Tele-Communications Forms Co. To Create CD-ROM Products
  Tele-Communications Inc., the nation's largest cable operator, formed a
 company, CyberMedia, to create a multimedia studio to develop products for
 CD-ROM, on-line and cable customers. TCI's partners in the venture, the
 former management of AND Interactive Communications, will run the company.

===================================
IBM, Apple In PC Accord,But  Questions Linger On Software
  NEW YORK -- Officials of International Business Machines Corp. and Apple
 Computer Inc. clasped hands yesterday to demonstrate their commitment to a
 new PC design that will let customers mix and match operating systems
 without worrying about rival brands of hardware.
  IBM, Apple, and partner Motorola Inc., which joined forces three years ago
 to design a new chip called the PowerPC, said they had advanced their
 partnership by agreeing to build their PowerPC-based machines so that they
 work the same way. The common design will at least make it less expensive to
 manufacture the computers because they will have more common parts. In the
 future, the companies hope it will be easier for software developers to
 write programs that can run on any of the machines.
  But while executives from the three companies clasped hands for
 photographers at a news conference here, they appeared to be less than
 unanimous on questions about software systems, the more critical part of the
 strategy.
  Apple hailed the hardware agreement as a launching pad for cloning its
 Macintosh computer and said it expects to license the Macintosh's operating
 system to a wide range of manufacturers that eventually will build computers
 based on the new design. As a first step, Apple expects to license only a
 limited number of companies because it can't support more than a few
 licensees at this time.
  Whether IBM will license the Macintosh operating system, and thus possibly
 undermine its own OS/2 operating system, remained unclear. The matter
 apparently is still under negotiation.
  IBM and Apple have been at odds over terms and technical conditions by
 which IBM would use the Mac system. IBM would like the Mac software to be
 rewritten to fit in with an IBM software-design layer known as Workplace,
 which is aimed at allowing a variety of computers with divergent operating
 systems to swap software. Apple apparently has resisted or has balked at the
 terms IBM is offering to handle the Workplace effort.
  IBM rose 75 cents to $71.875 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading,
 while Motorola fell $2 to $56.50. Apple rose 37.5 cents to $40.75 in Nasdaq
 Stock Market trading.
  Apple declined to comment on whether it wants the Macintosh operating
 system to become a "personality" in IBM's Workplace approach. "That's IBM's
 decision," David Nagel, general manager of Apple's software division, said
 in an interview. He declined to elaborate.
  Rewriting Macintosh to run on Workplace would be significantly more complex
 and costly than just reworking it for the new PowerPC machines, and IBM and
 Apple may differ on the financial terms for doing so.
  IBM has run into major technical hurdles in rewriting its own system, OS/2,
 for the PowerPC and won't be ready to ship until next spring. Even then,
 however, it isn't clear that IBM will push OS/2 as the software of choice
 for its PowerPC line. An IBM executive said yesterday it will let customers
 choose whichever operating system they want.
  In addition to Macintosh and OS/2, the new computers will run versions of
 the Unix operating systems from both IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc. and
 Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT software, a less popular but more advanced
 version of the Windows operating system. Also yesterday, Novell Inc. said it
 will provide its industry-leading PC networking software, NetWare, for the
 PowerPC platform.
  Apple and IBM wouldn't disclose the cost of changing the hardware and
 software designs to form the common standard, except to say that analysts'
 estimates of $200 million for each company were too high. Apple's Mr. Nagel
 also disputed projections that the more daunting task of rewriting the
 Macintosh operating system to fit IBM's Workplace could cost as much as $1
 billion, including royalty and licensing fees.
  The first PowerPC products under the new design will reach the market in
 the second half of 1996, the partners said. Analysts say the alliance has a
 better chance at succeeding if Microsoft and Intel Corp. falter in their
 efforts to develop a chip faster than Intel's Pentium, and carry along the
 vast numbers of applications that have been written for their systems. In
 that case, the alliance could be well poised to lure away some of the
 current 50 million Windows users, or 70 million users who still use the
 antiquated DOS system.

===================================
Microsoft To Unveil Its On-Line Service, Marvel
  The on-line industry is bracing for the long-awaited and much-feared
 arrival of Marvel, a service that software giant Microsoft Corp. is expected
 to unveil next week.
  Rivals have fretted over the Microsoft move for months, mindful of the
 success the company has had in invading new markets and wary of its hold on
 some 60 million desktop computers that use its popular Windows software.
 Microsoft is slated to publicly discuss the new service for the first time
 at the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas next week.
  Microsoft won't specify pricing or a start-up date for the service, which
 is code-named Marvel and may carry the official name of Microsoft Network.
 But America Online Inc., Prodigy and other on-line services already are
 responding to the competition -- variously cutting prices, redesigning
 on-screen looks, rolling out new access to the Internet -- and invoking the
 threat of complaining to the Justice Department if they feel Microsoft's
 moves hinder competition.
  Marvel is expected to have several features that go beyond current
 services, including easy access to the service through Windows software and
 other applications, which will enable a computer user to get direct customer
 support. The Microsoft service also is expected to provide better financial
 terms for companies that want to display their information on it.
  Rivals most fear that Microsoft plans to take advantage of the huge
 installed base of Windows users by including the service with its next
 Windows release, enabling customers to link up and sign on by simply
 clicking a button. Microsoft is to introduce Windows 95, as the next release
 will be known, in mid-1995 and could sell six million copies next year -- a
 potential audience of more than twice as many customers as any of the
 on-line services currently has.
  As the world's largest software company, with annual revenue approaching $5
 billion, Microsoft is far larger than the entire combined revenue base of
 the on-line industry. That has CompuServe Inc., a unit of H&R Block Co.,
 concerned that Microsoft may willingly operate the new service at a loss
 simply to eliminate competitors. "You have to potentially be concerned if
 you think somebody's engaged in pricing practices that are aimed at
 weakening competitors," said Barry Berkov, executive vice president.
  At America Online, Vienna, Va., employees are setting up a Microsoft "war
 room." A bulletin board containing any news about Microsoft's new service
 and its chairman, William H. Gates, is covered in camoulflage. Employees
 pass around the printed quote of a top America Online executive, Ted
 Leonsis: "Tell Bill Gates that interactive services will become Microsoft's
 Vietnam." America Online also plans to push its media partners --
 information providers such as television networks and magazine publishers --
 to agree to an exclusive alliance, telling them that Microsoft's interest in
 "content" could make it a media competitor.
  Prodigy, a joint venture of International Business Machines Corp. and
 Sears, Roebuck & Co., cut prices last month, is redesigning its look and
 offering more Internet features. The moves are "based on current competitors
 and the aggressiveness that we expect from Microsoft," said Prodigy's Scott
 Kurnit, executive vice president.
  At General Electric Co.'s GEnie service, marketers are working on
 strengthening their position in on-line games. "That's one of the lily pads
 where we have to stay strong," said Mark Walsh, president of the on-line
 offering.
  The market for on-line services is expected to grow about 30% next year, to
 nearly nine million subscribers and to revenue of $1.4 billion, according to
 John Aronsohn of Yankee Group, a consulting firm. Indeed, many on-line
 executives say publicly that Microsoft's foray will expand the market for
 all players. "We do respect them, but we don't fear them," said America
 Online President Steve Case, who added that "Microsoft is getting a little
 cocky." But privately, another story emerges. "We're very afraid," an
 America Online insider said.
  Much like its competitors, Microsoft's product will allow users to send
 electronic mail, read news, "chat" with other users and access at least
 portions of the Internet. The service will likely also provide users with
 Microsoft-owned information from CD-ROM disks such as Encarta (an
 encyclopedia) and Complete Baseball.
  But the service may also offer some advantages, according to people
 familiar with company's plans. By letting Windows 95 users sign up easily,
 Microsoft may quickly surpass rival subscriber bases, which range from one
 million to 2.5 million customers. The service may cost only $4.95 a month,
 less than current entries, which charge about $10 a month for basic features
 including e-mail, chat and bulletin boards.
  New releases of Microsoft's popular computer programs, such as Excel and
 Word, also would have icons in them that would allow users to connect to the
 on-line service to get "live" help from technical support staff when they
 run into a software snag.
  In addition, the new service may give media companies that participate a
 greater share of the revenue than current on-line services do. America
 Online is believed to give media companies 20% of the revenue that is gained
 when users spend extra time in those particular areas of the service,
 retaining 80% for itself. Microsoft is believed to be considering a model
 that would give media companies the bulk of the split.
  Microsoft also proposes to let potential partners have more control over
 their services. Media companies will be able to fully control the "look and
 feel" of their on-line offerings, which many publications feel is necessary
 to maintain the brand of their products. According to industry executives,
 Microsoft will let information providers determine, beyond the monthly
 access fee, their own subscription fees. America Online strongly discourages
 its partners from charging extra. On Microsoft's service, information
 providers will also be able to obtain their own advertisers, executives
 said.
  America Online's Mr. Case counters, however, that such descriptions are
 mere "mythology" until Microsoft actually delivers.
  The plans for Marvel come as Justice Department lawyers are examining
 Microsoft's $1.5 billion agreement to buy Intuit Inc., the Menlo Park,
 Calif., company that dominates the market for personal-finance software. The
 department is expected to consider Microsoft's on-line plans in evaluating
 how the Intuit pact might affect the competitive landscape.
  Competitors fear links between Marvel, Windows 95 and Intuit's popular
 Quicken software would put other on-line services at a disadvantage. If
 Marvel takes off, Microsoft would then be in a strong position to sell
 software on server machines that would manage such home services, argues
 Gary Reback, of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, attorney for several
 Microsoft competitors.
  Microsoft plans to sell its personal-finance software program to Novell
 Inc. to head off concerns about concentration in that market. But Steven
 Newborn, an antitrust lawyer for Rogers & Wells in Washington, D.C.,
 believes that the Justice Department is likely to look beyond the effect of
 the Intuit pact on financial-services software, especially in view of the
 negative publicity over the Justice Department's earlier antitrust
 settlement with the software giant.
  A large computer trade group, Information Technology Association of
 America, said yesterday it is forming a special committee to solicit
 industry comments on the Intuit deal and present them to the Justice
 Department.
  Microsoft officials privately say they expect the Justice Department to
 issue a second request for information about the pact, which would extend
 the review beyond a Nov. 21 deadline.
  Case said there has been an overreaction to news reports that Microsoft
 Corp. (MSFT) will discuss its on-line service, Marvel, next week at the
 Comdex trade show in Las Vegas. 
  America Online shares fell 9.2% yesterday after an article in The Wall
 Street Journal discussed the new online service to be offered by the
 software giant. 
  Industry sources said Microsoft will charge subscribers about $5 a month
 for basic services. America Online currently charges about $10 a month for
 its basic service. 
  ''At first blush (Microsoft's Marvel) looks better than it is likely to
 be,'' Case said. 
  Case said Microsoft will charge surcharges for many of the most attractive
 offerings on its online service. 
  Case reiterated that the number of subscribers to America Online has
 tripled in the past year to nearly 1.3 million. 
  Analyst Rick Martin of Swiss Bank said investors are concerned that
 Microsoft's new service will hurt America Online. 
  America Online shares will be on a ''roller coaster'' until the effect of
 the new Microsoft service is fully determined, Martin said. 
  Martin noted that software for America Online and Prodigy is often
 pre-installed on computers by manufacturers, so Marvel won't have much more
 access even though it will be offered as part of Microsoft's Windows 95
 operating system software. 
  The analyst also said that concerns about pricing will be eased as people
 realize that the ''most interesting'' features of Marvel won't be included
 in the basic package. 
  Martin said the downward movement in America Online shares might also have
 been caused by short selling. America Online showed a short position of 2.1
 million shares as of Oct. 21. The company currently has 8 million
 outstanding shares. 
  America Online said a two-for-one stock will take effect on Nov. 24 to
 bring the total number of shares outstanding to 16 million. 

===================================
Bill Gates Reveals :      Mentoring On An Informal Basis

  Q: Is there any concern that as the organization grows larger, it will be
 more difficult to keep track of who are the stars and who aren't?
  A: Now that's a challenge. We do have people for each of the areas who are
 in charge of making sure the training programs are there, and if somebody's
 a star, we're matching him into the new areas. We also do a yearly
 management conference, with 50 top people nominated by their group
 management. It's designed for other managers to get a sense of who is very
 good.

  Q: How do you want your managers to function?
  A: Once you move up to management, you're expected to be capable enough so
 that essentially you can do the job of everyone who works for you. That is
 the Microsoft model; it's not manager as manager, it's manager as the best
 person who rose through the ranks and has a broad capability to do all
 things.

  Q: At Microsoft, there doesn't seem to be a stigma if people want to step
 back to do something else.
  A: As long as you care about the products, you can take on any role. People
 are pretty cool about that. You can be at the top of the technical ladder
 and manage no one, which some of those people do because that's how good
 they are at managing people or that's what they want to do. Or you can be
 three notches down and manage 20 people.

  Q: Some companies are starting to develop internal career centers, where
 people can learn whatever they need to become employable. And I know
 Microsoft is working on an on-line service where employees can learn about
 open positions and the skills needed. Should the company be doing more?
  A: All the job openings and job descriptions are on e-mail. That's just the
 beginning of it. The human resources people get very involved if somebody
 has a problem, or we're reorganizing things a bit and we want to make sure
 people wind up in the best possible places. There's a lot of mentoring that
 goes on on a pretty informal basis. We have individual offices for a high
 percentage of people, so you can have a private conversation. Virtually all
 of the high-tech companies have open-space environments. Private thinking
 and private discussion, I don't know how they do it.

