enterprise-wide networks,
and supports DOS, Windows, and OS/2 workstations connected to
NetWare, LAN Manager, and LAN Server. AlertVIEW is priced at
$935 for 10 concurrent users.

(Ian Stokell/19930702/Press Contact: Tricia Horner,
619-483-4333, Irwin Ink)


(NEWS)(GOVT)(SFO)(00008)

NCD In Color X Terminal Deal With DoD 07/06/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Network
Computing Devices (NCD) has won a sizeable contract to supply X
terminals to the Department of Defense.

Under terms of the deal, the company will supply X terminals to the
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) Defense
Medical Systems Support Center (DMSSC) Automation Support
Hardware program. The program is designed to upgrade systems and
automate procedures in more than 700 DoD clinics and hospitals
worldwide.

Reston, Virginia-based prime contractor and systems integrator
Cordant selected NCD, with the deal reported to be worth up to $5
million to NCD over the next four years.

Cordant was awarded the prime contract by the US Army Information
Systems Selection and Acquisition Agency (ISSAA). Under that deal
Cordant is to provide the DASH program with over $60 million worth
of computer and communications equipment to "address current and
future DoD medical data processing requirements." Equipment for the
fulfillment of the contract will come from Data General, the Santa
Cruz Operation, Informix, InterSystems, Kyocera, DAC, and NCD.

NCD says it will be providing its NCD17c color X terminals, which
feature resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels on a 17-inch screen.
Delivery has been going on since May.

In announcing the contract, Judy Estrin, NCD executive vice president,
said, "X terminals will make a significant contribution to the DASH
program's goal of delivering higher-quality patient care and service
to US military hospitals around the world. This award is a further
signal that the federal government recognizes the value of X terminals
in reducing overall cost-of-ownership and increasing system-wide
security."

NCD has won a number of other government contracts recently,
including a $4 million contract for NASA's Scientific and Engineering
Workstation Procurement (SEWP) program and a $30 million contract
for the Department of Defense's Joint Computer-Aided Acquisition
and Logistic Support (JCALS) system.

(Ian Stokell/19930702/Press Contact: Judy Estrin, 415-694-0650,
Network Computing Devices Inc.)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(SFO)(00009)

JetLAN 4P Ethernet Print Server For NetWare 07/06/93
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Accessing
multiple printers on a local area network (LAN) can be confusing
to users and administrators alike. Hoping to address that issue, ASP
Computer Products has introduced the JetLAN 4P network print
server.

According to the company, the 4P offers the ability to connect four
printers to one network connection on an Ethernet network running
Novell's NetWare network operating system. The company also
claims that the 4P is the first network print server available that
allows each printer to connect to the device using a parallel port.

Network administrators nearing their NetWare login connection
allowance can attach four new printers to the LAN using only one
network connection.

According to the company, the server is especially useful for
workgroups that require access to multiple printers, for example,
the accounting department of a company may require access to a
laser printer for general printing, a wide-carriage printer for
financial statements, and dot-matrix printers for print invoices
and labels.

Many print servers require connections be made using a printer's
serial port. However, as Amnon Even-Kesef, ASP president, says
many printers do not have serial port connections. According to
Even-Kesef, "Our customers tell us they want a print server that
connects multiple printers using the printer's parallel port. Network
administrators would have to spend extra money just to add a serial
port connection to the printer in order to use competing products."

Speed can also be an issue, said Even-Kesef, "Printing through a
serial port is significantly slower than printing through a parallel
port."

According to the company, the JetLAN 4P installs on the network
similar to a new network node. The product can also be used without
having to dedicate a PC to manage network printing.

The company claims that the 4P is three to five times faster at
printing than Novell's own print server protocols can process jobs.
Print jobs are transferred from the file server to the 4P in large
blocks at network speeds, which reduces the load on the network.
Also, the ports on the device can be configured for "first available
printer" output or can be assigned to serve specific print queues.

The JetLAN 4P for Ethernet comes with both an RJ-45 connector
to support 10BaseT configurations and a BNC connector to support
10Base2 configurations, and they automatically sense the
type of network that is active. It is scheduled to begin shipping
in August at the suggested retail price of $795.

(Ian Stokell/19930702/Press Contact: Keri Andersen,
1-800-445-6190 ext 415, ASP Computer Products)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(SFO)(00010)

Passport Designs Intros Multimedia Production Tool 07/06/93
HALF MOON BAY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Passport
Producer Pro is a real-time, interactive multimedia production
tool, according to its maker, that offers support for
external devices, and instant playback of sound, video, graphics,
and other data as part of "what if" scenarios.

The company says that Producer Pro's real-time development
environment gives producers "instant feedback" during the
production process. Producer Pro is a "time-based" production
tool that combines and synchronizes animation, video, sound,
music, and presentation graphics in a real-time environment. The
program uses AppleScript to allow developers to directly link
sub-routines, and offers the ability to antialias text in
real-time.

Producer Pro also offers external device control for Sony VISCA,
Videomedia's VLAN, Advanced Remote Technologies' ARTI devices,
and MIDI (musical instrument digital interface).

The company also says that any object, including text, animation
files, QuickTime movies, graphics and buttons, can now move on
the screen, either along default paths or user-defined custom paths.
Users are able to control the acceleration and rate of any object's
movement.

The program can also capture video in QuickTime format, and save
an entire presentation as a QuickTime file. It can also incorporate
live video in a window from any video source into presentations,
which can then be played back full-screen. Full-motion video can
also be used without digitizing it into QuickTime.

The company calls the "drag-and-drop" visual user interface, the
"Cue Sheet," which presents users with a timeline for integrating
media elements. Each "cue" occupies a single location in a track,
matched to a specific time slot. All tracks and time locations are
displayed on the cue sheet. Multiple cues can be aligned at the
same time for simultaneous playback, says the company.

The company also says that cues can be media elements from any
presentation software that saves files in TEXT, PICT, TIFF, PICS,
or QuickTime file formats.

Passport Producer pro is to be released this month at the
suggested retail price of $1,495.

(Ian Stokell/19930702/Press Contact: Philip Malkin,
415-726-0280, Passport Designs)


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

Moscow City Phone Company To Be Privatized 07/06/93
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- The Moscow city telephone
network, also known as MGTS, has announced privatization plans
under the current Russian privatization law. This is the first
time ever that a large communications company in the former
Soviet Union has become non-state.

A conference of the company's personnel approved a plan to offer
shares in the new company late last week.

The estimated capital of MGTS, in the amount of 1191 billion
rubles (approximately US$1.2 billion) will be divided between
various shareholders as follows:

39% of the capital in voting shares will be owned by the Federal
Property Fund, the state holding company;

25% of the capital in non-voting shares will be distributed free
to its 20,000 workers;

8.2% of the voting shares will be sold to company workers at a
30% discount price;

5% of voting shares will be sold to MGTS management (34 people) for
an immediate cash payment;

22.8% of voting shares will be sold to the general public through
auction sales or investment tender.

The shares will be issued with a 1000-ruble (US$1) face value.

The published reports noted that, by law, not less than 29% of the
company's shares must be made available to the public to make the
privatization legal. MGTS reportedly asked State Property Fund to
reconsider its shareholding to make the process completely legal.

The Moscow city telephone network owns 99% of telephone lines in
Moscow.

(Kirill Tchashchin/19930604)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(MOW)(00012)

Russian Firms Test Their PCs In Public 07/06/93
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- A totally new event for the
Russian computer market took place in the town of Shuya, Central
Russia. Nine local computer producers provided their branded
PC-compatibles for public testing.

The tests were performed at Aquarius Systems Integral (ASI) plant,
which was built in Shuya two years ago. They included 18-hour,
+40-degree Centigrade burn-in tests and various other benchmarks.
The largest participants were ASI, whose plant in Shuya can
produce up to 10,000 personal computers monthly (though now it
assembles far fewer), and Moscow-based LAND which sells about
300 PCs daily. The two other largest Moscow PC vendors -- Stins
Coman and Excimer -- did not participate.

