newsbytes@clarinet.com (01/14/90)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 16 (NB) -- The following reports are in this issue: ===== APPLE ===== CLARIS GETS RIGHTS TO WINGZ Informix Software has granted Claris Corporation, a subsidiary of Apple Computer, the right to use technology incorporated into the Wingz graphic spreadsheet. TOPS OFFERS UPGRADES; NO LONGER SUN DIVISION The TOPS division of Sun Microsystems has become an independent subsidiary, a move which will allow it to control its own destiny for the first time in two years. ======== BUSINESS ======== SONY AND FUJITSU JOIN FORCES IN CD-ROM Sony and Fujitsu have agreed to cooperate to distribute more CD-ROM (compact disc read-only- memory) software. MITSUBISHI TO BUILD 16M DRAM PLANT IN U.S. Major Japanese semiconductor maker Mitsubishi Electric has revealed a plan to build a 16 megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) production line in the U.S. BUSINESSLAND BITES BULLET, LAYING OFF 5-7% Anticipating a computer industry slump in 1990, the 91-store Businessland chain has started off the year by laying off five to seven percent of its 3,900 workers and by restructuring. NEW APPOINTMENTS AT COMMODORE Commodore Business Machines has announced two appointments to top posts. Walter W. Simpson has been named director of product marketing and the new Application and Technical Support (CATS) group's vice president is Jeff Scherb. PRIME SCHEDULES SPECIAL SHAREHOLDERS SESSION Prime Computer has announced that a special shareholders meeting is scheduled for 10 AM on January 30, 1990 to sanction the projected merger between Prime and a subsidiary of DR Holdings of Delaware. WESTINGHOUSE GETS $30 MILLION TO NOK COMPUTERS Westinghouse Electric Corporation announced that a Swiss nuclear company, Nordostschweizerische Kraftwerk AG (NOK), supplier of electricity to northern Switzerland, has awarded Westinghouse a $30 million contract to modernize Units 1 and 2 at NOK's Beznau site on the Aare River. HARRIS ABANDONING MOST CONSUMER BUSINESSES Harris has signed agreements to sell off its Lanier Business Systems and its data communications subsidiaries in separate transactions. The company is maintaining the old Harris/3M operations, which distributes computer and copier supplies. CALCOMP JOINS FORCES WITH JAPANESE FIRMS Calcomp has joined Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Corp. in a new Tokyo-based computer graphics company called NS CalComp. COMPUTER AUTOMATION ACQUIRES NEEDED FUNDS Computer Automation has entered into a loan, warrant and security agreement with a group of private investors which has loaned the company $3,150,000 while the company has issued the investors warrants to purchase shares of its stock. ORACLE MOVING TOWARD DIRECT SALES IN EASTERN CANADA Oracle has announced a new distribution agreement with Computertime Network, its distributor for Canada's five eastern provinces. Sales staff from Montreal-based Computertime will work with people from Oracle, of Toronto, Ontario, as Oracle prepares to sell its Oracle database software direct in Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces. GANDALF ANNOUNCES BELGIAN SALE The European subsidiary of Gandalf Technologies has signed a two-year agreement with Solvay & Cie. of Brussels. Gandalf will provide a range of data communications and network products to Solvay locations worldwide. ADOBE FOURTH QUARTER/FULL YEAR RESULTS A RECORD Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced its fourth quarter and fiscal 1989 operating results are a record. Revenue for the fourth quarter ended 1 December, 1989, was $37.703 million, compared to $25.265 million for the same period the previous year. LONDON STOCKS FALL HEAVILY - FRANKFURT MIXED The London Stock Exchange led the fall on Friday, with the Financial Times Stock Index (FTSE) plummeting 38.3 points to close the day on 2,380.1 points. DIGITAL EQUIPMENT BUYS FURTHER INTO MIPS Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) is buying further into MIPS by purchasing 317,016 shares of the company's stock, pushing its total holding to about 5 percent. The purchase is reported to have cost DEC around $5.2 million TECHNOLOGY STOCKS LEAD DOWNWARD SPIRAL