===================================
Microsoft/MapInfo Pact : Expands Delivery Svc Partners
  Microsoft also said it has begun shipment of a fully native version of
 Microsoft Office for the Power Macintosh. 
  The availability of the Microsoft Word 6.0 and the Microsoft PowerPoint 4.0
 presentation graphics program in native form completes the Office suite for
 the Power Macintosh. The suite also contains Microsoft Excel 5.0 for the
 Power Macintosh. 
  Microsoft Office for the Power Macintosh ships with the version for the
 68K-based Macintosh in the same box. A CD-ROM version is expected to be
 available by the end of the year. Microsoft Office for the Power Macintosh
 is available for about $499. Customers who obtained Office 3.0 on or after
 April 1, 1994, may obtain a free upgrade. Current users of individual
 applications can upgrade to Office for about $299 and are eligible for a $40
 rebate effective through the end of the year. 
  In addition, Microsoft said it is expanding its Delivery Service Partner
 program, adding four new regional and specialty distributors to its DSP
 roster. Microsoft also added new products to the DSP product offering. 
  The new DSPs are AMAX Engineering Corp., Fremont, Calif.; QDI Computer
 Inc., Bensalem, Penn.; SDC Distribution Center, City of Industry, Calif.;
 and Softop Inc., Fremont, Calif. 
  The products available through the DSPs now include Microsoft OEM Mouse and
 Microsoft Works 3.0, in addition to the Microsoft MS-DOS operating system
 6.22, the Microsoft Windows for Workgroups operating system with integrated
 networking 3.11, and the Microsoft Windows operating system 3.1. 
  Microsoft also announced a new comprehensive registration program for OEMs
 purchasing products from its Delivery Service Partners. The new program lets
 OEMs purchase products from any DSP, and qualifies them for additional
 marketing-support programs. 
  Microsft also unveiled a promotional offer enabling customers who acquire
 Microsoft Office Standard version 4.2, Microsoft Office Professional version
 4.3, or Microsoft Office Professional & Bookshelf CD-ROM version 4.3, to
 receive one of four free options. 
  Customers may choose one of the following free options: one hour of free
 long-distance calling, Microsoft Office Assistant, Visio Express for
 Microsoft Office or Microsoft Entertainment Pack 4. This offer is valid
 through Jan. 31, 1995. 
  Microsoft Office Standard is available on disk or CD-ROM for about $499.
 With a version or competitive upgrade, it is available for about $299. Both
 Microsoft Office Professional and Microsoft Office Professional & Bookshelf
 CD-ROM are available for about $599; the version upgrade or competitive
 upgrade price is about $399. 
  The company said its Word 6.0 & Bookshelf '94 word processor with
 integrated CD-ROM reference library will bring CD-ROM technology to a broad
 spectrum of users this holiday season. 
  Microsoft Word & Bookshelf is available for about $399. Current users of
 any version of Word or Word & Bookshelf can upgrade for about $149. Users of
 previous versions of Word & Bookshelf are eligible for a $50 rebate. 

===================================
Aztech expands into MPEG video and audio playback  with the OSCAR; 
leader pushes new OSCAR MPEG playback board into the market
FREMONT, CALIF.  -Nov. 8, 1994--Aztech Labs Inc., a
leading manufacturer of multimedia computer products, announced its OSCAR MPEG
playback board, the latest breakthrough in its Video Galaxy series of
multimedia products for personal computers. 
The OSCAR provides complete MPEG video and 16-bit audio playback for PC users.
Compatible with the new generation of Video-On-CD, CD-I and interactive
software titles featuring live motion video, the OSCAR plays back full-screen,
full-motion video at 30 frames per second (FPS). Slated to hit retail shelves
in mid-November, the OSCAR comes bundled with an MPEG version of a popular
entertainment CD title -- Return to Zork.  This new product is targeted at
users demanding state-of-the-art video features only provided by MPEG video
and sound playback. 
''We are pleased to introduce the OSCAR MPEG board to the market,'' said 
Michael Mun, president of Aztech Systems (SESDAQ:Aztech), the Singapore-based
parent company of Aztech Labs. 
''It offers unsurpassed MPEG video and audio quality.  The OSCAR is perfectly
suited for users who want to experience life-like video and cinematic pictures
at their desktop.  According to some estimates, there will soon be about 30
million multimedia capable PCs installed worldwide.  The OSCAR is sure to
become a favorite among desktop video buffs,'' added Mun. 
Since the OSCAR MPEG playback board supports the recently announced MPEG video
and audio CD titles, users can view 72 minutes of full-screen, full-motion
video, coupled with CD-quality sound, played back from a CD-ROM drive.  With
this kind of compatibility, the OSCAR is ready for the next wave of
interactive entertainment, education, training, business presentations, movies,
music videos and Karaoke CD software titles. 
Supporting the Open MPEG 1 (OM-1) industry standard, the OSCAR will open up a
whole new world of exciting applications and entertainment for users requiring
full-screen, live-motion video and animation. Entertainment and business
software taking advantage of this technology produces more realistic,
life-like experiences. Several companies have produced new titles that use
MPEG playback including Activision, Aris Entertainment, Compton's New Media,
Crystal Toolworks, Trilobyte, Tsunani, and Virgin Games.  In addition, its
compatibility with the new Video-On-CD and CD-I digital video standards allows
feature films, TV shows, and music videos to be played from a supporting
CD-ROM drive. 
The OSCAR offering includes the MPEG playback board, an installation diskette,
a demo CD filled with exciting MPEG clips, a user manual, and supporting
hardware and cables.  About Aztech Systems 
Based in Singapore, Aztech Systems is a manufacturer and supplier of a full
range of multimedia products for PCs.  According to a recent Dataquest report,
Aztech is the third largest supplier of sound boards worldwide, holding a 17%
share of this market.  IDC Europe ranked Aztech as the No. 1 selling sound
card in Germany with 37% market share.  The same report ranked Aztech as the
second largest selling sound card in Europe.  The company is dedicated to
making multimedia more accessible to the masses by bringing competitive,
high-quality sound solutions to the marketplace. 
At Comdex Booth No. M628, Sands Convention Center. 

===================================
Aztech launches 16-bit wave table boards with 3D  sound upgrade opt
Multimedia leader unveils the Sound Galaxy WaveRider 32+, featuring built-in
wave table synthesis and 3D surround sound upgrade option
FREMONT, CALIF. -Nov. 8, 1994--Multimedia leader 
Aztech Labs Inc. announced the Sound Galaxy WaveRider 32+, a 16-bit sound
board with built-in 32 voice wave table synthesis for exact reproduction of
128 instrumental sounds and 69 drum sound effects. 
The board also provides an upgrade option to add 3D surround sound effects to
multimedia application programs. 
''Our new boards feature orchestral PC audio quality and enhanced 
capabilities.  Sound is a tremendous enhancement to the PC multimedia 
experience, and we bring it a step further by offering 3D sound technology on
the WaveRider 32+.  It creates the same type of effect as you get at the
movies,'' said Michael Mun, president of Aztech Systems (SESDAQ:Aztech), the
Singapore-based parent company of Aztech Labs. 
Aztech is able to offer this three-dimensional sound by combining SRS (Sound
Retrieval System) technology with the WaveRider 32+ boards.  SRS technology is
the same process used by Sony and RCA in high end television sets.  When
combined with Aztech's Sound Galaxy 16-bit sound technology, it brings
three-dimensional sound to the PC playback system through only two
conventional speakers.  The music and sound effects wrap around the listener. 
By its use of wave table sounds, the WaveRider 32+ card not only offers 
professional quality music recording and playback for multimedia presentations
and interactive games, but also adds ambiance and depth to musical
compositions. 
A key feature of this sound card is MIDI compatibility with the Roland MPU 401
interface, providing a choice of MIDI connections to musical keyboards and
drum machines for recording and playback.  The card also supports MT 32 and
general MIDI, ensuring accurate reproduction of professionally produced MIDI
files. 
Featuring the 20-voice Yamaha OPL3 synthesizer, the WaveRider 32+ allows 
access to software available in both the DOS and Windows environments. It also
offers full compatibility with the world's most popular sound standards,
including Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster PRO, Microsoft Windows Sound System and
AdLib.  In addition, the WaveRider 32+ provides support for both AT-bus and
IDE CD-ROM drives, giving users a choice of drives. 
The Sound Galaxy WaveRider 32+ and 3D sound upgrade are shipping now, both as
a standalone product and as components of Aztech's multimedia upgrade kits. 
The board has a suggested retail price of $199, while the 3D sound upgrade has
a suggested retail price of $39.  About Aztech Systems 
Based in Singapore, Aztech Systems is a manufacturer and supplier of a full
range of multimedia products for PCs.  According to a recent Dataquest report,
Aztech is the third largest supplier of sound boards worldwide, holding a 17%
share of this market.  IDC Europe ranked Aztech as the No. 1 selling sound
card in Germany with 37% market share.  The same report ranked Aztech as the
second largest sound card supplier in Europe.  The company is dedicated to
making multimedia more accessible to the masses by bringing competitive,
high-quality sound solutions to the marketplace.  

===================================
Aztech launches DSP-based audio/telephony card  for PCs; new card a
concurrent operation of audio and telephony functions
FREMONT, CALIF. -Nov. 8, 1994--Aztech Labs Inc. 
launched its first generation PC-based audio/telephony card by integrating a
DSP-based fax/modem/voice telephone function and Aztech's proprietary audio
technology onto a single add-in sound card. 
This means the user can receive voice or fax messages while listening to a
presentation using sound playback. 
This product is for both the consumer and the professional.  The 
audio/telephony allows fax and modem functions while its full compatibility
with major sound standards, including Sound Blaster and Microsoft Windows
Sound System, provides a wide access to a selection of software in DOS and
Windows.  The card's ability to play back and record in true 16-bit
professional CD quality sound means that the card serves both as an office
product as well as a key component in an ''edutainment'' system. 
A perfect solution for the small-office-home-office (SOHO) environment, the
audio telephony card also functions as a digital telephone answering machine
and features a full duplex speaker phone.  The card's GSM voice compression
and decompression minimizes disk storage space and provides remote message
retrieval.  With its built-in tone detection, this card can automatically
forward incoming faxes.  Supporting modem data speeds up to 14,400 bps and
compatibility with major data information transfer standards, the card
eliminates the data compatibility issues faced by many modem users. 
''The products we develop give our users a broader and more integrated way to
use their PCs,'' said Michael Mun, president of Aztech Systems (SESDAQ:Aztech),
the Singapore-based parent company of Aztech Labs. 
''No longer will a DSP-based card be confined to just office use, it can also
be used for something creative and fun,'' added Mun. 
Targeted at third party OEMs and system integrators, the prototype will be
displayed at COMDEX Booth No. M0628.  About Aztech Systems 
Based in Singapore, Aztech Systems is a manufacturer and supplier of a full
range of multimedia products for PCs.  According to a recent Dataquest report,
Aztech is the third largest supplier of sound boards worldwide, holding a 17%
market share of this market. IDC Europe ranked Aztech as the No. 1 selling
sound card in Germany with 37% market share. 
The same report ranked Aztech as the second largest sound card supplier in
Europe.  The company is dedicated to making multimedia more accessible to the
masses by bringing competitive, high-quality sound solutions to the
marketplace.

===================================
Aztech extends its CD-ROM drive product line  with a new quad speed
with support for audio and MPEG video CDs, Aztech's new quad speed drive
breaks new ground
FREMONT, CALIF. -Nov. 8, 1994--In keeping with its
role as a pioneer in the multimedia market, Aztech Labs Inc. is extending its
CD-ROM product line with a new IDE-based quad speed CD-ROM drive -- the CDA
468-01I. 
Exceeding MPC II requirements, the drive delivers a data transfer rate of 600
kpbs and an average access time of 235 msec, allowing faster retrieval of
information stored on CD-ROMs. 
Featuring a buffer size of 256KB, the drive cache stores data before 
transferring to the CPU, thereby lowering the CPU utilization time.  In 
addition, the IDE drive features a 16-bit host interface which allows burst
mode data transfer rates up to 8.33MB per second. 
''Aztech has made a strong commitment to manufacture CD-ROM drives,'' said
Michael Mun, president of Aztech Systems (SESDAQ:Aztech), the Singapore-based
parent of Aztech Labs. 
''This investment has allowed us to introduce technically advanced products
ahead of most of our competitors.  Aztech's success in developing AT-Bus and
IDE drives is an example of the company's technical competency in CD-ROM drive
research and manufacturing.  Today Aztech is the only multimedia player that
manufactures a full range of CD-ROM drives targeted at different market needs,
'' added Mun. 
The new drive's soft-eject motorized tray loading mechanism eliminates the
need for separate caddies, and the power-out eject mechanism allows discs to
be removed from the drive when the computer system is shut down. 
As the new quad speed drive supports multi-session Kodak Photo CDs, users can
access multiple views of photo realistic images on screen. The CDA 468-01I can
also be used as a standard music CD player.  The quick CD play button on the
front panel enables users to listen to a music CD without loading any software.
Built to cater to the expanding needs of the future, the drive supports MPEG
Video on CDs, which means users can play up to 72 minutes of full-motion
''movie'' pictures. 
Originally aimed at serving the OEM market, the CDA 468-01I drive is scheduled
to ship in January 1995.  About Aztech Systems 
Based in Singapore, Aztech Systems is a manufacturer and supplier of a full
range of multimedia products for PCs.  According to a recent Dataquest report,
Aztech is the third largest supplier of sound boards worldwide, holding a 17%
share of this market.  IDC Europe ranked Aztech as the No. 1 selling sound
card in Germany with 37% market share.  The same report ranked Aztech as the
second largest selling sound card in Europe.  The company is dedicated to
making multimedia more accessible to the masses by bringing competitive,
high-quality sound and video solutions to the marketplace. 

===================================
IBM, Apple Alliance Announced to Little Fanfare                    
NEW YORK--Nov. 8--Three years ago, amid cheers and fanfare, two great rivals
in the computer industry declared a new era of cooperation and teamed up to
topple a common enemy. 
International Business Machines Corp. and Apple Computer Inc. promised to 
create a new breed of computer, powered by a jointly developed chip called 
Power PC, that could run software written for machines from either company. No
longer would customers be stuck with the frustrating choice of whether to buy
Apple computers and software, or an incompatible set of products from IBM or
makers of IBM-compatibles. 
Yesterday, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple and IBM, based in Armonk, N.Y., asked
for more fanfare as they announced "the second act" of their alliance. But
much of the computer world could summon little more than a yawn. 
The promise of the 1991 alliance is largely unfulfilled, analysts say, as IBM
and Apple models are still incompatible. And without a unified approach to
software, the alliance has failed to slow its common enemy: the team of 
Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. 
More than 80 percent of all personal computers are powered by Intel chips and
Microsoft operating system software, including most assembled by IBM itself.
That arrangement gives the biggest profits to Microsoft and Intel, 
while Apple and IBM battle rivals on price, leaving much thinner profit 
margins. 
Yesterday, IBM and Apple, along with their partner Motorola Inc., said they
had agreed on common standards for design of an entire computer, a broadening
of the agreement that led to their Power PC chip. By 1996, they said,
consumers will be able to buy a computer from either company that runs several
operating systems, including Apple's Mac OS, IBM's OS/2, Sun Microsystems'
Solaris and Windows NT from Microsoft. 
Operating systems control the most basic levels of computer functions. Apple
and IBM said their new computers would be able to run any spreadsheet, 
word processing program, graphics program or other applications package 
written for any of those operating systems. 
But details were sketchy, and the two companies failed to announce a widely
expected agreement for IBM to license Apple's Macintosh operating system. IBM,
analyst said, is unwilling to back away from OS/2, even though the operating
system has failed to counter Microsoft's enormously popular Windows system. 
William J. Milton Jr. of Brown Brothers Harriman said the companies had not
firmly committed to placing even two operating systems on any of their jointly
designed computers. 
Analysts were disappointed that the companies had not taken the further step
they had implied would come in 1991, developing a single software standard
that could run both IBM and Apple software, turning Apples into IBM "clones"
and vice versa. 
"With IBM behind the Apple operating system, that's the only hope of 
challenging Microsoft," Milton said. "Right now, the opposition to Microsoft
is still fragmented and doesn't amount to much." The announcement yesterday
"is pretty much another disappointment." 
"These companies are scrambling to do the right thing. The problem is, they
should have done it three years ago," said John McCarthy, an analyst with
Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge. "It may be too little too late." 
Following the announcement, which had been expected, IBM's stock gained 3/4 to
close at 71 7/8 on the New York Stock Exchange. Apple's stock closed at 40 3/4,
a gain of 3/8, on NASDAQ. 
For most customers, and especially people who use computers only at home, 
yesterday's "act 2" carries little significance. Buyers care less about the 
details of hardware than about how many software programs have been written to
run on the machine they buy. 
Because they are on the desktops of most customers, Microsoft and Intel have
little trouble luring software writers to write programs that work with their
products. A unified Apple-IBM strategy, combining the customer bases of those
two companies, would entice more software writers to create Apple-IBM versions
of their programs. 
Fifty million Intel-based machines will ship this year, while Apple says it
sold 600,000 Power PCs and IBM has released only high-end Power PC machines.
"If you're a software developer, which would you concentrate on? Where are the
customers?" asked Steve Smith, an analyst with Paine Webber in New York. 
"There are more X86 systems shipped in a month than the Power PC has shipped
in all its production," Milton said, referring to the Intel line that includes
its 486 and Pentium chips. 
While a unified Apple-IBM operating system would draw software vendors, 
neither company has wanted to step back from claims that its own operating 
system is superior. It would create a marketing problem for IBM, which would 
have to promote the jointly developed standard while already promoting its 
OS/2 operating system in the marketplace and selling millions of machines that
use the Microsoft operating system. 
With full unity still eluding IBM and Apple, the opposition is not 
significantly threatened, analysts said. "Are Bill Gates and Andy Grove losing
sleep today," asked Sam Albert, a former IBM executive and independent analyst,
referring to the chiefs of Microsoft and Intel. "I think they're restless, but
they're not losing sleep." 