Other participants mainly specialized in customized assembly of
200-300 PCs every month. Their components mainly come from Southeast
Asia, but, for instance, LAND has already begun production of
motherboards in Moscow, Newsbytes was told.

In many cases Russian PC makers use facilities of the
former USSR defense industry to make their machines. For example,
the Mediann company assembles its network servers at the
Chrounichev factory, which also produces Proton rockets and "Mir"
orbital stations.

The tests showed serious deviations in productivity, especially in
graphic applications, mainly attributed to internal bus usage. Newsbytes
was told that all models have passed the temperature tests and the
results of benchnmarks were "satisfying."

The testing was organized by PC World Russian edition, Russian
computer magazine ComputerPress, and SoftMarket weekly newspaper.

(Kirill Tchashchin & Eugene Peskin & Mr Yablonsky/19930601)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(ATL)(00013)

Touchdown Math For Macintosh -- NECC Conference 07/06/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Touchdown Math is
a new program which uses a football motif to teach concepts like
rounding, percents, fractions and decimals, on the Apple
Macintosh.

It's the first Mac product for Gamco, which offered previous
teaching games on the Apple II. Jerry Proffit of Gamco Industries
told Newsbytes at a recent educational conference that it's
too late for the product to get into the adoption process for
major states. "A state has to post a call" before a math program
can be considered. Gamco missed the most recent state call and
"It will be at least a year" before the next one. "Most schools
are buying without adoption anyway," he adds, which means Gamco
will work on a district-by-district basis. The product sells for
$79.95 in its single-user version, $395.95 in the network
version. So far it's been doing well.

"Its first month in release it went to our Top 10," out of almost
100 products. There are 250 dealers working with it.

Gamco itself is a 37-year-old company that started out with
chalkboards which featured math functions built into them, like
Cartesian and palm markings. He says that independent software
companies are doing best in the industry. "Integrated Learning
System and hardware guys say life is getting difficult, but
we're doing well." He called education "a growth industry." It
needs to be. Gamco is currently a division of a company called
Siboney Corp., best known for having oil rights in Cuba which
date before Castro.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930702/Press Contact: Jerry Proffit, Gamco,
915-267-6327; FAX: [phone]; Customer Contact: 800-351-1404)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(BOS)(00014)

PC Expo - "Ink Processor," Three Other PenPoint Apps 07/06/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- At last week's PC
Expo, GO Corp. announced "ink processor," financial work processor,
and development software for its PenPoint operating system, along
with a localized Japanese edition of the GO Fax application for
PenPoint.

InkWriter, Numero 2.0, and PenApps Application Builder 1.0 are all
products of third-party vendors, while Go Fax is produced by GO.
The four new packages complement GO's existing suite of
applications for mobile users, said Mike Homer, vice president of
marketing for GO. "They also demonstrate how PenPoint's object-
oriented architecture enables developers to speed the development
process and get innovative products like this to market faster," he
commented.

InkWriter, an offering of aha! Software, is designed to let
PenPoint-based systems easily edit and search for handwritten words
in the form of electronic ink, without first translating them into
computer text. The package is priced at $249.

Numero 2.0, a product from PenMagic Software, is an upgrade of a
package for performing numeric tasks. Version 2.0 adds about 100
new features, including MagicScript, a visual scripting system
designed to let end users create their own checkbooks, expense
reporting systems, sales order books, and other personalized
applications without programming. Numero 2.0 lists for $399.

PenApps Application Builder 1.0, from Slate, is a visual
development tool for creating forms-based and data-intensive
applications, previously available only for Windows for Pen
Computing. Applications developed in PenApps will be portable
between PenApps and Windows for Pen, according to Slate officials.
Each version of the application builder is priced at $995, with
runtime license fees of $49 (individual) and $2,995 (unlimited).

GO Fax is intended to turn a pen-based computer into a mobile send-
and-receive fax machine. Like its US counterpart, GO Fax 1.0, the
new GO Fax 2.0 Japanese provides electronic fax cover sheets, a
customizable address book, background dialing, display,
magnification, digital ink markup, resend, and an automatic log of
all incoming and outgoing fax activity.

GO Fax 2.0 also adds Japanese salutation and cover sheet options,
Japanese telephony settings, and phonetic and alphabetic name
sorting. GO announced last fall that six major Japanese hardware
makers plan to build industry-specific or general purpose mobile
products supporting PenPoint. The companies are Canon Inc.,
Fujitsu Ltd., IBM Japan Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.,
Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd., and Toshiba Corp.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930702/Press contacts: Renee Risch, GO Corp.,
tel [phone]; Kim Carsten or Chiyoko Ono, Regis McKenna for GO,
tel [phone])


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(LAX)(00015)

Supermac - More About Cinepak Video Compression Scheme 07/06/93
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Supermac is
the developer of the new compression/decompression (CODEC)
Cinepak, which has been licensed by major players in the
computer industry including Microsoft and Apple. Supermac
claims the Cinepak CODEC will become the new compression
standard and here's why.

The problem with digitized video is it simply takes up an
enormous amount of disk space, hence the development of
compression/decompression schemes. A single minute of
uncompressed full-motion video with sound can take as much as
twenty-seven megabytes (MB) of hard disk space. The shear
volume of video data has forced distribution to be on compact
disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), which can hold as much as 650
MB of data. However, without special hardware to assist the
CODEC, the video played back from CD-ROM was in a very small
window on the screen and at low quality resolution.

Supermac said it wanted to come up with a way to compress video
so a full motion picture could be stored on a single CD-ROM and
no hardware was required for playback. It asserts Cinepak meets
those requirements. Cinepak will play back video in one-fourth
of the screen to a full-screen, depending on how the developer
of the CD-ROM title set up the resolution. Cinepak plays back
video at 320 by 240 picture elements (pixels), so to see the
video in the 640 by 480 pixel screen resolution of most video
graphics array (VGA) personal computer (PC) monitors, the
developer would have to play back the video in a one-quarter
screen.

The Cinepak CODEC can play back the video at 12 frames per
second to 30 frames per second, depending on the processing
capability of the computer and the speed of the CD-ROM drive.
On a low-end PC, such as a Macintosh with a 12 megahertz (MHz)
Motorola 68000 central processing unit (CPU) or a 16 MHz 286
CPU-based PC, the playback is at 12 frames per second. The more
frames per second, the smoother the video, with 30 frames per
second being the rate of television broadcast-quality video
playback.

Cinepak is vector-based and works by cutting out data that is
redundant, or data that holds little information, according to
Supermac. The compression ratio averages 20:1 and the higher
the compression, the more data is ignored. Not capturing some
data saves on space, but the more data ignored, the more
"blocky" and "jagged" the playback. With varying compression
ratios, Cinepak movies can require 3 to 10 MB of disk space per
minute of compressed video, meaning the average CD-ROM can hold
from one to three hours of video.

Cinepak is definitely for developers as it takes compression 10
to 20 seconds per frame. This means it can take a full hour to
compress a single minute of video at 15 frames per second.

Because the Cinepak CODEC offers video playback on low-end
computers without special hardware, its adoption has been
widespread. Microsoft, Apple, 3DO, Sega, Atari, Creative Labs,
and Cirrus Logic are the companies which have licensed the
technology so far. Creative Labs announced in June it was the first
to bundle the Cinepak CODEC software with its Videospigot for
Windows hardware. Supermac asserts that 90 percent of CD-ROMs
in all platforms will be using Cinepak for video content
delivery this year.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930702/Press Contact: Debra Doyle, Supermac,
tel [phone], fax [phone])


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

Supermac Video Editing/Authoring Bundle 07/06/93
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Supermac has
announced its latest video capture, editing, and authoring
product for the Macintosh, the Digitalfilm Deluxe video-
production system. The new product is a combination of the
company's Digitalfilm 1.2 product bundled with other software
tools, such as Macromedia's Director 3.1.3, for an interactive
editing and authoring package.