The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dipped heavily during the week, falling by more than 75 points on Friday, January 12. Computer and technology companies, as ever, led the downward tumble in share prices. Amongst the most notable were: ASIAN MARKETS CLOSE LOWER Asian markets closed sharply lower following the lead set by European and US markets this week. NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE DIVES MORE THAN 70 POINTS The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell on Friday to finish the day down 71.46 points at 2,689.21. JAPAN: NOT MUCH DISCOUNTING ON BOOK-SIZED COMPUTERS Small, lightweight book-sized computers, gaining in popularity in Japan, are being discounted less than current desktop and laptop personal computers on the market. CONNECTION MACHINE LANDS IN JAPAN One of the most advanced American parallel processing supercomputer will land to Japan through the Japanese system house, Advanced Systems Co., Ltd. The supercomputer is the Connection Machine CM-2 series of Thinking Machine Corporation. FUJITSU BUILDING NEW 4M CHIP PLANT Fujitsu is building a four-megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) production plant in Iwate Prefecture in Northern Japan. The construction of the plant is expected to be complete by April and output of products is expected by the fall. ======= GENERAL ======= SMART PHONES, BIGGER RADIOS, KARAOKE AND NINTENDO CLONES AT CES The Consumer Electronics Show, which is expected to have drawn fewer spectators but more exhibitors thisxpected to have drawn A.N.A.L.O.G. ATARI MAG CEASES PUBLICATION ANALOG CEASING PUBLICATION Lee H. Pappas, editor of A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing, has decided the December issue is the last of the oldest extant Atari-specific magazine. SUN OFFERS COMMUNITY OUTREACH Showing that it's never too big to offer a helping hand, Sun Microsystems has announced several community involvement programs and a direct grant program for non-profit organizations in local communities nearby Sun facilities in Silicon Valley and in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts. HEWLETT-PACKARD UNVEILS 24 RISC-BASED SYSTEMS Hewlett-Packard has unveiled its largest new product array in history -- 24 models NORMAN WINGROVE JOINS NEWSBYTES Norman Wingrove, known to Hong Kong as the cohost of "The Electric Office," an information technology radio program, and a distinguished journalist in the computer field, has joined Newsbytes to cover the Pacific Rim. ATARI PORTFOLIO: ITS SCREEN MAKES IT NON-COMPATIBLE The Atari Portfolio won't run many standard MS-DOS programs, including communication programs, because its screen is not written to use the same codes as on the IBM PC. AUTHOR LAUNCHES RECREATIONAL PROGRAMMING NEWSLETTER A.K. Dewdney, Computer Recreations columnist for Scientific American magazine, has launched a personal programming newsletter called Algorithm. FREE EDUCATIONAL MEMBERSHIP OF UK CD-ROM USER GROUP The UK CD-ROM User Group has announced it is offering free membership to bona fide educational establishments, thanks to a sponsorship deal with Images & Data, the Swindon-based computer consultancy group. UK: DATATHEFT PAPERBACK PUBLISHED 1 FEBRUARY Datatheft, the book published by Mandarin and written by Hugo Cornwall, the original author of the Hacker's Handbook, now in its fourth edition, has been updated. The UKP 5-99 ($9-00) paperback will be published on 1 February in the UK. ELSEVIER PUBLISHES FREE SECURITY UPDATE Elsevier Science Publishers has published a free update magazine detailing its publications, books and reports on the subjects of computer communications, standardization and security. The magazine is available free of charge to all interested parties. UK: CROWN COMPUTER PRODUCTS OFFERS UKP 799 LASER PRINTER Crown Computer Products, the budget computer peripherals specialist, has announced that a second and final shipment of the Sharp JX-9300 laser printer is available for direct sale to the public. The first shipment of the laser printer, which costs UKP 799 ($1,200) sold out within days of its shipment during November, 1989. HONGKONG IT OFFICERS CHARITY DRIVE FIZZLES, THEY TRY AGAIN A charity drive organized by the information technology industry in aid of