===================================
DIGITAL ENTERS RETAIL MULTIMEDIA  PC MARKET                        
MAYNARD, MASS.  - Nov. 8, 1994 -- Digital Equipment
Corporation today announced the FullVideo family -- its entry into the retail
multimedia market -- a full line of board-level PC enhancement hardware
products that provides full-screen, full-motion, TV-like video with 16-bit
CD-quality stereo sound. Based on RealMagic Interactive MPEG (Moving Picture
Experts Group) technology from Sigma Designs (NASDAQ:SIGM), the FullVideo line
adds a new sense of realism to popular entertainment and education titles of
PC software. 
Created for home entertainment and business, FullVideo products are currently
available at BrandsMart, Fry's Electronics, and Lechmere which also offer
Digital's PC retail printers.  Digital is supporting its FullVideo line with a
multi-million dollar marketing campaign, and expanding its retail distribution
to other leading retailers. 
"The introduction of FullVideo products expands Digital's retail line into the
fast-growing multimedia segment," said Patrick Sullivan, vice president of
Digital's Components and Peripherals Merchandising Business.  "Together with
our current retail printer line, we now have the products PC users want in
over 1300 locations." The FullVideo line is intended for home use, enabling
access to educational and reference materials like World Atlas, interactive
games like Return to Zork and MegaRace, entertainment movies including Top Gun,
and music videos for all ages.  By using interactive MPEG playback, FullVideo
products will bring the home PC to a new level. 
In addition to home use, FullVideo products are ideal for schools, enabling
students to learn interactively by using encyclopedias and other reference
materials with full screen video. There is also a wide variety of commercial
applications such as interactive corporate training, video information kiosks,
video demonstrations, and CD catalogs. 
At the heart of FullVideo is RealMagic technology developed by Sigma Designs. 
RealMagic is based on a patented chip set used for MPEG decompression. 
Hundreds of leading software developers like Mindscape, formerly The Software
Toolworks and Activision are now using the RealMagic standard to add to the
thousands of titles already available. MPEG source material is recorded at 30
frames per second and 16-bit stereo sound, then compressed at up to 200:1.
Based on the MPEG standard for video and audio compression, RealMagic enables
playback of up to 74 minutes of full-screen, full-motion, TV-like video and
16-bit stereo audio from a single CD-ROM, about 650 MBytes of data. 
"Digital is the first of many major computer manufacturers to announce a line
of products based on our RealMagic interactive MPEG technology," said Greg
Jones, vice president of marketing for Sigma Designs. "Digital's entry into
the MPEG market solidifies RealMagic as the standard for interactive MPEG
playback." 
Easily installed on any 386/SX-25 or faster PC with 2 MBytes of free RAM and 2
MBytes available on a hard disk, Digital's FullVideo doesn't require a
high-performance PC to take advantage of the wide assortment of currently
available MPEG interactive game titles and thousands of full-length feature
films and music videos. 
"PC users want interactive multimedia products with TV-like full-screen video
and high fidelity sound.  Until now, users had to compromise video quality. 
Digital's FullVideo products satisfies their need for high quality video,"
said Larry Cabrinety, Vice President of Digital's Components and Peripherals
Business Unit. "FullVideo technology is based on the MPEG standard for video
and audio compression, the only way to get interactive TV-like video quality
on your PC.  Other so-called 'full-screen' solutions simply don't provide the
same quality or ability to interact." 
The MPEG standard used by FullVideo products feature a 20 times compression
improvement, 4 times the video data and twice as many sound bits compared with
AVI, the common full-motion technical format used supported by Creative Labs,
MediaVision and VideoLogic.  MPEG source material is recorded at 30 frames per
second and 16-bit stereo sound, then compressed 200:1, compared with up to 15
frames per second and 8-bit sound with compression of 10:1 with the AVI
format. This results in only 10 minutes of video on a single CD with the AVI
format compared with 74 minutes with MPEG, enabling MPEG users to see
full-length feature films with TV-like quality. 
By definition of the respective standards, products offering enhanced AVI
playback simply cannot match MPEG quality.  Since there is no AVI source
material recorded at 30 frames per second and 16-bit stereo sound, 
AVI enhancers offering features beyond 15 frames per second and 8-bit sound
have created technology with no titles for customers to use.  MPEG, 
with its support by the consumer electronics industry, offers thousands of
titles for Karaoke, CD, movies and music videos.  FullVideo MPEG supports
interactive applications and randomly direct access to individual tracks. 
The FullVideo family of products is available now and includes FullVideo Elite,
a MPEG video decompression playback card plus 13 titles for a manufacturer's
suggested retail price of $349; and the FullVideo Interactive MPEG Playback
System, a complete multimedia upgrade solution for a PC including a single
board providing MPEG decompression, 16-bit stereo sound and CD-ROM controller,
internal double-speed CD-ROM drive, stereo speakers and 15 top titles, for a
manufacturer's suggested retail price of $749. 
Digital's FullVideo family is currently available from BrandsMart, Fry's 
Electronics, Lechmere, and other leading retailers. Digital Equipment 
Corporation is the world's leader in open client/server solutions from 
personal computing to integrated worldwide information systems. Digital's
scalable Alpha platforms, storage, networking, software and services, together
with industry-focused solutions from business partners, help organizations
compete and win in today's global marketplace. 

===================================
DELL UNVEILS DIMENSION 486D LINE OF SYSTEMS, OFFERING BEST-OF-CLASS
TO SMALL AND MID-SIZE BUSINESSES
 Upgraded Family Delivers Enhanced Video and Storage Performance, 
                   Mini-Tower Chassis 
     AUSTIN, TEXAS, Nov. 8 - Dell Computer Corporation (Nasdaq:
DELL) today introduced the Dimension 486D, a new line of aggressively priced
business computers offering best-of-class features for home office and small
business users.  The Dimension(TM) 486D family offers a rich assortment of
value and performance- enhancing features, including faster system and video
throughput, Enhanced IDE (integrated device electronics) technology to support
next-generation storage devices, and the ergonomic advantages of a
space-saving mini-tower chassis with increased system expansion capabilities.
The Dimension 486D line is available immediately from Dell, with a starting
price of $1,599 for a 66-megahertz (MHz) 486DX/2 model equipped with
eight-megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM), 1MB of video RAM, a 340MB
hard drive, 
a 15" -inch color monitor and a desktop chassis.  The new line replaces the
popular Dimension V family, with added features but virtually no change in
price. 
"The Dimension 486D line gives small to medium-sized business users an 
exceptional level of computing power without asking them to pay a premium,"
said Tom Martin, Dell's vice president of worldwide marketing. "Users are
increasingly demanding peak performance in a package that works for their
budgets.  The Dimension 486D offers an array of critical performance
enhancements to support core business applications and emerging areas such as
multimedia." 
  
     Performance, Convenience to Spare 
     Enhanced performance and improved ergonomics distinguish the Dimension
486D line.  The Dell(R) Dimension 486D models are available in two chassis
options -- desktop or mini-tower -- to accommodate needs for both performance
and upgrade ability.  The mini-tower boosts system expansion with an
additional card slot and device bay bringing the total up to six bays, and
features a streamlined design to use less desktop space.  The new Dimension
486D product family is available with a 66-MHz 486DX2 system and the
top-of-the- line 100-MHz Intel 486DX4 processor. All Dell Dimension 486D
models offer Pentium processor upgrade ability for maximum investment
protection.  In addition, Dell Dimension 486D systems are available with a
wide of array of factory-installed network interface cards, which enable users
to get up and running quickly in networked environments. 
The base Dell Dimension 486D model comes equipped with 4MB of RAM, upgradeable
to 64MB, to support the increasing memory demands of sophisticated
applications.  The system includes accelerated local bus video and 1MB of
video RAM -- up from 512-kilobytes on previous models -- to deliver a
25-percent boost in overall video performance.  Peak video performance is
pivotal in running graphics- intensive Windows(TM) applications, especially in
the areas of multimedia and business presentations.  Further boosting
application execution is the addition of a 128K system cache as standard. 
The Dimension 486D line incorporates the Enhanced IDE interface, a new 
standard for high-performance peripherals.  With Enhanced IDE, Dimension 486D
systems can accommodate hard drives with capacities of up to 1-gigabyte (GB)
with future expansion for capacities of more than 8GB, to host today's large
applications and data files. 
A Global 500(R) Company, Dell Computer Corporation designs, develops, 
manufactures, markets, services and supports a complete line of personal 
computers compatible with industry standards. Dell is the world's leading
direct marketer of PCs and one of the top five personal computer vendors in
the world, with annual revenues of nearly $3 billion. Information on the
company and its products can be obtained through its toll-free number,
1-800-592-3355 or by accessing the Dell Worldwide Web server, at
http://www.us.dell.com. 
                               SPECIFICATIONS 
                         DELL DIMENSION 486D FAMILY 
  
  
     Model Name/ Processor:     Dell Dimension  4100 D 100MHz IntelDX4 
                                Dell Dimension  466 D 66MHz Intel486 DX2 
  
     Cache:                     128KB Write-back cache standard 
  
     Bus Type:                  ISA/VL 
  
     Memory:                    4MB (standard) expandable to 64MB 
  
     Video:                     Integrated Local Bus Video 
                                1MB DRAM (standard) 
  
     Slots:                     M Chassis  Five ISA; two of which are VL 
                                MT Chassis  Six ISA; two of which are VL 
  
     Drive Bays:                Medium Desktop      MiniTower 
                                3 external 1/2 height 
                                Four external  1/2  height 
                                2 internal 3.5" HDD 
                                2 Internal 3.5" HDD 
  
     Hard Drives:               Offer hard drives ranging from 270MB to 
                                 1GB 
  
      Voltage:                  115V/230V 
  
     Power:                     M Chassis 145W 
                                MT Chassis 224 Watts 
  
     Storage:                   Supports 3.5" and Combo 3.5"/5.25 floppy 
                                drives 
  
     Diagnostics:               Diskette 
  
     Service/ 
     Technical Support:         Dell toll-free technical support, 
                                7 days-a-week, 24-hours-a-day, next- 
                                business-day, on-site service through 
                                BancTec Service Corporation for one 
                                year and access to the SelectCare 
                                program, Dell's custom-configured 
                                extended service offerings, and Dell's 
                                30-day, money-back guarantee. 

===================================
Telescan In Pact To Develop Online Networks >TSCN
  HOUSTON  Telescan Inc. (TSCN) signed a letter of intent with Berkshire
 Computer Processing Center Inc. to jointly develop proprietary online
 networks for major publishers. 
  The pact combines Telescan's proprietary technology with Berkshire's
 marketing efforts and contractual association with major publishers. 
  The agreement provides for the creation of a corporate entity, to be formed
 and operated by Berkshire Computer, to market ways to create proprietary
 online networks. 
  Telescan, based in Houston, develops online communication technology. 
  Privately held Berkshire Computer, based in Lenox, Mass., provides
 marketing services to the publishing industry. 

===================================
Lotus, Hewlett-Packard : Pact Gives Lotus Sales Ops
  NEW YORK  Lotus Development Corp.'s (LOTS) alliance with
 Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP) does more than show H-P's interest in the
 company's fast-selling groupware, Notes. 
  The computer maker has agreed to use Notes internally, chalking up what
 Lotus said today could be up to $15 million in sales over three years. 
  It opens the door for Notes software to find a market among H-P's 2 million
 or so Openmail messaging customers, both companies said during a conference
 call with analysts. 
  Further, the agreement announced today - but anticipated by investors for
 weeks - pushes Notes one step closer to becoming the software standard in
 the groupware industry, analysts said. 
  Groupware, which allows multiple users to collaborate on documents and
 rapidly exchange information, is seen by many experts as embodying the
 future direction of corporate computing. 
  For Lotus, the ''idea is to be on every server and desktop unit that
 matters,'' company Chief Executive Jim Manzi said in discussing future
 opportunities. Already the company has a software bundling pact with Sun
 Microsystems Inc. (SUNW), another maker of UNIX-based servers. The Sun
 agreement was announced in October. 
  Along the same lines, Lotus is holding out the possibility of additional
 bundling agreements, Manzi said. But he noted that he had ''no comment on
 things (the company is) discussing today.'' 
  He did say, however, he expects his communications business to represent a
 larger percentage of revenue by the end of next year than the 33% it makes
 up now. 
  The pact, which will integrate Notes and Openmail, bundle Notes on H-P
 servers and eventually allow H-P messaging customers to migrate to Lotus's
 communications server, is a ''critical alliance for us,'' Manzi said. 
  Combining Openmail and groupware is unprecendented in the computer
 industry, added Wim Roelandts, senior vice president and general manager of
 computer systems organization at H-P. The product will enable corporate
 users to ''re-engineer'' the way they work, he said. 

===================================
Microsoft, Visa to develop electronic bankcard transaction system  
     New York--Nov 8--Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Visa 
 International said they will jointly develop a new system for 
 electronic bankcard transactions. 
     The system will consist of software that will support both the 
 cardholder and merchant sides of a transaction in conjunction with 
 the VisaNet payment system. It will provide a "standard, convenient 
 and secure method for executing transactions across global public and 
 private networks," the companies said. 
     Microsoft and Visa said the new technology "will help expand the 
 market for electronic commerce by providing new opportunities for 
 consumers, merchants and Visa member financial institutions."  