Users can expect the features they've come to enjoy with the
Digitalfilm 1.2 hardware product including real-time, full-
screen capture, fast video-editing, realistic playback, the
ability to record to video tape, and support for Quicktime and
XCMDS. The Digitalfilm product uses a single slot in the
Macintosh, offers Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG)
compression built into the hardware, and can playback full-
screen, full-motion video with synchronized audio on any
display with up to 17" timing (832 by 624 resolution).

In addition, the Digitalfilm Deluxe package comes with
Macromedia Director 3.1.3, video-editing software Adobe
Premiere, the Cosa After Effects special-effects package;
Diaquest's DQ-Timecoder for stamping time-codes on video
frames, and Alsoft's Diskexpress II for optimizing the user's
hard disk for smooth recordings.

Macromedia Director can be used to create multimedia CD-ROM
titles, presentations, interactive kiosks, informational
exhibits, point-of-purchase displays, training programs, and
scientific, engineering, or educational visualizations. The
product allows users to combine photorealistic color graphics,
synchronized music, sound effects, voice-over tracks,
animations, and digital video.

Supermac says the bundled software alone is retail priced at
$3,500 but users can get the entire Digitalfilm Deluxe package,
including the bundled software, for $5,999. The bundle is only
available through Tech Data, Intelligent Electronics, Falcon,
GTSI, Computerland, and Microage at this time. Upgrades are
available to registered users through Supermac by contacting
the company directly.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930702/Press Contact: Deborah Doyle,
Supermac, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public Contact
408-541-6100)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00017)

Software Price Cut Campaign Starts In Japan 07/06/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Lotus (Tokyo) and Microsoft
(Tokyo) have recently slashed their prices in Japan, apparently
in reaction to the current price war among makers of personal
computers.

Lotus (Tokyo) cut the price of Macintosh software for the first
time. The price of 1-2-3 R1.1J, a Japanese version of 1-2-3
for the Macintosh, was cut from 98,000 yen ($890) to
58,000 yen ($530). Also, the MS-DOS version of 1-2-3 and Freelance
were cut down to 58,000 yen from 98,000 yen. The notebook
version of 1-2-3 is now sold at only 18,000 yen ($160), which is
down from 38,000 yen ($350).

Lotus is also planning to lower prices of Windows versions of
1-2-3, Freelance, and Windows Office. All of these programs will be
released July 18.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has started a trade-in campaign for its
Word 5.0. It retails for 58,000 yen. However, users of other
word processors can get it for 25,000 yen ($230).

PC makers including NEC, Compaq, and Dell Computer, have been
slashing prices drastically in Japan, and software makers are
now expected to follow suit.

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930705/Press Contact: Lotus, Tokyo,
[phone], Fax, [phone], Microsoft, Tokyo, +81-3-
5454-8000)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(TYO)(00018)

Pioneer Creates Multimedia Software Development Group 07/06/93
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Japan's major audio visual
product maker Pioneer has set up a group to create multimedia
software for its latest interactive laser disk player. The group
is called "Multimedia Creators Network" and it consists of noted
computer graphics designers, musicians and motion picture writers.
This group aims to create software for Pioneer's new multimedia
device called Laser Active.

The group's office will be located at Studio Garage, which is an
unique software facility in Tokyo. Major Japanese advertising
agency Dentsu and Los Angeles-based Magic Box Productions will
also participate in this group. It is expected that these
participating members will develop educational or entertainment
software for adults.

The Laser Active is a hybrid machine based on Pioneer's
laser disk player. Besides regular laser disks, the device supports
karaoke laser disks and game disks. These features were added to
the laser disk player in cooperation with Sega Enterprises and NEC
Home Electronics. With ROM packages, the user will be able to play
NEC and Sega game programs on this laser disk player.

The actual release of Laser Active is scheduled to be August 20.
The retail price of Laser Active is 89,800 yen ($820). ROM
packages for Sega and NEC game software costs 39,000 yen ($350)
each. One game software cartridge costs about 10,000 yen ($90).

(Masayuki "Massey" Miyazawa/19930706/Press Contact: Pioneer, +81-
3-3494-1111, Fax, [phone])


(NEWS)(GOVT)(NYC)(00019)

Phiber Optik Pleads Guilty 07/06/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Mark Abene, better
known throughout the computer world by the hacker handle "Phiber
Optik," plead guilty on July 2 in Federal Court to felony charges of
conspiracy and unauthorized access to computers. Abene had been due to
go to trial on these counts today.

The plea by Abene, entered before Judge Louis Stanton in the Southern
District of New York, admitted intrusion into computers owned by
NYNEX, BellSouth, and Southwestern Bell. In his statement, Abene said
that he had, in his actions, "never tried to damage any computer
systems and, to my knowledge, I never have."

In the course of the proceedings, Judge Stanton asked Abene a series of
questions including: whether he understood the charges;
whether he realized that, by pleading guilty to felony charges,
he was exposing himself to possible loss of civil liberties such
as the right to vote, sit on jury or hold public office;
whether he realized that he could face a maximum sentence of 10 years
imprisonment and a maximum fine of $500,000; whether he understood
that he could be required to make restitution for damages;
and whether he was satisfied that he had received adequate legal
counsel. He replied yes to all the above, but no to the question
of whether he had been threatened or coerced by the United States
Attorney's office to change his plea.

Following the questioning, the judge asked Abene to say what he did.
Abene responded by admitting that he had conspired with others to gain
access to various computer systems, including those belonging NYNEX,
BellSouth and Southwestern Bell; he had intercepted data on networks
belonging to British Telcom and Tymnet; and that he had misrepresented
himself to employees of phone companies to gain access to their
systems. It was during these admissions that Abene said that he
had never, to his knowledge, damaged any systems.

At the end of Abene's statement, Assistant US Attorney Fishbein stated
that Abene had fraudulently used computer accounts at New York
University to access the remote computer systems. When asked by the
judge to confirm Fishbein's assertion, Abene did.

Judge Stanton then stated, "Mr. Abene is fully competent to make an
informed plea in this case. He is knowledgeable of the charges against
him and is aware of the possible consequences. I accept his guilty
pleas."

Judge Stanton then set sentencing for 9:30AM Wednesday, November 3rd.
He asked Abene's attorney, Paul Ruskin, to insure that he do everything
possible to cooperate with the probation staff in its development of a
background of Abene for the sentencing procedure. Abene was then
released on his own recognizance.

Abene, together with Elias Ladopoulpos, a/k/a "Acid Phreak;" Paul Stira,
"Scorpion;" John Lee, "Corrupt;" and "Julio Fernandez, "Outlaw," were
indicted on July 8, 1992. Ladopulous, Stira, Lee, and Fernandez
previously plead guilty to charges relating to the indictment. Lee,
the only one sentenced to date, has received a year and a day.
Stira and Ladopoulos are scheduled for sentencing on July 23.

In a prepared statement after court adjournment, United States Attorney
Mary Jo White said that the investigation leading to the indictment was
performed jointly by the United Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. She praised both the Secret Service and FBI and thanked
the Department of Justice Computer Crime Unit for "their important
assistance in the investigation."

Ruskin, Abene's attorney, told Newsbytes, "My personal opinion is that
Mark has outgrown the phase in his life in which he performed the
activities to which he confessed. He wants to use his considerable
computer talents in manners that will be productive to society."

Fishbein told Newsbytes, "The government is satisfied with the
successful end to an important case. We hope that other people
involved in illegal computer activities recognize that the Federal
Government takes these cases very seriously."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19930706)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00020)

Trimble Supplying AMSC Dishes 07/06/93
SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Trimble
Navigation, a leader in the use of global positioning satellites,
signed a deal to supply mobile satellite terminals for American
Mobile Satellite Corp.'s Skycell Fleet Management service. A
total of 1,000 Inmarsat terminals are part of the initial order.