underprivileged children MICHAEL JACKSON ON VIDEO GAME DUE IN JUNE The world-famous entertainer Michael Jackson has applied his enthusiasm for games to a video game based on his movie Moon Walker. ======================= GOVERNMENT & THE COURTS ======================= 'KGB HACKER SECRETS' TRIAL IN WEST GERMANY The trial of the three so-called 'KGB hackers' has begun in West Germany . The case stems from a West German TV documentary early last year which exposed four West Germans who were allegedly selling hacked IDs, passwords and telephone numbers to Russian KGB operatives in exchange for cash. BSA BUSTS ALLEGED SPANISH PIRATES, WARNS OTHER VIOLATORS Just before Christmas, the Madrid, Spain Police Department raided the Mapfre Vida insurance company, seizing hundreds of apparently pirated copies of Ashton-Tate's dBASE, Lotus' 1-2-3, and WordPerfect. NIST TACKLES THE TORMENT OF TECHNOLOGY TERMINOLOGY The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has today announced that it is studying current glossaries of poorly defined computer security-related terms. In an effort to eliminate misunderstanding, the glossaries will be entered in a bibliography to be printed this year as a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS). DOD CONTRACT AWARDED TO STORAGETEK The Department of Defense (DOD) has today announced the awarding of a $33.5 million federal government contract to Storage Technology (StorageTek), Louisville, Colorado, to provide DOD's Defense Logistic Agency (DLA), based at Cameron Station, Alexandria, Virginia, with computer data storage equipment. STONEHOUSE AIMS LEGAL SLINGSHOT AT GOLIATH IBM Stonehouse & Co., which sells network management software, has sued IBM charging unfair trade competition and deceptive advertising. Stonehouse claims IBM is interfering with its customer contracts and that its new "best solution" advertisements are false and misleading. USC ADDS WANG INTEGRATED IMAGING The University of Southern California (USC) and Wang Laboratories have announced that USC's Office of Admissions is using a Wang Integrated Image System (WIIS) to manage student admissions information. PROPOSAL INTENDED TO BOOST CANADIAN SOFTWARE The Canadian government has been calling for initiatives to boost private- sector spending on research and development, so Stephen Bingham produced one. AUSTRALIA: GOVT & IBM TEAM TO PROMOTE COMPUTERS IBM and the New South Wales state government are addressing the chronic shortage of skilled labour in the Australian information technology industry by starting a new course designed to drag office workers into the 1990s. === IBM === SAMSUNG CUTS PC PRICES BY 19 PERCENT Citing the need to be more competitive in a market of "more than 250 hardware competitors," Samsung Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Phil Vertin has announced cuts of up to 19 percent on PCs and local area network products. HEADSTART CD-ROM COMPUTERS SHIPPING Deborah Brown, a spokesperson for HeadStart's PR firm, told Newsbytes today that the reason no evaluation units of the new LX-CD and III-CD computers with built-in CD-ROM player have been sent out to reviewers is because the company wanted to make certain that there were a large number of machines in the stores ready for sale. PRICE REDUCTIONS, NEW SUPPORT FROM ASHTON-TATE Ashton-Tate has announced several price reductions for Framework III upgrades and developer products, effective immediately and also unveiled some new support programs. PS/2 MODEL 70 486 HITS CANADIAN MARKET IBM Canada has announced the PS/2 Model 70 486, following the footsteps of its parent company in the United States. CLEVERCOMM LAUNCHES RAPID RELAY IN UK Clevercomm, a UK computer company, has secured the UK distribution rights to Rapid Relay, System Management Associates' serial file transfer package for MS-DOS-based PCs. The UK 79-95 ($120) package is available immediately. MITSUBISHI TO BOOST AX COMPUTER SALES Mitsubishi Electric, one of the member of AX Conference which organized to fight the domination of NEC in the Japanese personal computer market, is planning to change its PC sales strategy. ================== TELECOMMUNICATIONS ================== MCI MAIL SERVICE FAX RESTRICTIONS This bureau learned today that some fax