===================================
HP Introduces First Industry-Standard  Integrated Serial Infrared T
Module; Module Provides Interoperable, Low-cost, Walk-up Transmission Solution
PALO ALTO, CALIF. -Nov. 8, 1994 -- Hewlett-Packard
Company today introduced the industry's first low-cost serial infrared (IR)
transceiver module to meet the Infrared Data Association (IrDA) serial
infrared standard.  HP's IR transceiver module provides manufacturers of a
broad range of mobile-computing and communication devices -- including
personal and laptop computers, personal digital assistants, faxes and mobile
phones -- with a low-cost, walk-up transmission solution.  By meeting the IrDA
standard, the transceiver module will enable interoperability between products
from leading manufacturers. 
"By being the first to offer an interoperable, low-cost, walk-up IR 
transceiver module that meets the new IrDA standard, HP will play a 
significant role in enabling the market for mobile products to explode," 
said Dick Chang, marketing and manufacturing manager for HP's Optical 
Communications Division.  "We are a leader in infrared technology and will
continue to expand our product offering in this area to maintain market- and
technology-leadership positions." 
In accordance with the IrDA standard, the HP 870 nm IR transceiver module
sends data at 115.2 Kb/s over distances of up to 1 meter.  The IrDA
physical-layer standard specifies point-to-point standards of operation from 1
cm to 1 meter at 115.2 Kb/s maximum data rate over a +/- 15-degree minimum and
a +/- 30-degree maximum viewing angle.  The 115-Kb/s speed is faster than many
asynchronous serial communications links used today -- for example, the latest
V.34 specifications for asynchronous modems operating over dial-up telephone
lines cover speeds of 28.8 Kb/s, and ISDN terminal adapters typically transmit
data at 57.6 Kb/s.  Unlike many wireless networking plans that are constrained
by the domestic and international regulations that control radio-frequency 
transmissions, infrared connections are not. 
More than 75 companies are members of IrDA, and this organization's set of
standards already is used in portable computers and personal digital 
assistants.  Adoption of the IrDA standards will help ensure that users can
transfer information between PDAs and desktop and laptop computers, and that
they can send documents to printers or to and from modems from different
manufacturers without cables.  Eliminating connectors and cables can improve
data-transmission reliability. 
In addition to the convenience of being able to send and receive data merely
by having two computers or a computer and a peripheral next to each other, it
often may be less expensive to provide a serial infrared connection than a
conventional serial port.  The HSDL-1000 serial infrared transceiver module
will interface directly with National Semiconductor's PC87334VJG Super I/O
controller chip, and require only a single series resistor and four capacitors.
HP's transceiver module, which is 8 mm x 13 mm and contains integrated optics,
combines an infrared light-emitting diode (LED) emitter and photodiode
detector with a chip that provides LED driver amplifier, photodiode
transimpedance amplifier, comparitor and bias network functions.  The
transceiver module consumes only 0.8 mA for the electronics and an average
total of 251.5 mA only when transmitting data.  It is specified for operation
in sunlight at levels of up to 10 klx, and incandescent or fluorescent
lighting of up to 1 klx. 
The HSDL-1000 is $5.00 each in sample quantities.  Samples are available now. 
Hewlett-Packard Company is an international manufacturer of measurement and
computation products and systems recognized for excellence in quality and
support.  The company's products and services are used in industry, business,
engineering, science, medicine and education in approximately 110 countries. 
HP has 97,900 employees and had revenue of $20.3 billion in its 1993 fiscal
year.

===================================
Optivision first to market with VGA/NTSC MPEG  Decoder; OPTIVideo M
sets new standard for video decompression
PALO ALTO, CALIF. -Nov. 8, 1994--Optivision Inc., a
leading developer of premium video and image-compression products, Tuesday
announced the OPTIVideo VGA MPEG Decoder, the industry's first next-generation
MPEG-1 decoder for digital video playback. 
A plug-in board for ISA 386, 486 and Pentium-based computers, the OPTIVideo
VGA MPEG Decoder is the first decoder to provide full- motion 24-bit color
video in a window on a VGA display and simultaneous full-screen, full-motion
video on an NTSC or PAL monitor. 
Designed for kiosk, training, presentation and other applications that require
high-performance real-time digital playback, Optivision's VGA Decoder provides
fully scalable video (in a window) with superior picture quality and
CD-quality stereo audio.  The OPTIVideo VGA Decoder ships with MCI Drivers and
software for full transport control (stop, play, pause, scan, step). 
The OPTIVideo VGA MPEG Decoder architecture, optimized for MPEG-1, is built
around C-Cube Microsystems' CL 450 video processor and Texas Instruments' AV
110 audio processor.  To maximize picture quality, the VGA Decoder utilizes a
high-performance Digital Video Processing subsystem, rather than a simple
scaler, for advanced interpolated scaling and video overlay. 
The OPTIVideo VGA MPEG Decoder is fully compatible with any MPEG-1 encoder,
including the OPTIVideo MPEG-1 Encoder from Optivision.  The OPTIVideo
encoder/decoder combination provides the market's only solution for previewing
the effects of MPEG compression in real time. 
This preview feature is transparent to the encoding process, so users can
preview the video at different bit rates as many times as needed to ensure
playback quality before recording the compressed video to disk. 
Additional OPTIVideo MPEG VGA Decoder features include: 
-- Full MPEG-1 compatibility 
-- Advanced scaling algorithms for highest-quality VGA overlay 
(Video-in-a-Window) 
-- Simultaneous full-screen S-Video and composite video outputs 
(NTSC or PAL) 
-- True color video window (16.7M colors) for all VGA modes 
-- OM/1 driver that supports open MPEG MCI command set 
-- OM/1 driver that supports Windows OLE 2.0 
-- WAV driver for uncompressed audio 
The OPTIVideo VGA MPEG Decoder requires a single ISA expansion slot in an
IBM-compatible PC running either MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows.  The product is
available now.  The U.S. list price is $895.  The package includes software,
interface cable and adapter and user manual. Software Development Tool Kits
are available to qualified OEMs. 
For more information on Optivision's compression products, call 800/562-8934. 
Based in Palo Alto, Optivision has 11 years of experience developing 
high-performance image and video compression solutions for the government, the
medical industry and custom environments. Optivision maintains its
image-compression research and development and manufacturing facilities in
Davis, Calif. 

===================================
VTEL steals the show at CMA Telcom; demonstrates  high quality     
videoconferencing at 30Fps while featuring Telegolf
AUSTIN, TEXAS -Nov. 8, 1994--VTEL Corp. (NASDAQ:VTEL)
demonstrated its near TV quality videoconferencing capabilities at the
Communication Managers' Association trade show in New York City Nov. 8-10. 
As the industry leader in the distance learning and health care markets, where
exceptional video quality is critical, VTEL demonstrated its high quality,
high frame rate capabilities. 
Power Demos: With the addition of QuickFrame, an upgrade option that offers
customers up to 30Fps at 384Kps and higher, VTEL demonstrated long distance
"swing critique" -- participants swung the club, the golf pro (in Austin,
Texas) did the analysis.  Over its small group and large group conferencing
systems, participants also conferenced to Austin for Texas-style product
demonstrations. 
The QuickFrame option, which transmits at speeds ranging from 384Kbps to a
full T-1 (1.544Mbps), is requested by about 50% of VTEL customers and 
continues to see a steady installation increase since the option began 
shipping in December 1992.  "We have seen a huge improvement in video quality
with the use of QuickFrame," said Jeff Hayes, HBO & Co. senior network
specialist.  "It provides a TV quality broadcast which has made a big
difference for the people within HBO who use VTEL's videoconferencing systems.
QuickFrame helps people feel more comfortable and allows them to conference at
a more interactive level." The option is accessible to existing customers
through an upgrade package. 
Product Enhancements: The company also demonstrated the newest version of its
S-Max-based VTEL 127S small group system that incorporates in-band document
and application sharing and other features usually associated only with
systems costing $50,000 and up.  S-Max based small group conferencing systems
start at less than $20,000.  Many of the VTEL small group system enhancements
come through software upgrades, free to current users under warranty. 
VTEL demonstrated the latest upgrades to its MediaMax large group systems
providing many requested, end user benefits.  New capabilities include:  chair
control, multiple slide tray support and a host of other new and sophisticated
tools, all of which will work in multipoint conferences.  Perhaps the most
important capability, autoconfiguration (increasingly important in a world
where one manufacturer's videoconference system must connect to another), will
be provided to end users through a software upgrade, another example of VTEL's
commitment to investment protection. Important new MCU-II features include 
site-to-site faxing and data exchange through the multiway. 

===================================
Samsung to exhibit industry's highest quality flat  panel displays 
new displays based on Samsung's patented technology
SAN JOSE, CALIF.  -Nov. 8, 1994--Samsung Semiconductor
has introduced a family of flat panel displays based on a patented Thin Film
Transistor (TFT) design that delivers the highest quality image available on
the market. 
The active matrix, color flat panel liquid crystal displays produce at least
20 percent more light than competitors' products by providing a 70 percent
aperture ratio.  Samsung's innovative design moves the capacitor outside of
the display pixel and reduces the size of the transistor, decreasing the
amount of light blocked in each display cell by the transistor and capacitor. 
The result is unmatched brightness and color saturation. 
Samsung's products were also specifically designed for low power consumption. 
Depending on size, the displays only consume between two to three watts of
power, including the back light and inverter. 
Samsung's strategy includes the manufacture of several critical components for
the display modules.  The color filters, semiconductor display drivers, and
cold cathode display tubes used in the displays are all manufactured by
Samsung Semiconductor.  A high level of vertical integration not only ensures
availability of vital components, but also allows Samsung to customize a
display for a given customer's needs.  For example, control of the color
filter production enables Samsung to adjust the color temperature of the
display to appeal to a particular geographic market. 
Another design goal was to increase manufacturing yields. Samsung's unique
design enables the company to correct any line defect in a display, meaning
fewer units need be discarded.  Samsung is currently shipping the displays to
beta customers at a rate of over a thousand units a month, paving the way for
high volume manufacturing in early 1995. 
There are four displays included in the family of products, ranging from a PC
notebook-sized 10.4" diagonal display featuring 262,144 colors to a 
subnotebook-sized 7.8" diagonal display that features 4096 colors. 
Samsung will be demonstrating the new products at Fall COMDEX in the Samsung
Electronics Booth, No. L814, located $54 billion, Korea-based Samsung Group. 

===================================
ADTRAN Unveils ISDN Service Unit Perfect for  Work-at-Home Applicat
NEW YORK  Nov. 8, 1994--ADTRAN, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTN), a
leading supplier of voice and data communications products, today introduced
the ISU Express, a low-cost solution for working at home.  The ISU Express can
be viewed as an "ISDN modem", delivering voice and data transmission at up to
64 kbps and data-only transmission rates of up to 128 kbps.  ADTRAN
demonstrated the ISU Express for the first time at the CMA trade show here
this week. 
Using one ISDN line, this unit will support multiple connections, eliminating
the need for two conventional phone lines to conduct telephone, fax and
computer networking activities. 
"This unit is perfect for employees working at home.  It is also ideal for
students or executives who want to access bulletin boards and the Internet and
take advantage of high-speed file transfers at up to 128 kbps", ADTRAN ISDN
Product Manager Leslie Conway said. "The ISU Express is designed to address
the needs of those wanting the speed and cost effectiveness of ISDN service." 
Available Options 
The full-featured version of the ISU Express will include a Plain Old 
Telephone Service (POTS) interface option and an integrated modem.  For work
at home or remote office applications, the POTS interface option will allow
the connection of a computer as well as a telephone and/or fax machine to a
single ISDN line.  While a phone or fax call is in progress, data is
transferred at a rate of 64 kbps.  If there is no telephone call in progress,
data may be sent at rates up to 128 kbps. 
The Express will also be available with an integrated V.32 bis/V.42 bis modem
option for situations when the user is transmitting to a receiver that is not
equipped with ISDN service. This allows the ISU to communicate not only with
ISDN or switched 56 devices, but also with analog modems. 
Price & Availability 
Four versions of the unit will ultimately be available:  data only, POTS 
interface, integrated modem, and POTS interface with an integrated modem.  The
data only version of the ISU Express is priced at $695.  The unit with the
POTS option is priced at $875. Production units of both will be available
early in the first quarter of 1995.  The ISU Express with the Modem option and
the version equipped with the POTS and Modem options will be competitively
priced when pricing is determined, with production units becoming available
late in the first quarter of 1995. 
Technical Details 
From the network, ISDN is delivered by a single 2-wire U-Interface which is
connected directly to the ISU Express.  This unit is an ISDN terminal adapter
with an integrated NT1, thus eliminating the need and expense of an external
NT1.  The ISU Express transmits data over an RS-232 interface and performs at
synchronous data transfer rates from 2400 bps to 128 kbps and asynchronous
rates from 300 bps to 115.2 kbps. Configuration of the unit is achieved using
a VT100 menu system and AT commands.  Dialing is initiated in-band over the
RS-232 interface using AT commands, V.25 bis or using DTR assertion.  For
network testing, the ISU Express responds to loopback commands from the
telephone company central office. 
Company Overview 
ADTRAN was established in 1985 to design, develop and manufacture advanced
transmission products for high-speed digital communications. Today ADTRAN is
the primary provider of DDS and ISDN digital loop products to Regional Bell
Operating Companies and many well-known OEMs. 

===================================
Siemens Partnership to Bring Competition, Convenience to Telephone 
Nov. 8--A three-company partnership, including Boca Raton-based Siemens 
Stromberg-Carlson, plans to bring competition and convenience to U.S. 
telephone and cable television customers possibly by late next year. 
Imagine using a remote and telephone to order your favorite movie, then 
putting it on pause to read Junior a bed time story, and resuming play when 
he's fallen asleep. That's one feature consumers can expect from an alliance 
announced Monday involving Siemens Public Communications Network, Scientific 
Atlanta and Sun Microsystems. 
"Prices for these kinds of services may be a little higher initially but in
the long run they're going to have to be comparable to existing methods," said
Ron Kandell, vice president of product line management at Siemens 
Stromberg-Carlson. 
The three companies call their alliance IMMXpress, and they say it's the first
truly global turn-key offering in the multimedia industry. Siemens will serve
as connector for the IMMXpress network designed to deliver complete multimedia
services, including banking, shopping, games, news, analog and digital video. 
Kandell said that in future years the IMMXpress network could mean cable 
television companies taking on a second role as a local telephone company, or 
vice versa. He estimates the interactive video feature to be available between
late 1995 and early 1996. 
New York analyst Mike Arellano of Northern Business Information said the 
companies' alliance allows them to go head-to-head with AT&T to grab a share 
of what is a multi-billion-dollar market. Current market for local telephone 
service is about $90 billion, and cable television subscriber market is about 
$23 billion, Arellano said. Both industries are trying to get a bite of the 
other's billion-dollar pie, he said. 
"This benefits local telephone companies across the United States that want to
get into the cable business, or cable companies that want to add voice
services to their operations using their existing infrastructure," Arellano
said.  nm  Competition among local telephone and cable companies should mean
lower prices for customers. 
"Consumers will hopefully be paying less because of competition. In the future,
it's likely most major metropolitan areas would have at least two cable
operators and two phone companies. That would drive prices down in theory,"
said John Aronsohn, consumer communications analyst with the Yankee Group of
Boston, Mass. 
AT&T and Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. could stand to lose ground. AT&T 
spokesman couldn't be reached for comment. Wally Kanief, spokesman for 
Blockbuster, said the company is not concerned about the alliance and had no 
further comment. 