On June 29, Trimble signed a deal to work on a Application
Program Interface to global positioning satellites under Go's
PenPoint. Both AT&T and IBM pen-based systems will use it when
it's published by Go later this summer. There are a number of
US government-owned GPS satellites orbiting the Earth at about
11,000 miles high, and Trimble's receivers calculate positions,
sometimes down to the millimeter, by comparing the distances to
several satellites at once.

First installations of the new terminals will be on the fleet
owned by TMC Transportation Inc., a long-haul truck operator in
Des Moines, Iowa. The Trimble Galaxy system will be combined
with AMSC's own mobile communications network to offer both
messaging and positioning. AMSC has an FCC license for providing
mobile satellite services, and is owned by a consortium of
companies including GM's Hughes division, McCaw Cellular, MTel,
Singapore Telecom and General Dynamics.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930706/Press Contact: Barbara Thomas, Trimble
Navigation, 408-481-7808)


(NEWS)(TELECOM)(ATL)(00021)

International Telecom Update 07/06/93
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- While the US was
celebrating its independence from Europe, Europeans were trying
to prevent new dependence on the US.

Olivetti President Carlo de Benedetti told the European
Parliament that more money must be allocated to improve Europe's
computer networks and make them more competitive with US nets.
He said 100 million ECUs won't cut it, that five times that
amount is needed, and he called moves by some member states to
cut research on information technology short-sighted.

Many European governments have concluded that privatizing their
networks is the only way to assure a steady flow of
intelligently deployed capital to the sector. Italy, after a slow
start, is moving quickly. The same day de Benedetti spoke, the
IRI state holding company handed the government its plans for
rationalizing the nation's phone nets under one operator before
it is privatized.

Elsewhere in Europe, Nokia of Finland said it will buy Tandy's
interests in two of its phone-making joint ventures. Tandy has
been getting out of manufacturing to concentrate on retailing,
and recently sold its computer-making operations to AST Research.
Nokia will buy out Tandy's stakes in TNC Co., of the US and TMC
Co., of Korea for $31.5 million. The Korean company makes 8
percent of the world's mobile phones, according to Nokia.

The other news was not as good, with Telecom Portugal announcing it
will cut its staff by one-fifth, to 9,000, by the end of next
year, thanks to automation. The company will also cut long
distance charges but raise local charges, to prepare for a more
open market.

In Latin America, Sociedad Comercial del Plata, known as SCP,
officially sold its 5.24 percent stake in the Cointel SA
consortium which runs Telefonica de Argentina back to a unit of
network operator Telefonica de Espana. The move was expected.
Cointel controls 60 percent of Telefonica's equity. Telefonica,
along with the neighboring Telecom Argentina company, represents
one of the great victories for privatization in South America.
Both were created out of the former state-owned EnTel monopoly,
and both have acquired large profits and big gains for
shareholders while improving service nationwide. SCP expects to
earn a gross profit of $39.24 million on its $18.6 million
investment. Markets throughout the continent rose on light
trading for the week.

In Asia, Japanese companies continue to seize control of the
growing Vietnamese market, where a US embargo remains in place.
Fujitsu won an order worth about $1.8 million for 7 new digital
exchanges there. The nation has said its goal is to boost the
number of phone lines in the country from 180,000 to 3 million by
the year 2000, but it has been hampered by the US embargo. Even
a recently installed fiber line is considered inadequate, and
most calls go out over an Australian satellite system.

Finally, the Reuters news agency reports that Tonga and Indonesia
are fighting a war in space. Tonga says Indonesia placed a
satellite in space it was allotted, and the tiny South Pacific
kingdom plans to retaliate by moving a Russian-made satellite
into a slot owned by Indonesia. Once that happens, it will knock
both satellites off-line, at which point negotiations are
expected to begin in earnest.

(Dana Blankenhorn/19930706)


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00022)

IBM PC Company Keeps IBM At Top Of Market 07/06/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- "At nine months old,
we're the youngest kid on the block. But we continue to be the
biggest," said Robert Corrigan, president of the IBM Personal
Computer Company.

Corrigan delivered that ironic statement, and then proceeded to
provide a detailed explanation, during a plenary speech at PC Expo
'93 called "The IBM PC Company: On the Comeback Trail."

By rolling out IBM's ThinkPad mobile computer and ValuePoint
economy product lines, "refreshing" the older PS/1 and PS/2 PC
families, and streamlining operations, the recently formed business
unit has met an initial goal of widening IBM's lead over "newcomers
and no-names" in the PC market, he said.

"But while we're encouraged, we are by no means complacent," he
told an audience largely made up of corporate computer buyers.
"We've come a long way. Yet we've still got a long way to go."

Since its establishment in September, the IBM PC Company has
knocked down the organizational walls separating development,
manufacturing, marketing and distribution to create small, fleet-
footed brand teams, according to Corrigan.

By focusing on efficiency, the unit has cut product development
time to six months from a previous mark of two to four years.
Within months of the debut of the ThinkPad 700, the company
extended the new line with the ThinkPad 500 subnotebook and
ThinkPad 350 economy notebook, he pointed out. Furthermore,
ValuePoint is in its third iteration since October.

The company has given brand teams the power to make their own
competitive pricing decisions, thereby reducing market response
time from months to hours, he said.

The unit has also revolutionized the way IBM goes about
designing new PC products. "In the past, (IBM) developed products,
and hoped that customers would buy them," he acknowledged.
"Now, customers are flocking to the products, and in fact we're
running hard just to keep up with the demand."

IBM has been number one in the PC market since the industry was
born, but began losing ground to competitors in the late '80s. The
main trouble was that IBM relied on a single high-priced product
line, failing to react to the varying needs of many different
segments that make up that market, said the company president.

"There was no consistent interface with customers," Corrigan
commented. To address that omission, the PC Company is identifying
user needs through extensive market research interviews with
customers. "We're listening to customers from around the world,"
he asserted.

IBM's Easy Options, a series of CD-ROMs, sound and video cards,
keyboards and other accessories newly announced at PC Expo, is one
example. "We sent a team out to customers with one
request. `Help us to design a line that meets your needs for add-
ons and options,'" Corrigan illustrated.

The new TrackPoint II is based on market research indicating the
need for an integrated pointing device that is equally useful to
left-handers and right-handers, he said. TrackPoint II is
incorporated into both ThinkPad and the PS/2E, an Energy Star-
compliant PC that IBM unveiled two weeks ago.

Similarly, at the Consumer Electronics Show in early June, the PC
Company introduced a family-style version of the consumer-oriented
PS/1 that is going to be bundled with Disney software.

The IBM business unit is also challenging the expansion of
competitors into multiple channels with measures of its own, he
said. The PS/1 can now be purchased at 6000 retail outlets in the
US, and another 6000 outside the US. The PC Company has also moved
into catalog sales, with IBM Direct Sales.

IBM's latest product offerings represent attempts to provide a
"naturalness" that extends the PC past its previous function of
list-making, stressed the company chief. "Multimedia and
interactive communication will move us far beyond list-making. But
if these applications are to succeed, they'll have to become
convenient for people to use," he remarked.

"The fact is that today, as ten years ago, people find computing a
difficult act. (But) they want (computing) to be as convenient as
talking, as gesturing, and as touching. They want it to be a
`natural' in any environment, whether (that) be the home, the
office, the car, or the pits of the Indy 500," he elaborated.

IBM will keep striving in this direction with upcoming products, he
concluded. "As we continue to deliver new incremental
technologies, we will continue to discuss them with you. What I
can say now is that (the technologies) will allow anyone to
communicate naturally with computers," he predicted.

"And we'll keep going back to our customers to ask if we `did it
right,' and how we could do it better. We want our customers to
challenge our designs," he declared. "And we're not going to be
timid in challenging them with new ideas."

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930607/Press contacts: Annie Scully or Mark
Haviland, Bruno Blenheim, tel [phone])


(NEWS)(APPLE)(WAS)(00023)

MacTV Schedule for July 5-23 07/06/93
MARLOW, NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- MacTV is the
daily one-hour satellite computer product news program broadcast
every day on Galaxy 6, Channel 22 starting at 8 a.m. Eastern
time. Some shows are also broadcast on the Mind Extension
University cable channel.