machines are being connected to 800 lines but that phone companies and fax services are not quite up to speed yet on this service. NORTHERN TELECOM OFFERS FIRST HOME PHONE WITH DISPLAY Northern Telecom has introduced at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas what it said is the first home telephone with a built-in display panel. The Maestro telephone's liquid-crystal display will be used for functions such as calling-number identification, the manufacturer said. ESOPS AT SNET NO FABLE The board of directors of Southern New England Telecommunications (SNET) has approved the debut of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) this month as an adjunct to SNET's other employee savings plans. MILLICOM RECEIVES CELLULAR LICENSE IN GUATEMALA Millicom announced it had received a 20-year national license to establish and operate a cellular telephone system in Guatemala. CCI SELLS DALLAS CELLULAR INTEREST TO MCCAW FOR STOCK Cellular Communications entered into an agreement with McCaw Cellular Communications to sell a subsidiary holding 5.56% in the Dallas non-wireline cellular partnership for 1,601,036 shares of CCI common stock now owned by McCaw. CITY-SIZED PHONE MANAGEMENT INTRO'D BY OCTEL Octel Communications announced the 216-port Aspen Maxum Super-System with 912 hours of message storage capable of supporting up to 30,000 subscribers -- or the population of a small city. RESURGENS COMMUNICATIONS LISTED ON AMEX Resurgens Communications Group sold $15 million principal amount of convertible subordinated debentures due January 15, 2005, priced at par to yield 10%. BELL ATLANTIC MOBILE LAUNCHES FIRST TV AD CAMPAIGN Reflecting both increased competition and increased call handling capacity, Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems is launching its first major television advertisement campaign. AT&T, MCI BACK IN COURT AGAIN AT&T and MCI are back in court again. This time, the bigger company is accusing its smaller rival of unfair and deceptive telemarketing practices and switching of long-distance customers without their consent. MCI, AT&T OFFER INTERNATIONAL DISCOUNTS MCI and AT&T have both announced new calling plans with bigger discounts on calling overseas. TELESPHERE NAMES NEW 900 HEAD Telesphere Communications has chosen James G. Hertel Jr. as vice president of marketing for Information Services/900. ROCKWELL COMM SYSTEMS INTEGRATES THREE CA-BASED OPERATIONS Rockwell Communications Systems has announced the integration of its three California-based operations, Semiconductor Products Division and Microelectronics Technology Center in Newport Beach and CMC in Santa Barbara into a new Digital Communications Division (DCD). MERCURYLINK 7500 ANNOUNCES OAG COMPETITION Mercurylink 7500, the UK side of the US-based Easylink e-mail network, operated by the Cable and Wireless group, is encouraging its subscribers to access the Official Airlines Guide online database via its service with a free competition. CHINA TO BUY INTO HONGKONG TELECOM China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) is to buy up to 20 percent of Hongkong Telecommunications from parent company Cable and Wireless. HONG KONG FAX USERS GET ONLINE FLIGHT INFO Hong Kong travellers can now use their fax machines to retrieve the latest information on flight departures and ines to retrieve STATE OF THE ART LASER TELECOMMUNICATIONS FOR HONG KONG LASERBEAM LANS FOR HONGKONG Case Communications Asia/Pacific has released its advanced Megabeam infrared laser communications system in Hong Kong. JAPAN OFFERS ISDN EXPERTISE TO KOREA Japan's telecom giant NTT will supply its advanced telecommunication technologies, including ISDN (integrated services digital network), to the Korean Telecommunication Authority (KTA), according to Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper. =================== TRENDS & TECHNOLOGY =================== STUDY CITES BIGGEST REASONS FOR OWNING COMPUTERS Seventy-seven percent of home PCs are used mainly for word processing and running spreadsheets, according to a study commissioned by Smith Corona. MITSUBISHI BUILDS ITS FIRST SIM MODULE IN NORTH CAROLINA Mitsubishi Semiconductor America, announced it has completed its first custom-designed single inline memory