===================================
IPC Technologies announces PowerPC Systems  ''Austin Direct and IPC
Sales to sell PowerPC''
AUSTIN, TEXAS  -Nov. 8, 1994--IPC Technologies, Inc.
has collaborated with FirePower(TM) Systems Inc. of Menlo Park, Calif. to
design and build three new PReP compliant PowerPC systems based on the MC98603
and MC98604 processors. 
The product introductions include an 80-MHz 603 entry level system, a 100-MHz
604 system, and a powerhouse dual 604 system. 
''Our PowerPC systems smash through the line between PC and workstation by
running present 16-bit and the new 32-bit Windows applications,'' says IPC
Technologies CEO David Scull.  ''Our performance should attract the attention
of those looking for workstation alternatives.'' 
Performance of the PowerPC systems is enhanced by FirePower(TM) Systems 
innovative ASIC designs.  ''Our proprietary ASIC designs offer significant
performance benefits over systems based on other chipsets,'' states
FirePower's Director of Marketing, Ron Okamoto. 
The Austin Power 603 System features an 80-MHz 603 processor, built in 
10Base-T Ethernet, SCSI-2 hard drive, CD-ROM drive, and a 16-bit audio system.
Entry Level configurations have 16-MB of system memory, a 1-MB VRAM video
frame buffer, a 420MB SCSI-2 hard drive, double speed CD-ROM, 3.5" floppy
drive and 15" SVGA monitor. System memory is 64-bits wide and can expand up to
128-MB.  The frame buffer graphics subsystem can be upgraded to 2-MB of VRAM
with the addition of a SIMM. 
The Power 603s low profile chassis has three external drive bays, one internal
bay, one PCI slot, one 16-bit ISA slot and one shared PCI/ISA slot.  Since all
standard features are built into the motherboard design, 
all slots are available for expansion.  Also bundled with the system are
IPC's 101-key keyboard, Microsoft mouse and Microsoft Windows NT 3.5.  The
Power 603 meets the EPA Energy Star requirements and is expected to begin
shipping in the first quarter of 1995.  Pricing will start at under $3,500
with monitor. 
The Power 604 system uses a 100-MHz 604 PowerPC processor on the same 
motherboard and an upgrade to a 2-MB VRAM frame buffer.  Both the 603 and 604
systems are rated at 75 to 140 SPECint and 85 to 145 SPECfp. The Power 604 is
scheduled to ship in second quarter 1995. 
The Austin Power 2x604 System features two 100MHz 604 processors and provides
symmetric multiprocessing (SMP).  In addition to the features found in the
Power 604, this system uses error correcting (ECC) memory and includes a video
input compatible with the NTSC or PAL video standards.  Charles Mitchell, IPC
Product Manager for PowerPC products says, ''We are very excited over the
possibility of having a system powerful enough to perform video compression
and decompression in software.'' 
Standard configurations of the Power 2x604 have 16-MB of ECC system memory,
2-MB of VRAM for the frame buffer, and 1-MB of DRAM for the video input
buffer.  System memory can be expanded to 256-MB and the frame buffer can be
expanded to 4-MB.  The video input buffer expands to 2-MB.  Production of the
Power 2x604NT is planned for March of 1995. 

===================================
Scientists Find Protein That May Be Linked To AIDS Trigger
  PHILADELPHIA  Scientists say they have discovered a protein that may
 activate the AIDS virus in the body and cause it to develop into AIDS. 
  The discovery by University of Pennsylvania scientists could lead to
 treatments that might enable infected people to put the human
 immunodeficiency virus on hold indefinitely. They still would carry the
 virus but might not contract the fatal disease itself. 
  HIV-infected people can be healthy and live for years before the virus
 attacks the body's immune system. 
  A protein isolated from a gene in HIV carriers appears to tell infected
 cells when to start reproducing the virus, the researchers said in an
 article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 
  ''We understand a new pathway the virus uses,'' study chief David Weiner,
 an assistant professor of pathology and medicine at Penn, said in a
 telephone interview. ''We now have an opportunity to design drugs to inhibit
 it.'' 
  Dr. Nava Sarver, one of the chief scientists in the AIDS division of the
 National Institutes of Health, said the study is interesting but very
 preliminary. Usually, studies such as Weiner's that are conducted in the
 laboratory do not hold up when tested in bodies, she said. 
  ''Many other questions need to be asked to confirm these findings,'' Sarver
 said. ''I feel it is not right to give hope to patients who are desperate
 for any type of therapy.'' 

===================================
Microsoft Buyout of Intuit to Gets Closer Exam by Trade Group      
Nov. 8--Microsoft Corp.'s proposed acquisition of Intuit Inc. is about to get
more scrutiny - this time from a trade association that includes Microsoft as
a member. 
The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), a 34-year-old group
that once challenged IBM's market dominance, is soliciting industry comment on
the Microsoft-Intuit deal to forward to the U.S. Justice Department, which is
reviewing the deal for possible antitrust violations. 
Industry analysts and observers so far have disagreed on the significance of
the Justice Department review, some saying it will go beyond a quick look and
others predicting an easy win for Microsoft. 
Concern by members of the ITAA, which is made up mainly of independent 
computer companies, prompted the group's move to collect comments, said Jim 
Mann, chairman of the association and of SunGard Data Systems in Pennsylvania. 
The trade group is not taking a stand on the Intuit deal and expects to 
collect opinions on all sides of the proposal, Mann said. 
The deal has such high visibility, he said, that "if ITAA doesn't do something
in connection with the issue, it kind of looks like we aren't paying attention
to what's going on in the public debate." 
Critics have argued that the $1.5 billion acquisition, the largest ever in the
software industry, would give Microsoft a monopoly in the market for 
personal-finance software. 
Intuit's Quicken program has a 70 percent share of the personal-finance 
software market. 
The ITAA specifically invited comment from technology companies and financial
institutions, which have a stake in the deal because it would give Microsoft
an edge in developing electronic banking. 
The ITAA's move might make for uncomfortable member relations, given 
Microsoft's involvement in the group of roughly 500 members. 
But the ITAA isn't new to diplomatic tightrope acts. Early in its existence,
when it was known as ADAPSO, the group opposed International Business Machines
Corp. during a Justice Department investigation. 
IBM remains a member. Bernard Goldstein, chairman of the ITAA committee
gathering comments, said he hopes Microsoft will "appreciate that trade
associations have a moral obligation to their membership to look into public
policy issues that affect the industry that they serve." 
The group will accept written comments through Dec. 2, then will hold closed
hearings Dec. 5 in Washington, D.C., and Dec. 9 in San Francisco. 
Comments should be addressed to the ITAA Special Committee on Industry 
Consolidation, 1616 N. Fort Myer Drive, Suite 1300, Arlington, VA, 22209. 
Some reports have stated that the Justice Department must complete an initial
review by Nov. 21. Others have said the investigation will be extended. The
Justice Department would not discuss its time line. 
"There are no definitive next steps," said Microsoft spokeswoman Erin Carney.
"The investigation will take its normal course, and we feel very confident
that (the acquisition) will be approved." 
Microsoft earlier this year emerged from a five-year government investigation
with a quiet settlement, agreeing to make what it described as "minor" changes
in its licensing policies.  

===================================
Video game review: 'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'                   
Recommended ages: 13 and up, contains animated blood, gore and violence. 
How the game works: Based on ''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,'' the game closely
follows the story of the movie based on Mary Shelley's original book. The
player controls the creature (Frankenstein) through seven chilling levels
utilizing different game play vehicles: forced isometric and side-view
fighting. 
Good points, bad points: The isometric world is totally 3D and allows the 3D
modeled creature to move about and explore at will. Other areas such as inside
buildings will be displayed from a forced isometric view using large
characters in continuous motion and rendered 3D backgrounds. This forced
isometric view broadens the scope of the characters' environment, more so than
a traditional side-view arcade game. 
When certain enemy characters are encountered, the game switches to a 
side-view fighting mode where hand-to-hand combat takes place. If you're 
looking for ''Mortal Kombat'', then this game is not for you; the creature
only has basic fighting moves. Visually stunning for a Sega CD game and the
four CD audio tracks convey the chilling feel of the film. 
Tips: Beware of your surroundings; try to pick up anything you see. Items will
help you survive. Save often and use the option of multiple game saves in the
CD's backup ram; it's worth it if the CD freezes _ you don't want to start
over. 
The Verdict: Be afraid, be very afraid. 

===================================
Movies Unlimited Video Catalog; combination TV/VCRs                
Just as many discriminating mail-order shoppers look forward at this season
to the Neiman-Marcus or Saks Christmas catalogue, movie buffs await a similar
treat _ the Movies Unlimited Video Catalog. The weighty book, one of the
largest listings of what's on video, is assembled by the staff of Movies
Unlimited, a five-store Philadelphia chain that also has a national mail-order
clientele. 
The just-published 17th edition describes more than 36,000 video titles on 750
pages. Each entry contains a synopsis, year of release, cast and director,
running time and price. Categories run the gamut from Hollywood and foreign
films to documentaries and how-to's. 
Although the book does not rate movies and is not a critic's guide (it's 
basically a sales tool, after all), it's packed with information and diverting
bits of trivia. In addition, the editors have a delightfully eccentric
attitude and are as apt to praise Ed Wood as they are Akira Kurosawa. 
Making the book especially useful as a quick reference are its highlight boxes,
where the works of a single performer or director are conveniently listed in
one place. These are indexed, along with an alphabetical index to every title.
Film buffs will also enjoy the poster art and promotional stills spread
throughout. 
The 1995 Movies Unlimited Video Catalog is priced at $7.95 and can be ordered
by calling 800-466-8437 (800-4-MOVIES). Shipping and handling is an additional
$3. Or write to Movies Unlimited, 6736 Castor Ave., Philadelphia 19149-2184.
If you buy through the catalogue, you qualify for a $5 discount on your first
order. 
X X X 
Big combination. To the surprise of many VCR manufacturers, a sizable number
of shoppers have been bypassing the traditional models for combination TV/VCRs,
those TV sets that have VCRs built into their bases. These products are
selling at about twice the rate of two years ago, and total sales this year
are estimated to surpass two million for the first time. 
Simplicity and convenience are the attractions. With the TV/VCR, there are no
bothersome hookup chores or extra wiring to worry about. And the units often
have screens of 13 inches and smaller, which makes them easily transportable. 
Now the trend has even spread to the luxury large-screen market. Last month
Toshiba introduced a 27-inch TV incorporating a full-featured four-head VCR.
This unit, model CV27D48, priced at $999.95, is one of the first large-screen
TV/VCRs and the first, according to Toshiba, to have a hi-fi VCR instead of a
basic no-frills model. 
The TV section has a 181-channel cable-compatible tuner, stereo sound, a 
40-key remote control, and one set of stereo audio/video inputs for an 
external video source such, as a camcorder or a second VCR. The VCR can also
make a copy of the external video. 
Despite the unit's size, the VCR portion has not added much depth to the base.
A discreet door covers the VCR hatch and controls, and the casual observer
might never realize that this is a TV with a big extra. It's a clever option
for reducing electronic clutter around the home. 

===================================
High cholesterol may not be a problem for older people, study finds
Having high cholesterol may not make much of a difference to people over the
age of 70, a new study has found. 
The study of 997 people from ages 71 to 104 found that those with elevated
cholesterol levels were at no higher risk for heart attacks or deaths than
their counterparts with normal cholesterol. 
The study's findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical 
Association, raise the question of whether many older people are being 
needlessly treated with cholesterol-lowering drugs. 
An editorial accompanying the study notes that more than two million Americans
over age 65 are taking medication to lower their cholesterol. Those drugs are
often expensive and can cause unpleasant side effects. 
Previous research on cholesterol and elderly people has produced contradictory
findings: Some studies have suggested that elevated levels do put older people
at risk for heart disease, but other studies have found no association between
cholesterol levels and heart problems after age 70. 
Without any definitive findings, some doctors have assumed that since high
cholesterol does increase a middle-aged person's risk for heart problems, the
same must be true for elderly people. Keeping cholesterol in check also seemed
a good idea because heart disease is the leading cause of death among older
people. 
But the latest study, in which the average age of participants was 79, turned
up ''no strong compelling evidence that these people should feel they are at
any increased risk,'' according to Harlan M. Krumholz, a Yale University
cardiologist who headed the research. ''We could find no strong evidence that
elevated cholesterol levels were associated with any increased risk for
hospitalization for heart attack, death from heart disease, or death from any
cause.'' 
Krumholz said the study left unresolved, however, the question of whether high
cholesterol is dangerous for elderly people who have already suffered a heart
attack. 
Krumholz said high cholesterol may not be a problem for older people because,
by virtue of the fact that they reached old age, they have already proven
themselves to be survivors. Also, he said, high cholesterol in old age does
not necessarily mean that a person was exposed to excess levels of cholesterol
earlier in life. 
Many older people are routinely screened for cholesterol as part of general
physicals. A high reading may prompt doctors to put patients on a low-fat diet
or prescribe medications. 
In the editorial, Drs. Stephen B. Hulley and Thomas B. Newman of the 
University of California, San Francisco, write that ''the increasing 
prevalence of cholesterol intervention in elderly people is a matter of 
concern.'' They say that when it comes to cholesterol-lowering drugs there is
too much uncertainty about ''the precise circumstances in which the likely
benefits outweigh the possible harms.'' 
Even being on a low-fat diet can put an elderly person at risk for 
malnutrition and diminish the pleasure they get from eating. 
Contrary to federal guidelines, Hulley and Newman recommend in the editorial
that ''elderly people in their late 70s and beyond generally should not be
screened or treated for high blood cholesterol.'' Among younger elderly people,
the doctors said, cholesterol screening and treatment should be considered for
those who have signs of heart disease or who have a medical history that puts
them at elevated risk for heart problems. 
Dr. Bruce Kinosian, a geriatrics specialist and cholesterol researcher at the
University of Pennsylvania, said patients with an elevated cholesterol reading
must carefully consider with their doctors what preventive measures are best
for them and ''what level of risk are you comfortable with.'' 