Previously broadcast programs are available at $9.95 plus $3
Shipping.

MacTV Schedule for Week of July 5-9. 1993

Monday, July 5, 1993: Print Dialogue Box, considerations to make
when documents are being printed; DynoPage 2.0, printing a way
you've never done previously; Persuasion 2.1: Printing, details
of this program's output capabilities; Print Merge: Word/Excel,
how to do print merging by using Excel and Word; Apple's Newest
Printers, how they differ; Smart Label Printers, desktop label
printing made quick and inexpensive; StickyBusiness Plus, how to
custom-design labels as needed.

Tuesday, July 6, 1993: Panorama II, a quick, efficient database
that seems to have ESP; TouchBASE 2.0, a Rolodex of your business
and personal contacts; IN CONTROL, the latest version of this
list manager program; Macintosh Trade Shows, are they in your
future plans?; Office Manager 2.5, gives your home office a
business package; Print Merge: Word/FMP, allows addresses to be
imported from a database.

Wednesday, July 7, 1993: 4th Dimension 3.0, information access,
manipulation, and management; Lotus 1-2-3 1.1, the newest version
of this spreadsheet; FileMaker Pro 2.0, how to take full
advantage of this renowned area; HayesConnect, network serial
device-sharing; LinksWare 3.0.1, graphics and sound linked to
text; AppleScript, what it is and what it can do for you.

Thursday, July 7, 1993: AppleCD 300, the manufacturer's latest
CD-ROM drive; From Alice to Ocean, a trek through the Australian
outback, on an interactive book/CD; Learn to Speak Spanish, teach
yourself Spanish with this CD-ROM; Sherlock Holmes, try to
determine the villain(s) before Holmes does; Footage '91, a CD-
ROM reference guide to stock footage; CD-ROM ToolKit, how to
boost the drive performance of your CD-ROM.

Friday, July 8, 1993: Meeting Maker XP, a cross-platform
scheduler for groups and resources; Now Up-to-Date 2.0, built-in
what-to-do lists within a calendar application; File Mgmt.
Strategies, documents can be filed as if you have a file cabinet;
Power Team, general office duties organized; M.Y.O.B.: "To-do"
List, tells you to collect your debts and pay your bills;
Personal RecordKeeper, a simple way to do home inventory
updating.

MacTV Schedule for Week of July 12-16, 1993

Monday, July 12, 1993: New Virus Warning, watch out for the
"Init-M" virus; Anti-Virus, detects, protects against, and
removes any/all viruses; SAM 3.5, how to keep your system safe
from viruses; Capturing a Screenshot, how screenshots aid your
troubleshooting efforts; Wallpaper, desktop patterns created,
edited, and saved; Voice Impact/Pro, gives your Mac sounds;
FileGuard 2.7, there are features galore in this security
program.

Tuesday, July 13, 1993: Hi!Finance, a finance program for
personal and small business use; LinksWare 3.0.1, document-
linking program that is one-of-a-kind; ACT! Mail Merge, how to
combine ACT! elements to perform mail merge; Word 5.1: link
documents, more advice on how to use this program; EndNote
Plus/EndLink, helps you to generate and reference bibliographies;
Apple File Exchange, lets you translate DOS files to be used on
your Mac; Remote Network Access, how work is changed by remote
access.

Wednesday, July 14, 1993: Mathematica 2.2, this system helps you
use your Mac to do math; UNIX: What is it?, another UNIX
explanation; Prograph 2.5, use icons to develop custom
applications; Authorware Professional, interactive learning can
be done with this authoring tool; Mechanism Animation, learn more
details about Ashlar Vellum; Apple Developer, tells how you can
be an Apple Developer.

Thursday, July 15, 1993: FreeHand 3.1, professional-quality
graphics and how to create them; Dimensions, ways to add details
to artwork in FreeHand and Illustrator; MacDraw Pro, a package
that combines powerful illustration tools and performance; Ashlar
Vellum, a tool for top-quality design and drafting; Apple
LaserWriter Pro, a look at this 600 DPI laser printer.

Friday, July 16, 1993: PowerBook Travel, what to take along when
travelling, to keep your Mac working properly; Hard Shell Cases,
strong, sturdy plastic cases that protect PowerBooks; PBTools,
good programs in, inadequate programs out; Shadowgate & Deja Vu;
still played and enjoyed after all these years; On The Road, how
your PowerBook can perform faxing and printing while you travel;
PowerPort, give your PowerBook the quickest internal fax-modem.

MacTV Schedule for Week of July 19-23, 1993

Monday, July 19, 1993: DateBook, combines a calendar, a time
manager, and a "to-do" list; PowerBook Duo 230, a detailed
explanation about this extraordinary new computer; PowerLink
Presentor, the PowerBook Duos have a presentation dock; Action!,
add interactivity, motion, and sound to your presentations;
Persuasion 2.1, lets you create top-quality presentations.

Tuesday, July 20, 1993: Desktop Dialer, lets you dial your
telephone no matter which application you are in; PowerBook 165c,
the premier color-capable PowerBook; MacLuggage, what to carry
your compact Mac or LC in; Electronic Map Cabinet, a one-of-a-
kind mapping program on CD-ROM; Swamp Gas Visits USA, geography
lessons given by an extraterrestrial; World Atlas, the popular
combination almanac/atlas/world fact book; Pronunciation Tutor,
let your Mac teach you how to pronounce foreign languages.

Wednesday, July 21, 1993: MacProject Pro, how to manage
presentation features and resources; Lotus 1-2-3 1.2, use this
program to find out how much your mortgage payments will be;
NetScope System, this gives AppleTalk networks traffic
management; Diagnosing Problems, some good trouble-shooting
advice dispensed; OrgChart Express, this organizational charting
software has no equal.

Thursday, July 22, 1993: Color Classic, the newest compact Mac is
quite colorful; SuperPaint, a simple paint-and-draw package;
CheckWriter Pro, a totally new and sophisticated interface;
Quicken 3.0: Business, tells you how business views Quicken;
ClarisWorks 2.0, the best-selling program made even better;
Installers: Ins & Outs, tells you what installers do and how they
do it.

Friday, July 23, 1993: PowerPCs: Discussion, what might appear in
the future; Something New, not just for portfolio management; On
Account, almost instantaneous invoice preparation; Frame
Maker/Reader, the next level of electronic publishing; Common
Ground, what digital paper technology can produce; Near Future of
Faxing, what fax technology will be in the future.

(John McCormick/199376/Press Contact: Wayne Mohr, Executive
Producer PCTV and MacTV, 603-863-9322)


(NEWS)(GENERAL)(TOR)(00024)

Canadian Product Launch Update. 07/06/93
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUL 6 (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: Apple's
Macintosh LC 520 and several software packages shipping from
Quarterdeck.

Apple Canada announced the Macintosh LC 520 (Newsbytes, June
28), a model with built-in compact disk read-only memory
(CD-ROM), stereo sound and other features aimed at the education
and consumer multimedia market. A basic unit with eight megabytes
(MB) of memory, an 80-MB hard disk, and 768K bytes of video
memory is C$2,549. A similar machine with a 160-MB hard disk is
C$2,739.

Quarterdeck Office Systems Canada, of Toronto, began
shipping Version 7 of its QEMM memory manager, Version 2.6 of its
Desqview and Desqview 386 multitaskers, and Version 2 of
Manifest, a network analysis and reporting package that comes
with QEMM and Desqview or can be bought separately (Newsbytes,
June 16).

In Canada, the suggested list price of QEMM 7 is C$129.95,
Desqview 2.6 lists at C$129.95, and Desqview 386 2.6 costs
C$194.95. Upgrade pricing is C$50 plus C$8 shipping and handling
for QEMM, C$32 for Desqview 2.6, and C$63 for Desqview. 386 2.6.
Upgrades for Manifest, Desqview 2.6, and Desqview 386 2.6 are
available from Quarterdeck Canada only and an C$8 shipping and
handling charge applies. Users may have to pay C$54.95 when
upgrading QEMM from a retailer, the company added.

