INDUSTRY LEADERS TO DEVELOP NEW 120 MB DISKETTE TECHNOLOGY

80 Times the Capacity, 5 Times the Performance and Read/Write Compatible
with Today's 1.44 MB Standard

HOUSTON, Texas (May 8, 1995) -- Three computer industry leaders have
announced the joint development of a 120 megabyte (MB) 3.5-inch diskette
technology for introduction later in 1995.

The companies involved in the development are Compaq Computer Corporation
(Houston, Texas), the world's leading manufacturer of PCs; 3M (St. Paul,
Minn.), the world's largest supplier of branded diskettes; and
Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Industries, Ltd. (MKE, Takamatsu, Japan),
the world's leading maker of CD-ROM drives, hard drives, tape drives, and
other peripheral devices.

The new diskette drive technology is read/write compatible with today's
installed base of 1.44 MB 3.5-inch diskettes, which is estimated at about
five billion worldwide. It also is compatible with 720 KB DOS-formatted
diskettes. The new technology will provide users with more than 80 times
the capacity and five times the performance of the current 1.44 MB
standard.

"As a developer of the 120 MB diskette technology, we are delivering on our
promise to provide useful and innovative tools for the information age,"
said Kevin Bohren, vice president, desktop marketing, Compaq Computer
Corporation. "Users will find this technology easy to use, extremely cost
effective, and a very efficient way to move around large amounts of data.

"Backward compatibility is critical because it will protect the massive
investment that users have made in the 3.5-inch 1.44 MB standard," Bohren
added.

"The high capacity and increased performance of the 120 MB diskette will
complement the gains made in hard disk drives and microprocessors over the
past five years," said Dennis Farmer, vice president, 3M Data Storage
Markets Division. "This is the answer for end-users who have waited for
the diskette drive to catch up with the rest of their system."

Further announcements on this joint development will be made later this
year.

Compaq Computer Corporation is the world's largest supplier of personal
computers, offering desktop PCs, portable PCs and servers. Founded in
1982, the company reported 1994 worldwide sales of $10.9 billion. Compaq
products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries through a
network of more than 38,000 Compaq marketing partners. Compaq also sells
directly to customers through Compaq Direct Plus at 1-800-888-5858. Compaq
provides 24-hour customer support and can be reached through the Compaq
forums on America Online, CompuServe, Internet (http://www.compaq.com),
and Prodigy, or by calling 1-800-345-1518.

3M is the world's largest supplier of branded diskettes and other removable
recording media for backup, near-line, archival and secondary data
storage, data transfer and software distribution. 3M Data Storage Products
maintains sales and marketing offices in more than 60 countries and
manufactures products in the U.S., Germany and Japan. For more information
about 3M diskettes, call toll free 1-800-888-1889 extension 33.

MKE is the world's largest volume manufacturer of computer storage
peripheral devices.

 ============================================================
 From the  'New Product News'  Electronic News Service on....
 AOL (Keyword = New Products) & Delphi (GO COMPUTING PRODUCT)
 ============================================================
 This information was processed from data provided by the 
 company or author mentioned. For additional details, please 
 contact them directly at the address/phone number indicated.
 All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
 ============================================================
 All submissions for this service should be addressed to:
 BAKER ENTERPRISES,  20 Ferro Dr,  Sewell, NJ  08080  U.S.A.
 Email: RBakerPC (AOL/Delphi), rbakerpc@delphi.com (Internet)
 ============================================================