===================================
Kids' software rated                                               
Child magazine listed these programs as best kids' software of 1994. Most are
available in both IBM-compatible and Macintosh versions: 
Ages 3 to 8: LaunchPad, Berkeley Systems, $50; Wiggins in Storyland, $60; EA
Kids Art Center, $50; Thinkin' Things, Edmark, $40; KidCAD, $50; Kidstime
Deluxe, Great Wave Software, $50. 
Ages 8 to 12: Microsoft Bookshelf '94, Microsoft, $70; Spelling Jungle, Sierra
On-Line, $35; Microsoft Fine Artist, Microsoft, $49; 3-D Body Adventure,
Knowledge Adventure, $50; CNN Time Capsule, Vicarious Entertainment, $30; Sim
City 2000, Maxis, $55. 

===================================
Entrepreneurs can develop ideas with little encouragement, less fin
But no one _ least of all the money guys _ believed it when the pair founded
Corollary Inc. in 1985. 
Their company, which now employs 65, is a testament to entrepreneurs' ability
to develop their ideas with little encouragement and even less financial help. 
Just last week, six major companies announced that they are going to use 
Corollary's new multiprocessor board, called C-bus II, in their computers. And
that's part of Corollary's growth secret. 
But I'm getting ahead of myself. 
Back in the '80s, Texas Instruments bought the Western Digital division where
White and Slipson worked, then shut it down. The two men could move to the
Lone Star state or take their severance checks. They took the checks. 
At the time, minicomputers were all the rage. Personal computers were 98-pound
weaklings. 
Hey, White said, let's put the multiprocessing power of the minicomputer into
personal computers. 
If White hadn't been an MIT-trained engineer, the idea would have seemed 
half-baked at the time. Now we know he was looking just a few years into the
future. 
White and Slipson each contributed $5,000 from their TI severance pay to 
launch the Irvine, Calif.-based Corollary Inc. to make multiprocessor chips
and boards for PCs. 
Venture capitalist Charles Hobbs contributed $250,000 for 30 percent ownership
of the company and chairmanship of the board of directors. 
''That was enough money to get a prototype built, then on the faith that there
would be no insurmountable technical problems, our plan was to get other
investors to put up $2 million or $3 million for product development,'' White
says. 
Corollary survived on a few small consulting contracts and rent-free use of
the vacated TI space for a year. They turned on the air conditioning only in
the area that housed the computers. 
The first product met with decided indifference in the investment community.
It even slowed down some computers. A few venture capitalists offered money
for control of the company. 
''I had to think whether it was my ego, or was I the best person to run the
company,'' White says. 
He decided he was better for Corollary than mere money. 
Then it occurred to White that his greatest income source was customers. 
''We showed them our designs and said, 'Wouldn't this be great in your new
computer? Give us money up front for the right to access it when we're
finished.'' 
And they fell for that line? 
''Well, we were pioneers in a unique field,'' White says almost sheepishly.
''Our first product didn't make much money but got us recognition as leaders
in this field.'' 
That approach can be dangerous. Corollary was giving big companies enough
information to design the multiprocessing boards themselves. A few did. 
However, small companies tend to spot a major manufacturer's need long before
the behemoth does, White says. 
''We're leaner and more focused. We're a year and a half ahead in 
development.'' 
In an industry that measures product obsolescence in nanoseconds, some 
customers considered that head start worth the investment. 
IBM signed on for worldwide marketing rights to a customized version of 
Corollary's multiprotocol communications server. Phoenix Technologies made an
agreement for the original C-bus multiprocessor board. 
And on Halloween, Corollary announced that the C-bus II would be used in 
computers made by Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., Intergraph Computer Systems,
Olivetti, Samsung and SuperComputers International. 
Officials at these companies praised the product's power (it can support eight
Pentium processors) and ability to work under all major operating systems. 
''With millions of PC clients throughout the world, customer demand for 
higher-performance PC servers is increasing,'' said Kunimitsu Yamada of 
Hitachi. ''Hitachi considers C-bus II the industry's leading multiprocessing
technology.'' 
Sure, it would be nice for Corollary to be the sole seller of its own products,
White says. And the company did move in that direction with its newest
product. The older C-bus used off-the-shelf computer chips. The company spent
three years developing its own computer chips for C-bus II, so Corollary will
have continuing income from chip sales. 
''But we get a lot of credibility having these customers signed up early, ''
White says. ''Our pitch to smaller computer companies is, 'If it's good enough
for Fujitsu, wouldn't you like to have it in your machine?''' 
Don't think these deals just fell into Corollary's lap. Some companies didn't
invest in the C-bus, but Corollary stayed in touch and eventually persuaded
them to sign on for C-bus II. 
''Deals with large companies take forever,'' White says. 
Not every entrepreneur can tap its customers for research and development
financing, White acknowledges. ''It doesn't work if you don't have a unique
place in your industry.'' 
Even if you do, be aware that these customers will want a finger in product
development. Corollary provides 24-hour access to work rooms where customers'
engineers can help work out the bugs. 
On the downside, White adds, ''We have people from six companies on three
continents asking us questions about why it doesn't work.'' 

===================================
Apple-IBM Goal Of Universal  Computer Faces Hurdles
  Apple Computer Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. have embarked
 on a quest to make a universal personal computer, one that eventually could
 run all the major software systems. But to succeed, they will have to avoid
 the mistakes that have dogged their other partnerships for the past three
 years.
  In 1991, the two companies announced three major initiatives: a joint
 effort to develop a common microprocessor, a joint venture called Taligent
 Inc. that would create a powerful new operating system, and Kaleida Labs
 Inc., which was to give consumers software that would let them play any kind
 of multimedia program on PCs, game players and TV set-top boxes.
  The microprocessor effort produced the PowerPC chip, which Apple is using
 to defend its market niche. On Monday, Apple and IBM said they would use the
 PowerPC to develop a common computer by late 1996 capable of running their
 operating systems, Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT and others. But Taligent and
 Kaleida have flopped so far, at a cost approaching a half billion dollars,
 largely because their parents were unrealistic in setting goals, imbued the
 ventures with a slow-moving bureaucracy and foisted inappropriate pet
 projects upon them.
  With as much as $300 million invested by Apple and IBM so far, Taligent has
 delayed the operating system and is reduced to getting out a niche product,
 so-called software tools, for programmers. Kaleida, the recipient of about
 $150 million, according to some analysts, has dropped the software for
 players and set-top boxes and is late coming out with a scaled-down product
 that many observers think will bomb.
  "Software by committee is always disastrous," says Tim Bajarin, an industry
 consultant in San Jose, Calif.
  The biggest fear going into the joint ventures was that Apple's L.L. Bean
 types would clash with IBM's blue suits. But cultural conflict wasn't
 significant. Inflated expectations, on the other hand, were a problem. Apple
 and IBM said in 1991 they expected to have a Taligent operating system out
 by about 1995 and Kaleida multimedia products by 1992.
  "We all started out enthusiastic, but the biggest problem was we saw it
 would take a long time," says a former Taligent marketing manager.
  With Taligent, IBM and Apple hoped to create an operating system based on
 Apple technology code-named "Pink" that incorporates "objects," or reusable
 pieces of software code. This software allows programmers to make programs
 faster and cheaper and customize them for clients.
  Former Taligent managers say they spent the first year surveying customers,
 only to discover they didn't want "Pink" because it wasn't designed to work
 on the corporate networks common in corporations. Taligent research
 uncovered a more startling truth: With so many operating systems already in
 the market, few people wanted another. Joseph M. Guglielmi, Taligent's chief
 executive, was forced to delay the operating system plan, and focus on a
 less-grandiose "layer" of objectbased software that would lie on top of an
 existing operating system.
  Microsoft already has marketed such a software layer for about two years,
 and is expected to finish a complete object-based operating system,
 code-named "Cairo," in 1996. The Taligent layer, when it comes out sometime
 next year, will be too little, too late, many observers believe.
  "They are so out of touch with the marketplace that I think it's unlikely
 what they will produce will be widely accepted," says John Colligan, chief
 executive of software maker Macromedia Inc.
  Others back Taligent. The company "got out of that grandiose vision and got
 down to something we felt was a usable product," says Tim Bailey, a software
 manager for Hewlett-Packard Corp., which recently invested in the venture.
  Mr. Guglielmi concedes that Taligent has suffered some growing pains, but
 not to the degree he says the skeptics suggest. With its product finally
 about to be shipped next year, he says, "We are right where I want us to be
 right now."
  As for Kaleida, the Mountain View, Calif.-based concern has suffered so
 much mismanagement both within and outside the company, insiders and
 competitors assert, that they say it probably won't ever produce a
 successful product.
  "I don't think there is much hope for Kaleida," says Bill Lyons, chief
 executive of ParcPlace Systems Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif., maker of software
 tools.
  Kaleida's goals for multimedia software have been scaled back to working on
 just PCs, with only a language called ScriptX for multimedia developers and
 a player to help run it. While Apple and IBM in 1991 predicted shipping the
 product by October 1992, it took almost that long just to form Kaleida as
 the two companies squabbled over details, says a former Kaleida engineer.
 Like Taligent, Kaleida depended mostly on Apple technology.
  Product deadlines were extended until October 1993, then to last spring,
 says David Kaiser, Kaleida's former vice president of engineering. The
 deadline is now next month. Another former engineer says 18 months were
 wasted because half of the engineers were deployed to make the software for
 an ill-conceived machine codenamed "Sweet Pea," a hand-held CD-ROM player
 developed by Apple and Toshiba Corp. that proved so underpowered it was
 eventually deep-sixed. "Nobody believed in the product," says a former
 engineer.
  Another hindrance, say former employees, is that Kaleida could never get
 product managers from either Apple or IBM to commit to putting Kaleida's
 ScriptX on Apple and IBM PCs. Engineers say they also were hampered by
 outside distractions such as nine technology audits of Kaleida ordered by
 Apple and IBM in a single year. Maybe one or two would have been considered
 normal.
  A. Nathaniel Goldhaber, who quit as Kaleida's chief executive about a year
 ago, says he was unable to work well with the bureaucrats Apple and IBM
 recruited under him. Mr. Goldhaber recalls rejecting a request by some for
 fancy business cards at $1 apiece. He ordered a standard box of 500 cards
 for about $20. "I can't tell you how many points I lost with my staff over
 that," he says.
  Michael Braun, Kaleida's new chief executive, says he has been able to turn
 around the company over the past year by cutting staff a total of about 40%
 and focusing engineering efforts on just ScriptX. Mr. Braun says he pulled
 the plug on the Sweet Pea project, as well as plans for an interactive
 operating system and a special graphics chip. "We're real proud of what we
 have accomplished," Mr. Braun says. He adds that he has set "modest"
 expectations for the success of ScriptX's first version but believes the
 language eventually will gain a strong following among developers.
  Skeptics assert that the Apple-IBM track record bodes ill for their latest
 effort, to forge a common computer platform. "The only thing they have in
 common is a mutual enemy" in Microsoft, says David Wu, an analyst for S.G.
 Warburg Group.
           Chronology of Taligent and Kaleida
  -- Oct. 1991: IBM and Apple agree to create Taligent and Kaleida ventures
 as part of wide-ranging agreement to share technology. Taligent is to
 produce an operating system by about 1995. Kaleida is to pioneer
 technologies in multimedia for consumer electronics, with first product -- a
 multimedia language called ScriptX -- expected by Oct. 1992.

  -- July 1992: Kaleida finally gets executive staff and headquarters to
 start operations, as Oct. 1992 deadline is pushed back to Oct. 1993.

  -- Spring 1993: Taligent finds after year of research that customers don't
 want operating system and that technology being used doesn't work on
 corporate networks.

  -- July 1993: Kaleida CEO, A. Nathaniel Goldhaber, quits and is succeeded
 by IBM veteran Michael Braun. Deadline for first product is now pushed back
 to spring 1994.

  -- Jan. 1994: Hewlett-Packard Co. agrees to buy a 15% stake in Taligent, as
 Taligent executives concede that they won't be able to deliver an operating
 system before 1996. Venture postpones operating system, focusing instead on
 producing "tools" for software developers.

  -- May 1994: Kaleida lays off 20% of its work force and discontinues work
 on a special graphics chip and operating system for interactive television,
 focusing on ScriptX for expected release in Dec-ember. Since then, many key
 employees have quit both Kaleida and Taligent.

===================================
Microsoft Picks P&G's Herbold For Post After Long Search
  Microsoft Corp., after more than a year of searching, picked Robert J.
 Herbold, a senior vice president at Procter & Gamble Co., to be chief
 operating officer at the software company.
  Mr. Herbold, 52 years old, will be the top manager for most of Microsoft's
 operations, including manufacturing, finance, distribution, human resources
 and information systems. He also will hold the title of executive vice
 president, joining a four-man office of the president headed by William
 Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief executive officer.
  Microsoft, the world's largest software concern, has been growing at an
 extraordinary pace for a company with more than $4 billion in annual sales.
 The appointment is widely seen as a replacement for Frank Gaudette, the
 former chief financial officer who played a pivotal role in the company's
 maturation before his death in April 1993.
  "Frank left a unique mark on Microsoft," said David Readerman, an analyst
 at Unterberg Harris. "This is a key slot to fill."
  Mr. Gates, in an interview, said Mr. Herbold's assumption of most operating
 chores will allow him to concentrate on technical issues. In addition, Mr.
 Herbold will help Microsoft evaluate corporate acquisitions and new business
 opportunities in multimedia and electronic commerce, Mr. Gates said.
  "There were times when we thought we'd never find anybody," Mr. Gates said.
 "Bob is a pretty unusual guy."
  A 26-year P&G veteran, Mr. Herbold has a master's degree in mathematics and
 a Ph.D. in computer science from Case Western University. He was in charge
 of both information systems and advertising at the consumer-products giant,
 one of the world's largest advertisers.
  He helped develop P&G's "value-pricing" initiative, which offers retailers
 lower prices instead of complex price promotions, and "continuous
 replenishment," which uses computer links with customers to allow them to
 order on a more regular basis and avoid building large inventories. More
 recently, Mr. Herbold played a lead role in advertising groups' efforts to
 study the effect of the information highway on the industry.
  "The notion of figuring out what are the real opportunities, setting the
 priorities and making them happen is what's fun," Mr. Herbold said.
 "Microsoft has a very unique opportunity to have a major impact."
  Mr. Gates said he had looked at four or five candidates seriously. Mr.
 Herbold said he was approached by an executive recruiter for Microsoft about
 six weeks ago, and had visited the company twice.
  Other members of the office of the president are Mike Maples, executive
 vice president in charge of product development, and Steve Ballmer,
 executive vice president of sales and support. The latest hire adds to the
 ranks of P&G alumni at the software company: Mr. Ballmer also worked there,
 as did Scott Cook, the chairman of Intuit Inc., who's scheduled to lead
 Microsoft's efforts in electronic commerce if its $1.5 billion purchase of
 Intuit is completed.