(Grant Buckler/19930706/Press Contact: Loretta Lam, The
Communications Group for Quarterdeck Canada, 416-696-9900; Public
Contact: Quarterdeck Canada, 416-360-5768, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(TOR)(00025)

 ****ThinkPad Supply - Forget 700C, Expect To Wait For 720C 07/06/93
SOMERS, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- After a lackluster
history in the portable computer market, IBM finally got it right
with the ThinkPad line, which has proven popular. Too popular -- if
you want to buy a color ThinkPad model, you really have only one
choice and it could be a long wait.

The original ThinkPad 700C is, for all intents and purposes, no
longer available. It is being manufactured "on a very limited
basis," a spokesman for IBM told Newsbytes recently. "Dealers are
assessing the situation and are encouraging some users to buy the
720C," said the spokesman, who asked not to be identified.

But many customers are being told the 700C is history, and
dealers say it is taking them several weeks to get the 720C, if
they can get it at all. In fact, said one Canadian dealer, "every
single ThinkPad I have is between three and six weeks away."

A dealer in Colorado said he had a six-to-eight-week backlog on
the machines, and one in New York said they are simply not
available.

And IBM Direct, the toll-free order number IBM uses to sell its
machines, has no ThinkPad 720C machines at all for the rest of
the summer. This has sparked rumors the machine is already out of
production, but IBM denies this. IBM Direct had a fixed allotment
of 720Cs for the summer, the spokesman said, and has sold them
all. More will be available in the fall, he claimed.

In the IBM ThinkPad Forum on the CompuServe online information
service, some IBM customers said they had been told IBM was
having a problem with the availability of the color displays used
in the 700C and 720C.

At the time of the 720C announcement in early May, IBM officials
said the 700C would continue to be sold. However, within days of
the announcement Newsbytes learned that some customers were being
told the 700C was no longer on the market. A spokesman
emphatically denied that the machine was being dropped, but in
June an official of IBM Canada said at a Toronto press conference
that the 700C was no longer available in Canada and only a few
leftover machines could still be had in the US.

A number of customers and dealers are unhappy. "This kind of
stuff is getting really old coming from the `new' IBM," one
customer grumbled on the CompuServe forum. And a dealer said
IBM's handling of the ThinkPads has "made quite a mess in the
marketplace," though she added that some other vendors are doing
no better at delivering their machines.

IBM would comment only through spokesmen who insisted on
anonymity, and refused requests for an interview with a more
senior official.

(Grant Buckler/19930706)


(NEWS)(APPLE)(LAX)(00026)

 ****Apple Layoffs, Higher Than Expected 07/06/93
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Rumors fed by
a New York Times article last week hinted Apple Computer would
lay off as much as ten percent of its work force, but the official
announcement of layoffs at Apple is worse than expected. The
company publicly announced fifteen percent, or nearly 2,500
of the company's 16,000 employees, will be getting their pink
slips.

Most of the layoffs will occur this month, according to Apple
which is calling the move part of its "re-engineering" effort
planned for the next twelve months. Apple says the
restructuring will be company-wide and aimed at accelerating
revenue. In June, Apple said stockholders could expect lower
earnings for the second half of its current fiscal year due to
profit-cutting price wars. Intense pressure from the IBM and
compatible personal computer (PC) industry has finally caught
up with Apple, according to analysts. The two main pressure
points are the success of graphical Microsoft Windows 3.1 and
the PC price wars.

This is not the first time Apple Computer has announced layoffs.
However, this is the largest layoff the company has announced
to date. In May of 1991 Apple laid off ten percent of its work
force, or nearly 1500 employees. At that time, some employees
set up a protest outside Apple and read excerpts from Apple
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Sculley's book "Odyssey."
Sculley said in his book that companies owe it to their employees
to make "work" a rewarding experience and that corporate
strategy should not be driven by the need to improve quarterly
earnings.

In the company's current dilemma, Sculley suggested Apple
Computer was for sale last month when he mentioned to various
publications his suggestion to IBM that it should buy Apple.
Talks about a possible purchase of the company by American
Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) have been hinted, but no
official announcement or even a confirmation of the talks has
been forthcoming from either company.

Sculley stepped down as CEO in June as well, and former Chief
Operating Officer (COO) Michael Spindler took the CEO slot.
Industry analysts have said if things were really, really bad
at Apple, the company's board of directors would have put
Sculley out entirely, but some speculation suggests such a
drastic move would alarm stockholders. Sculley's
responsibilities currently include travel in the search for new
technology opportunities for Apple. There is a report by the
San Jose Mercury News which suggests that Sculley may not
return to Apple after his sabbatical ends in August.

The wait now is for the company's second quarter earnings
statement, expected in the middle of this month. The stock
market appears to approve of Apple's layoff move as the
company's stock was up in morning trading. Apple's stock has
dropped one-third in value overall since the beginning of the
year, to close Friday, July 2, 1993 at thirty-eight. Many
analysts, however, including those at California Technology
Stock Letter, are seeing Apple's stock drop as an opportunity
for investors. Confidence in the company is high, they say,
and they are urging their readers to buy as much of the stock as
they can.

The restructuring charges incurred by the current round of layoffs
will not be seen until the third quarter earnings statement,
Apple added.

(Linda Rohrbough & Wendy Woods/19930706/Press Contact: Kate
Paisley, Apple Computer, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Public
Contact 408-996-1010)


(NEWS)(IBM)(WAS)(00027)

Microsoft To Add Truespeech To Windows 07/06/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- In an exciting move,
Microsoft is working with Compaq Computer and the DSP Group to
develop a Windows-compatible speech compression utility which
could add sound to nearly every Windows application, from
annotating letters to providing audio help.

The project, which will be based on DSP's Truespeech technology,
is not targeting voice recognition, which would mean control of
Windows applications by voice commands, but instead will provide
a simple way to store highly compressed sound files which can be
attached to documents, spreadsheets, database files, or programs
themselves.

Microsoft Windows already has speech recording and playback
capabilities, but the audio files are very large, making the use
of voice annotation impractical except on rare occasions where
they may be critical.

Using DSP's expertise in producing highly compressed files,
Microsoft Windows with Truespeech will, according to a statement
from DSP Group, be able to store speech-quality audio in files
only one-tenth as large as is presently the case.

Compaq Computer has been a leader in including audio output and
speech capabilities for business computers, just as Tandy has
done so for inexpensive home computers.

Truespeech for Windows could also provide improved voice mail or
even voice annotated electronic mail because the compressed files
could easily be sent over local area networks.

DSP's unique compression technology is based, not on just
compressing files, but on compressing speech elements themselves,
resulting in far greater degree of compression than can be
accomplished by the use of mere data compression algorithms.

DSP says that a one minute voice file which other PC audio
systems would store in a file just under one megabyte in size,
would only occupy a 60 kilobyte Truespeech file.

(John McCormick/19930706/Press Contact: Sue Barnes, Waggener
Edstrom for Microsoft, 408-986-1140 or Abigail Johnson, PR firm
for DSP, 415-802-1851)


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

Mercury Revamps Phone Prices In Response To BT 07/06/93
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Mercury Communications has
revamped several aspects of its Mercury 2300 long distance and
international phone service. The changes are in response to similar
moves by BT and are designed to simplify cost comparisons, as well
as more than match cost reductions on the BT network.

The changes split neatly into three categories -- duration discounts,
a reduction in international charges, and a change in tariff
banding.

The duration discount is a new scheme that cuts the cost of US-bound
calls which are longer than 15 minutes. After the 15-minute point,
call charges drop by 25 percent. The duration discount is being
tested for three months starting in August.

International call costs are being cut. European calls will cost
around eight percent less, while US/Canadian calls will fall by
around 10 percent. The charge changes also come into effect on
August 1.