module (SIMM). JAPANESE FIRMS PLAN MOVES TO EUROPE Hitachi, the major Japanese electronics giant, has announced plans to begin manufacturing semiconductors in West Germany. CRAY TO USE JAPANESE MEMORY The world's largest supercomputer maker, Cray Research, has decided to adopt materials made by Hitachi and Toshiba for the main memory of its supercomputers. HITACHI TO LAUNCH DAT STORAGE SYSTEM Hitachi has developed a computer storage system using DAT (digital audio tape). The new system called DT-1000S allows a DAT tape to store one-gigabyte of data, or the equivalent of 1,000 floppy disks. HITACHI LAUNCHES NEW COLOR LAPTOP Following NEC and Fujitsu, Hitachi has debuted its color laptop PC for the domestic market. The firm claims that its B32LXC features a vivid screen display and a low price. HITACHI TO SHIP 16-MEG DRAM SAMPLES THIS YEAR Hitachi has decided to produce and ship 16-megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) sample chips by the year's end. JAPAN DECELERATES ONE-MEG CHIP PRODUCTION Japan's major chipmakers such as Toshiba, NEC, and Hitachi are hitting the brakes on production of one-megabit DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips in order to keep prices from sliding. They have cut production this month by 10 to 15 percent. SONY TO INTRO 4-MEG SRAM LINE Sony will lead the industry in launching a test production line for 4-megabit SRAM (static random access memory) chips, and will initiate sample shipment in 1991. JAPAN MASS-PRODUCING MAGNETIC-OPTICAL DISKS In order to meet the surging demand for rewritable magnetic-optical disks (MODs) as computer data storage media, several domestic makers are now making them in volume. FUJITSU MAKES QUANTUM LEAP IN IC SPEED The dream of a laptop supercomputer may be closer to reality thanks to a development from Fujitsu. The company has developed an IC (integrated circuit) which performs 100 times faster than current supercomputers and requires between one-half and one-tenth the number of conventional circuit design elements. CANON SCUTTLING DOT MATRIX FOR INK JET Canon, the largest supplier of a laser printers in the world with a 70 percent market share, has revealed a plan to accelerate transition from dot matrix impact printers to ink-jet printers. IBM SEEKS JAPANESE CLEAN ROOM TECHNOLOGY IBM is seeking Japanese clean room technology in order to develop next-generation computer chips. Professor Tadahiro Ohmi of Tohoku University has received an invitation from the headquarters of IBM in the U.S. to introduce the technology there. ==== UNIX ==== MAI STRATEGY FOR MOVING AHEAD IN THE 1990S In an exclusive interview with Newsbytes, President and COO Fred D. Anderson, Jr., Chairman and CEO William Weksel and Director of Systems Marketing, J. Gary Brenkman, outlined MAI Basic Four's new strategy for the 1990s which includes a major move into the Unix operating system. PYRAMID CHIEF OPTIMISTIC ABOUT NIXDORF SALE The sale of West German computer vendor Nixdorf to Siemens does not worry Richard Lussier, chairman of Pyramid Technology, whose Unix-based minicomputers Nixdorf sells in Europe. In Toronto the day after the deal was announced, Lussier said his company has a good chance of continuing to deal with the merged company, despite Siemens' relationship with rival Sequent. YHP RELEASES NEW WORKSTATIONS CANON HOPES TO SELL UP TO 20,000 NEXT WORKSTATIONS Canon claims that it will sell 15,000 to 20,000 NeXT workstations in Asia in fiscal 1990. TOSHIBA TO MINIATURIZE WORKSTATIONS Toshiba hopes to export its expertise in the laptop and book-sized computer business to the workstation arena. SONY'S NEWS WILL SUPPORT OSF/1 Sony's News workstation will support OSF/1, an operating system developed by OSF or Open Software Foundation. ====== REVIEW ====== Review of: CAVEMAN UGH-LYMPICS, game for the Commodore 64 or 128 ========= EDITORIAL ========= SEND IT ELECTRONICALLY! - Editorial by Keith Cameron, Newsbytes Hong Kong Hot off the electronic press, the international IT news service Newsbytes reported that as of 1st January 1990, US broadcasting giant, NBC, will no longer mail press releases to the media. Instead it is working with the Associated Press (AP) to send them directly into newsroom computers. (Wendy Woods/19900111)