===================================
Study Says Eating Dark, Leafy Greens May Cut Blindness Risk
  People who like to eat spinach and collard greens seem to have a lower risk
 of going blind in old age, researchers reported.
  A large team of eye researchers said that elderly people who reported they
 regularly ate spinach and/or collard greens two to four times a week were
 half as likely to develop age-related macular degeneration as elderly people
 who ate the dark, leafy greens only once a month. Those who ate the greens
 five to six times a week were even less likely to develop the disorder.
  AMD is the leading cause of blindness for people older than 65. It develops
 in the late years when a small spot, called the macula, in the center of the
 eye's retina loses its yellow pigments. Its cause is unknown and there are
 no effective treatments for the majority of AMD patients.
  In the experiment, researchers from five ophthalmology centers took the
 dietary histories of 356 patients in the advanced stages of AMD and compared
 them with the diets of 520 patients with other eye diseases.
  The comparison failed to find any benefit in preventing AMD from eating or
 taking supplements of vitamins A and E and only hints of benefit from
 vitamin C, Johanna M. Seddon of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in
 Boston and her colleagues from New York, Boston, Chicago and Baltimore
 reported in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical
 Association.
  However, those patients who ate the largest amounts of foods rich in the
 carotenoids -- the nutrients that give vegetables their green, yellow or
 orange colors -- had a 43% lower risk of having developed AMD than those who
 ate the lowest amounts of the carotenoid-rich foods.
  When the researchers broke the diets down to specific carotenoid-rich
 foods, they failed to find any significant benefit from eating foods such as
 carrots that are rich in beta-carotene. Beta-carotene, the most popular of
 the carotenoids, is converted by the body to vitamin A. It is being tested
 as a possible preventive for cancer and heart disease.
  Instead, the benefit in warding off the eye disorder seemed to come largely
 from spinach or collard greens. These dark green leaves are rich in two
 other carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, that are deficient in vegetables
 such as carrots. The 25% of the patients who consumed the highest amounts of
 lutein and zeaxanthin had a 57% lower chance of having AMD than the 25% of
 the patients who consumed the least amounts of the two carotenoids.
  The researchers said they didn't inquire about the consumption of other
 dark green leaves, but noted that kale, mustard greens and turnip greens
 also are rich in lutein and zeaxanthin.
  That these two carotenoids might retard or prevent AMD is "biologically
 plausible," the researchers said. The yellowish pigments that are lost from
 the macula in AMD happen to be the same two carotenoids, lutein and
 zeaxanthin. Their purpose, it's thought, is to protect the retina from the
 damaging effects of visible blue light.

===================================
When Congress adjourned last month for Tuesday's elections, it left three
major environmental bills gathering dust. 
Now, you would think that its failure to reauthorize Superfund, the Clean
Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act would have environmental consulting
and engineering firms wringing their hands. 
Businesses, after all, put hundreds of millions of dollars into the pockets of
people expert in interpreting environmental laws and regulations and in
bolting the right pollution-control device onto the right pipe. 
No new laws, no new money spent on pollution control, it would seem. 
Turns out, though, that compared with environmental consultants, Mad 
magazine's Alfred E. Neuman is a rank amateur at the ''What, me worry?'' game. 
There's plenty of opportunity and lots of gravy still out there, some 
environmental-management experts say. 
Contracts are coming in because, increasingly, companies whose processes cause
environmental problems are turning to consultants to help them stop pollution
before it is created, says William J. Marrazzo, president and chief executive
of Roy F. Weston, a West Chester environmental management firm. 
In fact, Weston _ which does a hefty business with the departments of defense
and energy as they try to wrestle their monumental pollution problems to the
ground _ is investing more and more time and dollars in developing skills and
services that will help its business clients minimize pollution, according to
Marrazzo. 
And pollution prevention sells because it is a money saver. 
''You can say to a guy who is spending $1 million a year to treat his waste
stream that we can come in,'' find ways of minimizing the hazardous wastes his
company produces, and ''have his investment paid back in a year, and then save
half a million dollars a year afterwards, '' says Alan Rozich, a principal in
ERM, an Exton environmental-consulting and engineering firm. 
Many businesses may be deferring work on environmental projects because they
are afraid to spend money on equipment and pollution-control processes that
could fail to meet the requirements of the new Superfund and water laws once
Congress does get around to passing them, environmental consultants say. 
Nevertheless, the old Clean Water Act is still on the books, Rozich 
emphasizes. It, plus continuing improvement in the U.S. economy are forcing
many firms to implement additional pollution programs, Rozich adds. 
''There's a lot of work just linked to industrial expansion,'' according to
Rozich. 
''If I am industry XYZ and have a new polymer going crazy in the marketplace,
and I have to go my plant in Louisiana and add five more production units that
will double my waste production, I'll have to put in new (water) treatment
facilities,'' Rozich says. 
Then, of course, hope beats eternal that federal initiatives _ beyond laws
awaiting renewal _ will serve as wellsprings for lots and lots of work. 
At this very moment, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency is 
putting together something called the Great Lakes Initiative. 
In short, the initiative, once it is complete, will force all the states 
bordering the Great Lakes to crack down substantially on toxic discharges into
their waters. 
And the speculation in industry is that if the Great Lakes Initiative is 
successful, it will quite likely serve as a template for controlling 
industrial discharges into all sorts of bodies of water all over the country,
Rozich says. 
Which, of course, will mean massive new work for the ERMs and Westons of the
world. 

==========================================
Train Bandits: Thieves       Rediscover Romance Of The Rails
  JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Wearing bulletproof vests, two railroad police
 officers crouch behind a bridge support and watch a mile-long freight train
 roll slowly past.
  Sgt. Solomon Hicks scans the train for open container doors and other signs
 of intruders. Suddenly, his hand-held radio crackles: "Individuals removing
 merchandise from the train. The Hawkins Street Projects."
  Car lights flashing and sirens wailing, their speedometer bumps 100 m.p.h.
 as Sgt. Hicks and his partner race over a viaduct to the scene of the crime.
 According to the radio, four persons have broken into containers aboard
 another freight in nearby Newark and begun to hide stolen merchandise in
 trackside weeds.
  The pair arrive in time to help fellow officers pick up scattered boxes of
 index cards, coffee, office chairs and deep-fryers. The thieves escape into
 the housing project.
  A century after gun-toting desperadoes robbed trains in the West, many of
 the nation's railroads are battling a new breed of train thieves. "The
 old-time train robbers went after the gold and payroll. These guys are doing
 as well going after the merchandise," says Arthur Dunn, a Conrail chief
 inspector in Elizabeth, N.J. "We're at their mercy," Sgt. Hicks says in
 exasperation.
  Lured by a resurgence of shipping on the rails, the bandits are stealing
 computers, televisions, camcorders, liquor, tires, jackets and sneakers. By
 some estimates, there are at least 1,000 train thieves around. They are
 particularly active in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and other areas where
 freight trains stop or slow enough for them to climb aboard, open containers
 and steal the contents.
  Many wear dark clothing and work at night. Some use bolt cutters to break
 into freight containers. A few use cellular phones to contact accomplices,
 who follow trains in vans or trucks to pick up loot dumped next to the
 tracks.
  "I felt bold when I climbed on a moving train," says Lonnie Euly
 Richardson, a 21-year-old from Hoboken, N.J. Sometimes he moved along the
 container -- carrying rail cars, balancing on a four-inch ledge and gripping
 the sides of the containers as the train raced ahead. "You feel like you're
 gliding," he says.
  Mr. Richardson says in a prison interview that he broke into several
 hundred Conrail freight trains during a three-year period. Buyers usually
 paid him in cocaine. But his robbing spree ended last year when he and a
 fellow thief were arrested with four cases of Apple computer printers stolen
 from a Conrail train.
  Standing beside the track in Hoboken, a short, thin 19-year-old who
 identifies himself only as Eddie is carrying on where Mr. Richardson left
 off. He holds a 200-channel radio scanner to locate both trains and railroad
 police. When trains carrying expensive merchandise approach the area, he
 alerts his fellow thieves with coded signals to their beepers, he says.
  After boarding a train, he says, they open container after container until
 they find what they want. "You get excited. It's like opening presents at
 Christmas," says Eddie, who gets nervous when they find electronics. "You
 don't think you'll get away with it. It's too good to be true."

==========================================
AT&T Bell Labs veteran and TIA PCS Standards  Committee chairman jo
QUALCOMM; Anil T. Kripalani named vice president, business development
SAN DIEGO  -Nov. 9, 1994--QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)
Wednesday announced that Anil T. Kripalani has been named vice president of
business development for the company's wireless telecommunications division. 
A recognized industry leader in Personal Communications Services (PCS), 
Kripalani will foster QUALCOMM's business development efforts in the CDMA
wireless products business area and standards activities worldwide, and will
report directly to Allen Salmasi, president of the wireless telecommunications
division. 
Kripalani brings to QUALCOMM 18 years of systems architecture design and 
development experience from AT&T Bell Laboratories.  In his last position, he
served as department head of the wireless systems and services architecture
and the integrated access architecture departments. 
Previous to this post, Kripalani headed AT&T's GSM Base Station software 
development department and was the architect and software project manager for
AT&T's Series II Base Station, providing him with expertise in analog and
digital cellular technologies for both North American and Pan-European
standards. 
Since 1993, Kripalani has also served as chairman of the Telecommunications
Industry Association (TIA) PCS 1880 Standards Committee TR46.  This body has
active participation from most of the global players in the wireless
infrastructure industry, subscriber equipment manufacturers, and many of the
U.S. wireless service providers. 
Under his leadership, a number of standards for PCS have been published and
others are poised for balloting leading to eventual publication. 
"Anil's extensive knowledge of the wireless communications industry, coupled
with his systems architecture development expertise, will provide strong
support for QUALCOMM's new business development activities worldwide," said
Salmasi, president of QUALCOMM's wireless telecommunications division. 
Kripalani holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the 
Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi, India. Kripalani also earned a
master's of science in computer science from the University of California, Los
Angeles. 

==========================================
Toshiba announces 1.08GB and 810MB  2.5-inch Winchester disk drives
IRVINE, CALIF. -Nov. 9, 1994--Toshiba America 
Information Systems Inc., Disk Products Division (TAIS, DPD), Wednesday 
introduced two new, high-capacity 2.5-inch hard disk drives: the new 1.08GB
MK-2728 Series and the new 810MB MK-2628 Series. 
The MK-2728 Series 1.08GB drive and MK-2628 Series 810MB drive each offer Fast
ATA and SCSI-2 interfaces and a fast 13ms average seek time. Both drives
feature a fast 4200 rpm rotational speed and 128KB buffer which contributes to
a peak internal data rate of more than 43Mbits/sec. 
Additionally, the MK-2728FB SCSI-2 1.08GB drive provides data transfer at
10MB/sec synchronous and 6MB/sec asynchronous; the MK-2728FC Fast ATA 1.08GB
drive supports data transfer at 16.6MB/sec in PIO mode 4 and DMA mode 2. 
The MK-2628FB SCSI-2 810MB drive has a data transfer of 10MB/sec synchronous
and 6MB/sec asynchronous.  The MK-2628FC Fast ATA 810 MB drive supports data
transfer at 11.1MB/sec in PIO mode 3 and 13.3MB/sec in DMA mode 1. 
According to Jeffrey Greenwald, director of hard disk drive marketing, TAIS,
DPD, Toshiba is able to offer these high-capacity, high-performance drives
through improvements in the predictive read-channel technology of PRML
(Partial Response Maximum Likelihood) and areal density combined with
high-level integration on the board. 
"These technology improvements, combined with increased production volumes and
investment in Toshiba's Gifu and Ome Factory Works, have strengthened our
ability to meet the markets increased demands for 2.5-inch disk drives," said
Greenwald.  According to Greenwald, through Toshiba's manufacturing strengths,
Toshiba anticipates that it will be among the first to ramp to volume
production of a 1GB 2.5-inch drive. 
The new MK-2728 and MK-2628 drives average only around one watt of power and
feature a fast five-second spin-up time to optimize battery life. The MK-2728
Series and the MK-2628 Series drives each weigh only 7.8 ounces and measure a
slim 19mm high.  The drives feature a 300,000 hour MTBF. 
The MK-2728 Series drives are priced at $699 in OEM quantities and will be
available beginning first quarter 1995.  The MK-2628 Series drives are priced
at $599 in OEM quantities and will be available in December 1994. 

==========================================
Sony, Texas Instruments -2-: Uses P1394 Chip >SNE TXN
  TOKYO Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) and Sony Corp. (SNE) signed an
 agreement to jointly define the next generation of architecture for digital
 cameras based on the emerging P1394 high-speed serial bus standard. 
  Under the terms of the agreement, Sony plans to use Texas Instruments' 1394
 chip to develop a digital camera targeted for use in computer and
 workstation markets, the companies said. 
  A Sony spokesman said the standard will eventually be capable of providing
 the computer industry with a cost-effective solution for transferring
 real-time, high-speed data such as video into computers. 
  With current analog camera technology, importing video into a computer
 environment requires the installation of a number of components to take the
 analog video signal from a camera and digitize it for processing by a
 computer. 
  The Sony spokesman said Texas Instruments' technology will enable cameras
 to output digital video directly into a computer, saving considerable
 expense. 
  Texas Instruments said its serial bus eliminates the need for wide,
 multi-conductor cables and connectors and instead uses a small, flexible,
 six-wire cable connector solution. 

==========================================
Seiko - IBM PCs -2-: Might Be Blow To NEC Corp. >IBM DEC
  TOKYO Seiko Epson Corp., a Japanese electronics maker known for its
 printers, will market International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) compatible
 personal computers made by Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) Japan under an
 original equipment manufacture arrangement. 
  Analysts said the move represents a blow to NEC Corp. (NIPNY), as Seiko
 Epson also sells NEC 98-compatible computers. Seiko Epson's addition of an
 IBM-compatible computer line may take away market share from NEC, analysts
 said. 
  Seiko Epson, a unit of Seiko Corp., makes computers compatible with the NEC
 98 series personal computers, but NEC's machine is seen losing in the
 market-share war to IBM-compatible models. 
  Analysts said Seiko Epson's decision to begin marketing IBM-compatible
 machines represents an attempt to take advantage of growth in demand for the
 computers for business and game-playing applications. 
  A company spokeswoman said Seiko Epson has been selling IBM-compatibles
 made by another maker through a sales unit since January 1994, but she said
 this will mark the first time Seiko Epson has directly marketed
 IBM-compatibles. 
  Seiko Epson will continue to make and market the NEC-compatible models, it
 said. 
  The new desktop computers, to be targeted to business users, will be
 equipped with high-speed Pentium microprocessor chips, and will be available
 in seven models starting at 398,000 yen, Seiko Epson said. 
  Seiko Epson said it hopes to sell 50,000 units for the PCV series computers
 in the first year of sales. 