In addition to the charge changes, major business on the Mercury's
frequent caller program (FCP) level four will receive an extra 10
percent discount from August 1. The increase in FCP discounts mean
that a level four FCP subscriber can get a 19 percent reduction in
call charges.

Last, but not least, Mercury has shuffled its rates from five into
four categories. The new categories are local, band A trunk (to 50
kilometers), band B trunk (50km plus) and B1 low-cost routes.
According to Mercury, these bands are directly comparable to the
British Telecom rates.

The slightly bad news is that large customers who have direct
connection to Mercury's network will pay five percent extra for
their analogue line rentals, and six percent extra for digital
links, from August 1. Residential and small business users on the
2200 and 2300 "indirect" services are unaffected by the line price
rises, since they continue to use BT lines to access Mercury.

Smaller customers, meanwhile, will be pleased to hear that
Mercury's "Easy Access" service trials are going to plan. The Easy
Access service allows callers to prefix the required trunk or
international number required with "132" and have calls billed to
their account without the need for PINs, as is the case with the
Mercury 2200 and 2300 services.

(Steve Gold/19930706/Press & Public Contact: Mercury Communications
- Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone])


(NEWS)(IBM)(BOS)(00029)

PCMCIA Gallery 06/07/93
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 7 (NB) -- At this year's PC
Expo, mobile computing was among the outstanding themes, and
accordingly, a pocket in the corner of the lower level received
more than its share of foot traffic.

In the PCMCIA Gallery, attendees gorged themselves on case after
case of credit-card-sized devices, more than most people have ever
seen in any particular place at any given time.

Although the plethora of cards looked virtually identical, the
devices differed a lot in what they would let a PC do, so
salespeople were kept busy with a steady stream of questions.

The PCMCIA bonanza featured some previously released products, plus
an abundance of new cards announced at the show. Among the
new offerings, data/fax modems and Ethernet adapters were the most
prevalent, but innovative SCSI-2 and wireless LAN cards made first
appearances as well.

In the modem arena, a PCMCIA category that is getting already
pretty well stocked, vendors like Practical Peripherals, Data Race,
and Epson stepped away from their competitors some with V.32 bis
offerings.

Like their larger counterparts, the pint-sized high-speed modems
are officially pegged at 14.4 Mbps on the data side, but will
actually run at up to 38 Mbps due to data compression and error
correction. Data Race was unveiling a new PCMCIA Ethernet LAN
adapter, too.

Meanwhile, Proxim exhibited an upgrade of its PCMCIA wireless LAN
card that is noteworthy for its wider range. Also available in an
ISA edition for desktop PCs and servers, the RangeLAN2 operates at
1.6 Mbps over spread spectrum RF (radio frequency channel), a speed
fairly typical for an RF LAN adapter.

Wireless transmission takes place at up to 300 to 500 feet in
"normal office locations" and up to 800 to 1000 feet in open space
environments, a range Proxim says is the highest available within
the product class.

Also at PC Expo, Proxim introduced the RangeLAN2 Bridge, a wireless
local bridge billed as providing transparent access to wired LANs.
The bridge ships with drivers for NetWare, NetWare Lite, LAN
Manager, and Windows for Workgroups.

TWD Electronics was among the vendors showing new PCMCIA SCSI-2
adapters. TWD's new Model 2001/2002 is able to link a mobile
computer to a desktop workstation or a SCSI peripheral, supporting
8-bit transfer of up to 5 Mbps on the SCSI bus, both synchronous
and asynchronous, and concurrent 16-bit transfers at full bus speed
on the PCMCIA bus.

The PCMCIA SCSI card is available either separately (Model 2001) or
as part of a complete system that also includes an interconnecting
cable, device drivers, a carrying case and a user manual.

IBM was visible (and audible) in the gallery, too, with several
PCMCIA product prototypes. One card, similar in functionality to
a SoundBlaster, was being used to play music for the bustling
crowd. Another, being shown more quietly, was a PCMCIA interface
to an IR (infrared) wireless device.

On display, as well, the miniature IR transceiver looks a lot like
a mouse, except that it features an optical node for converting
electrical signals to and from IR light. IBM hooked up one
transceiver/PCMCIA interface combo to one notebook, and another duo
to a second notebook, located about five feet away. When the two
transceivers were pointed at each other, the two notebooks were
able to communicate, just like any other IR-based systems.

An IBM sales rep working in the booth told Newsbytes that he was
unable to say if or when IBM will announce the PCMCIA audio and IR
technologies as products.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19930706)


(NEWS)(TRENDS)(WAS)(00030)

McLean, VA Company Markets Russian Patents 07/06/93
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- We all knew that
a large number of the world's skilled scientists and engineers
the Soviet Union must have a lot of inventions hidden away that
they were unable to use effectively because of military paranoia.
Now The Washington Post reports that those people and secrets
who became a part of Russia are having their inventions marketed
in the West by BDM International of McLean, Virginia, a very
affluent Washington suburb which is home to the CIA, and a
number of government-oriented high-tech firms.

This company has reportedly found that because there was no
technology sharing during the cold war era, the former Soviets
developed new, and often superior ways to do some things which
western companies need, such as a new way to batch test the
silicon wafers used to manufacture semiconductors.

That technique alone may dramatically improve semiconductor
production efficiency. That's because current test systems can
only sample wafers while the Russian system permits every silicon
disk to be tested before the expensive etching process is begun.

Another innovative product developed under the cover of military
secrecy and now being used at Unisys, involves the use of
aluminum instead of silicon as the basis for microchips.

(John McCormick/19930706/)


(NEWS)(IBM)(DEN)(00031)

Microsoft Five-game Arcade Pack 07/06/93
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Microsoft says it
will introduce a five-game pack of arcade-style games for
Windows next month, and will join forces with floppy disk maker
Verbatim to promote the software.

Named Microsoft Arcade, the package includes Asteroids, Centipede,
Battle Zone, Missile Command, and Tempest, five of the most popular
games published by Atari. According to Microsoft, the games were
reproduced to give users the same look and effects on the Windows
platform they would experience if they were playing the original
arcade versions.

The company says Microsoft Arcade supports a full range of the
original sounds. To do that, the design team recorded the actual
arcade machine sounds and digitized them for use with Windows.
Specially designed software allows for multiple sounds to be played
concurrently using standard sound hardware such as the Microsoft
Windows Sound System.

Your manager at work may not like the idea, but Microsoft has
designed the game software so that while the game play area uses the
entire monitor screen, eliminating the menu and scroll bars, the
game will instantly shrink to a window by pressing the Escape key
"in case of an office emergency," as the Microsoft folks call it. In
other words, if the boss stops by your desk.

The promotion deal with Verbatim will include one extra disk
containing four Microsoft fully operational games in each specially
marked Verbatim disk package. Each game is selected from one of
Microsoft's four Entertainment Packs for Windows. The games sampler
promotion runs through the end of the year.

Microsoft says Arcade is scheduled to be available in computer
stores in August, with a suggested retail price of $39.95. To run
the games, users will need Windows, a PC using a 386SX 20 megahertz
chip or better; two megabytes of system memory; one high-density
disk drive; a VGA or Super VGA monitor, and a mouse. A color monitor
and a sound board is recommended.

(Jim Mallory/19930706/Press contact: Julie Larkin, Microsoft
Corporation, 206-882-8080; Reader contact: Microsoft Corporation,
800-426-9400 or 206-882-8080)


(NEWS)(BUSINESS)(LON)(00032)

 ****Bull Of France Wields Job Axe Once More 07/06/93
PARIS, FRANCE, 1993 JUL 6 (MB) -- Troubled Cie des Machines Bull has
announced it will shave 6,500 from the worldwide payroll between
now and the end of next year. The French computer manufacturer,
which has just colocated subsidiary Zenith Data Systems' UK
headquarters with its Bull UK offices, has a total of 35,200 staff
in the world.

At a press conference held in Paris this morning, Bull officials
revealed that the job cuts are just part of a company-wide scheme to
cut costs and get Bull out of its current red ink rut. Bull has been
reporting losses for some time now, but this latest round of job and
cost cuts should drag the company back into the black within two
years.

Herve Hannebique, the personnel director and the man charged with
selecting which of the company's employees will receive their pink
slips, said that the staff reductions "form part of the acceleration
of our effort to reduce costs." This, he predicted, would translate
into a net profit for the group in 1995.

The 6,500 reduction in world-wide workforce before the end of 1994
comes on top of 3,000 layoffs already announced this year. Newsbytes
notes that the company has cut staffing by around 27 percent over
the last three years. 2,500 of the 6,500 jobs to go will be in
France, Newsbytes understands.

Hannebique said that he is looking at cutting costs in property
(hence the Zenith co-location), purchasing and information systems.
He plans to save around FF 500 million ($87.4 million) in property
alone.

The savage cuts announced today are the direct result of the FF
4,720 million ($821 million) loss reported for 1992, which came as
something of a shock for the French Government when it was
announced. Government officials had hoped that the state-controlled
company would break even in 1992.

(Steve Gold/19930706)


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00033)

Graphical Workstations From SGI, Sun 07/06/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) -- Silicon
Graphics Incorporated (SGI) and Sun Microsystems Computer
Corporation (SMCC) have both announced new lines of workstation
computers aimed at the growing graphics and multimedia markets.

SGI is known for the work the film industry has done with its
workstation computers. Special computer-generated effects such
as those in the movies "Terminator 2" and "Jurassic Park" have
been produced using SGI systems by the firm Industrial Light
and Magic.

SGI announced two new Indigo2 systems, the XL and XZ product
lines. Both systems start at prices as low as $18,000, the
company added.

The XL system is designed for picture element (pixel), vector,
and X performance with 24-bit color and 1280 by 1024
resolution. The system offers 1.4 million X lines per second,
600 kilobyte (K) two-dimensional (2-D) vectors per second, and
up to 437 million pixels per second in graphics performance,
SGI said. The XL is aimed at computer-aided design (CAD), image
processing, and visualization applications.

The ZX system also offers 24-bit color at 1280 by 1024
resolution, but with three-dimensional (3-D) hardware support
via two of the company's proprietary Geometry Engine graphic
processors. The company says the unit is capable of 250 K flat-
shaded triangles per second, and 43K Gouraund-shaded, lighted,
independent polygons per second. The system is aimed at
mechanical CAD (MCAD), 3-D visualization, animation, and
architecture applications.

The Indigo2 ZL and ZX systems both offer fast small computers
systems interface (SCSI)-II channels at 10 megabytes (MB) per
second throughput on each channel, extended industry standard
architecture (EISA) slots for expansion, and a new 64-bit
system bus architecture for faster system throughput.

The ZL system starts at $17,995 and the ZX systems start at
$25,500. For an additional $3,999 users can add the Indigo2
Video option for video communications including mail,
interactive presentations, and real-time print-to-video of
graphics. The ZX system is available now, while the XL system
will be available the third quarter of this year.

SMCC announced its three new SPARCstations: the SPARCstation,
10Turbogxplus, the SPARCstation ZX. Sun says the 10Turbogxplus
workstation is aimed at the electronic design automation (EDA),
mid- to low-end MCAD, and geographic information systems (GIS)
markets where it feels it has been strong in the past. The
10Turbogxplus systems offer a single SBus accelerator, double
buffering for smooth animation of 2-D and 3-D wireframe images,
and high screen resolution of up to 1,600 by 1,280 picture
elements (pixels).

The company claims its 10Turbogxplus offers two-dimensional
(2-D) performance at more than 1 million 2-D vectors per
second, a speed it claims beats 2-D performance from competing
workstations offered by Silicon Graphics, Hewlett-Packard,
IBM, and DEC.

Software developers, financial traders, and publishers will
also find the 10Turbogxplus workstations faster due to
increased speed in the display of on-screen windows, SMCC
asserts.

SMCC says the SPARCstation ZX system is based on the
SPARCstation LX product line and up to 290,000 triangle
meshes/second, or nearly three times the three-dimensional (3-
D) performance of other graphics workstation costing less than
$20,000. Specifically compared by SMCC are the Hewlett-Packard
715/33/24Z, which offers 100,000 triangle meshes/second and the
Silicon Graphics' Indigo XS/24 performs, which offers 50,000
triangle meshes/second.

A big brother to the ZX workstation, the SPARCstation 10ZX
workstation is equipped with similar graphics capability, but
offers higher computational performance, multiprocessing
capability, greater disk and memory capacity, and more
expandability, SMCC maintains.

In addition to such features as Gourard shading, 24-bit double-
buffered color, a 24-bit z-buffer and full stereoscopic
capabilities, these workstations offer dynamic tessellation of
non-uniform rational B-spline (NURB) surfaces. NURBs are a way
to mathematically define a curved surface on a computer screen
and what's new about dynamic tessellation of NURBs is the
workstation dynamically alters the number of triangles used to
render different parts of an object. By using fewer triangles
for less-complex parts, the object can be rendered and animated
more quickly.

The company says the ZX and 10ZX workstations are targeted
toward the high-performance 3-D applications including
mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD), molecular modeling,
and scientific visualization. SMCC representatives say the
difference between SMCC workstations and SGI workstations is
illustrated in the movie "Jurassic Park." While SGI
workstations were used to computer generate the images of the
dinosaurs used in the film, SMCC workstations are being used by
scientists patterned in the movie who are really doing genetic
modeling and similar applications.

SPARCstation 10Turbogxplus workstations are priced at $2,000
above the basic system price of SPARCstation 10 systems. For
example, the SPARCstation 10 Model 30LC is $15,995 so the
comparable 10Turbogxplus system would be $17,995. The
Turbogxplus systems are also compatible with the complete suite
of 7,500 SPARCware applications that now run on systems
equipped with SMCC's GX accelerators. The SPARCstation ZX
system is priced at $19,995, while the SPARCstation 10ZX starts
at $28,745.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930706/Press Contact: Jill Grossman, Silicon
Graphics Inc, tel [phone], fax [phone]; Robert
Manetta, Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation, tel 415-336-
0979, fax [phone])


(NEWS)(UNIX)(LAX)(00034)

New Visual Imaging Technology Announced By Sun 07/06/93
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 6 (NB) --
On the heels of its announcement of new workstations aimed at
graphics imaging applications, Sun Microsystems Computer
Corporation (SMCC) says it is working on two new technologies
for visual imaging code names internally SX and Sunvideo.

SX is an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)
integrated within a workstation's memory subsystem that allows
manipulation of larger and more complex images than previously
possible, according to SMCC. In fact, SMCC claims SX can
deliver up to 100 times the imaging performance found in
current imaging workstations and high-end Macintosh computers.
The company says the technology is intended for applications in
markets such as color pre-press, satellite imaging, and medical
imaging.

Kodak, ERDAS, CEMAX, and AVS are some of the companies named by
SMCC which are currently using SPARC systems with prototype SX
technology for testing and porting. The SX technology is being
prepared for official introduction in the form of a product at
the end of this year.

Sunvideo is the company's name for its real-time video
compression technology. Sun says the technology is built on an
SBus board and can capture as well as compress images at 30
frames per second. The company claims Sunvideo will offer low-
cost video conferencing and video authoring on the desktop.
SMCC software partners such as Insoft, Paradise Software, and
Aimtech Corp are testing the technology now. Pricing and
availability information will be specified before the end of
this year, SMCC claims.

New workstation products announced include the SPARCstation
10Turbogxplus, the SPARCstation ZX, and the SPARCstation 10ZX.
The workstations are all targeted for two- and three-
dimensional graphics rendering markets, SMCC maintains.

(Linda Rohrbough/19930706/Press Contact: Robert Manetta, Sun
Microsystems Computer Corporation, tel [phone], fax 415-
336-3880)