==========================================
Apple Computer QuickTime -2-: Developers Kit To Sell For $195
  CUPERTINO, Calif. Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) unveiled QuickTime 2.0
 for Windows. 
  In a press release, the company said QuickTime 2.0 offers multimedia
 product developers a cross-platform standard for creating, using and sharing
 multimedia content between Apple Macintosh and Windows-based personal
 computers. 
  In a press release, the company said QuickTime is multimedia software with
 which users can view and edit video, music, text, animations and other
 information. 
  The company said it expects the QuickTime 2.0 for Windows Software
 Developers Kit to be available in early 1995 for $195. 
  Using QuickTime, developers can create multimedia titles once and deliver
 them to many platforms including Macintosh, Windows, and interactive
 television. This helps multimedia developers reduce the development time and
 expense necessary to rework titles for different computer platforms. 
  Developers can license QuickTime 2.0 for Windows immediately for
 redistribution with applications, titles and media clip libraries that
 support QuickTime for $300 a year, for each title. Developers can license
 both the Macintosh and Windows versions for $400 a year for each title. 

==========================================
Traveling Software Receives Award from  POPULAR SCIENCE Magazine fo
NEW YORK -Nov. 9, 1994--Traveling Software Inc. today
announced that its SpeedSync technology, built into its new LapLink for
Windows product, has been selected by the editors of POPULAR SCIENCE as one of
1994's innovative products and achievements in the category of Science and
Technology.  SpeedSync will be featured in the magazine's seventh annual "Best
of What's New"  special awards section in its December issue. 
LapLink for Windows provides reliable file transfer and remote control 
capabilities between two PCs over a phone line, cable and network connection. 
LapLink for Windows incorporates patent-pending SpeedSync which speeds up file
transfers by as much as 800 percent by recognizing the changes that have
occurred in a file and then transferring only those changes, rather than the
entire file. 
"SpeedSync is a very innovative technology that provides a real benefit to the
customer," said Jonathan Scott, president and COO of Traveling Software Inc. 
"When transferring data over a phone line, SpeedSync can save the user as much
as 88 cents of every long-distance dollar." 
"The selections accurately reflect the most significant trends that are the
evidence of science and technology making our lives more productive, enjoyable
and comfortable at home, in the office and when traveling between the two,"
said Fred Abatemarco, editor-in-chief of POPULAR SCIENCE. 
The 100 winning selections were divided into 10 categories: Audio & Video,
Automotive Technology, Aviation, Cars, Computers & Electronics, Environmental
Technology, Home Technology, Photography, Recreation, and Science & Technology.
SpeedSync is also being featured in POPULAR SCIENCE's 1994 "Best of What's
New" Exhibition on November 9 at New York's Tavern on the Green. The
exhibition showcases the winning selections. 
LapLink for Windows with SpeedSync is available through resellers nationwide
at a suggested retail price of $199.95. 
Traveling Software was founded in 1982.  The company designs and develops
remote computing products that link computers and computing environments,
including laptops, notebooks, palmtops, pentops and desktop PCs.  Its product
line includes CommWorks for Windows, LapLink for Windows, LapLink Wireless,
and LapLink V for DOS.  The company's OEM division has strategic alliances
with leading manufacturers including AST, Casio, COMPAQ, Dell, Extended
Systems, Gateway2000, Hewlett- Packard, IBM, Toshiba and Zenith Data Systems.
The company has three subsidiaries including the United Kingdom, France and
Germany, and its products are sold in six languages in 50 countries worldwide. 

==========================================
IBM Says It Is Ready To Fully Compete In Client-Server Market
  NEW YORK  International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) said it is ready
 to fully compete in the client-server market. 
  Thomas Furey Jr., general manager of worlwide open client-server strategy
 for IBM, said at the Prudential Securities High Technology Conference that
 the company spent 18 months examining how it could improve its performance. 
  ''The client-server market is growing over 20% on a compound annual growth
 rate,'' Furey said, citing information gathered from IBM surveys. 
  Furey said IBM realizes that as businesses move to the client-server model,
 computer vendors must be able to provide products that can interconnect
 multivendor systems. He said the company must also deliver software that can
 run on other companies' products as well. 
  Furey noted that IBM has delivered about 100 software products for
 client-server systems. One of the products is the DB2 database system, which
 originally ran on mainframe computers. 
  Furey said the company has also come out with major products for
 multivendor database management. 

==========================================
Intel Expects Pentium Chip Demand To Increase In '95 >INTC
  NEW YORK  Intel Corp. (INTC) expects demand for its Pentium chip to
 increase at an aggressive rate in 1995. 
  Gerhard Parker, senior vice president, general manager, of the technology
 and manufacturing group of Intel, said at the Prudential Securities High
 Technologies Conference here that he expects the personal computer market to
 continue growing as well. 
  He also said the company expects 486 chip demand to fall off as popularity
 for the Pentium increases. 
  Parker said manufacturing at the company's  new semiconductor plant in
 Ireland has been successful. Intel is also pleased with the outlook for its
 new plant in Chandler, Ariz., which is scheduled to begin production in
 1997, he said. 

==========================================
IBM's multilevel optical disk  named "Best of What's New"          
SAN JOSE, CALIF.  -Nov. 9, 1994--The multilevel optical
disk developed by researchers at IBM's Almaden Research Center was named
Wednesday one of the year's 10 most outstanding achievements in computers and
electronics by the editors of Popular Science magazine. 
The disk consists of a stack of surfaces and multiplies the amount of data
that can be stored on it.  Moving the optical disk drive's focusing lens up
and down selects the surface on which data is read or written. Movable lenses
already exist in today's optical disk drives to maintain focus, even on warped
disks.  Each surface is clear, unlike today's compact disks and other optical
disks, which have a reflective backing film. 
The selection is part of the magazine's 7th Annual "Best of What's New" cover
story for its December issue.  The 24-page section, unveiled today in New York
City, highlights the editors' choices for the 10 most innovative achievements
or products introduced in 1994 in each of 10 categories that the magazine
regularly features during the year. 
Multilevel disks are expected to stimulate huge gains in optical-disk data
storage capacities.  At today's optical data storage densities, a 10-layer
disk would store some 6.5 billion bytes (or gigabytes) of information --
equivalent to more than a million pages of printed text. This would permit
feature-length movies to be stored as high-resolution digital video on a
single compact disk (about 4.7 inches/120 millimeters in diameter). 
It would also permit dramatic increases in the capacities of the multi-disk
optical libraries, or "jukeboxes," used by industry to store vast amounts of
data -- trillions of bytes.  Multimedia and video-game authors would also be
able to use the extra capacity to add more high-quality images, sound and
video to their products. 
"With the advent of the information superhighway, many people will be also
asking for access to huge amounts of data," said Edward M. Engler, program
director of IBM's Optical Storage Laboratory, a joint program between the
company's Research and Storage Systems divisions. "High-capacity, multilevel
optical disks could provide a very cost-effective means of storing this data
at both the sending and receiving ends." 
To date, capacity increases in optical data storage have been largely due to
increases in the density of information that could be written on a single disk
surface. 
"By using multilevel disks, we are now extending optical data recording into
the third dimension," said Hal J. Rosen, manager of Novel Recording Studies at
Almaden.  The IBM scientists have demonstrated in their laboratory that data
can be both read on 2-, 4- and 6-layer read-only disks and also written and
read on 2- and 4-layer write-once disks with essentially product-level
signal-to-noise quality. 
"This is not the end," Rosen added.  "I see no technical reason why this 
approach would not also be extendable to many more surfaces." 
IBM's multilevel approach is also fully "backward compatible" -- that is, 
today's single-layer optical disks could still be usable in any future drives
designed for multilevel disks. (Multilevel disks cannnot be used in today's
drives, however.) Multilevel disks could also accommodate future advances in
areal density, such as blue lasers or high numerical-aperture lenses. 
Members of the Almaden research group include Rosen and colleagues Kurt A.
Rubin, Wayne I. Imaino, Wade C. Tang, Timothy S. Strand and Margaret E. Best. 

==========================================
AMERICA ONLINE, INC. NAMES DAVID COLE PRESIDENT, INTERNET SERVICES 
 VIENNA, Va., Nov. 9  -- America Online, Inc. (Nasdaq-NNM: AMER)
announced today that David C. Cole has been named President of America
Online's recently-formed Internet Services Company, reporting to Steve Case.  
Cole will focus on creating Internet-based online interactive services. 
Working closely with content companies, the Internet Services Company will
spawn information networks for both consumer and commercial markets. 
In a related release, America Online announced today that it will acquire two
companies, BookLink Technologies, Inc. and NaviSoft, Inc., which together will
form the nucleus of AOL's Internet Services Company. Cole has served as
Chairman and CEO of NaviSoft, Inc. an innovative, development stage software
company creating Internet-based publishing tools for use by publishers and
"infopreneurs" worldwide. 
"We're very pleased to have David Cole join us," said Steve Case, President
and CEO of America Online, Inc.  "David brings a strong track record and an
industry background that will be key in accelerating our leadership position
in the Internet market.  He brings a unique blend of experiences from media,
technology, software and publishing companies that will serve us well as we
focus on helping content companies across these industries develop an Internet
presence." 
For the past several years, Cole has served as Chairman of The Cole- Gilburne
Fund, an investment firm specializing in the early stage development of
companies in the information sciences.  Cole has also been Managing Partner of
Pan Pacific Ventures, L.P., a firm specializing in private placement and real
property investments, and active in Catalyst II, an investment firm organized
to develop new media enterprises.  Previously, he was President of Ziff
Communications, and Chairman, President and CEO of Ashton-Tate.  He also held
a variety editorial positions at Prentice-Hall and CBS. 
In commenting on his new role, Cole said:  "I haven't seen this much 
excitement since the early days of the personal computer industry.  As AOL's
marketing and technical muscle meets the momentum of the Internet, magic will
happen.  With the addition of the world class product development teams of
BookLink and NaviSoft, we now have the essential ingredients to rapidly raise
the value and performance standards on the Internet." 
America Online, Inc., based in Vienna, VA, is the nation's fastest- growing
provider of online services.  The Company offers its more than 1.25 million
subscribers a wide variety of services, including electronic mail,
conferencing, software, computing support, interactive magazines and
newspapers, and online classes, as well as easy and affordable access to
services of the Internet. 
Founded in 1985, the Company has established strategic alliances with dozens
of companies including Time Warner, ABC, NBC, Knight-Ridder, Tribune, Hachette,
IBM, and Apple.  Personal Computer owners can obtain America Online software
at major retailers and bookstores, or by calling 800-827-6364. 

==========================================
GEFFEN HOME VIDEO AND IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT SIGN EXCLUSIVE MULTI-YEAR
DEAL
       The Eagles, Nirvana and Aerosmith Are Among Artists 
                      Set for Laser Release 
     CHATSWORTH, Calif., Nov. 9  -- Image Entertainment Inc. 
(Nasdaq-NNM: DISK), the largest laserdisc distributor in the United States,
today announced the signing of an exclusive multi-year license agreement with
Geffen Home Video, an established leader in home video music programming. 
Expanding its roster of music titles, Image will release all forthcoming 
titles from Geffen on laserdisc, as well as handle their sales and marketing. 
Videocassette versions will still be available through Geffen Home Video. 
The Eagles, one of this year's most successful concert acts, were captured
live on video for an MTV concert.  The laserdisc, "Hell Freezes Over," will be
the first release of the deal and includes behind-the- scenes footage and
exclusive interviews in addition to the MTV concert. Image will also release
Aerosmith's "Big Ones You Can Look At," a collection of the group's video hits
from their extensive Geffen catalog that includes never-before-seen rare
footage of the band and their video "Cryin'," which won MTV's 1994 Music Video
Award for Best Video of the Year.  Nirvana's "Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!,"
chronicles the explosive days surrounding the band after the release of
"Nevermind" in 1991 with live performances from around the world, interviews,
behind-the-scenes exploits and excerpts from the band's own home video
archives. 
"Laserdisc and music video programming were made for each other," commented
Martin W. Greenwald, Image's president and chief executive officer;
"CD-quality digital audio and instant access to selections will bring a
heightened level of excellence and appreciation to these programs.  One of our
priorities has been to license more music programming for laserdisc.  We are
delighted to include Geffen's programming on our enhanced music slate.  Geffen
is one of the finest music labels in the world, we are delighted with this
opportunity." 
Image Entertainment has an estimated 35 percent market share and the most
extensive library of titles available in the industry.  Image has exclusive
agreements with Disney's Buena Vista Home Video, FoxVideo, New Line Home Video,
The Voyager Company, Orion Home Video, Playboy Home Video, Turner Home Video
and other suppliers. 

==========================================
SIMON(TM) CITED BY POPULAR SCIENCE MAGAZINE AS A 1994 OUTSTANDING P
TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENT; SHOWCASED IN MAGAZINE'S
               ANNUAL 'BEST OF WHAT'S NEW' SECTION  ATLANTA, Nov. 9
-- Simon(TM), BellSouth Cellular Corp.'s (BSCC) personal
communicator, has been cited by the editors of POPULAR SCIENCE as one of
1994's innovative products and achievements in sciences and technology in the
magazine's seventh annual "Best of What's New" special awards section in its
current (December) issue.
Simon received the Grand Award in the Computer and Electronics category, one
of ten divisions. 
"Simon has brought the technology of personal communications further than any
other product," said Ben Holcomb, executive vice president of BellSouth
Cellular Corp.  "The ways our customers use Simon will create a giant leap in
the evolution of this product category." 
Simon is the first fully integrated, handheld cellular phone, wireless 
facsimile machine (send/receive), pager, electronic mail, calendar, 
appointment scheduler, address book, calculator and pen-based note pad/sketch
pad.  The suggested retail price is $599 with a cellular activation in BSCC
markets covering 216 cities in 15 states.   Simon is available outside of BSCC
territory by calling 1-800-SIMON SAYS. 
"The selections accurately reflect the most significant trends that are the
evidence of science and technology making our lives more productive, enjoyable
and comfortable at home, in the office and when traveling between the two,"
said Fred Abatemarco, editor-in-chief of POPULAR SCIENCE. 
Simon has been widely recognized by the telecommunications and computer 
industries.  Simon was awarded "Best of Comdex" and "Best Portable Product" at
Fall 1993 Comdex, a computer industry trade show. Simon received certification
by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) in March 1994. 
Additionally, Simon was recognized as "Best Personal Communicator" at Mobile94,
sponsored by Technologic Partners. 
BellSouth Cellular Corp. companies, American Cellular Communications 
Corporation and BellSouth Mobility Inc, provide cellular service to more than
2.4 million customers in markets managed by BellSouth and its partners in 15
states nationwide. 
Individuals and companies wanting more information about Simon can call their
local BSCC market or dial 1-800-SIMON SAYS. 
  
                       FEATURES FACT SHEET 
             SIMON From BellSouth, Designed by IBM 
  
     PHONE 
     Simon works just like any cellular phone and has all the customary 
cellular phone keypad features available on the touch screen.  The phone 
operates at .6 watts, and includes features such as a built-in 911 emergency
call button, last number redial, last ten numbers redial, 16 frequently called
name/number redial, address book auto-dial, roaming preference and password
protection.  The entire unit weighs 18 ounces and is 8" high x 2.5" wide and
1.5" thick. 
  
     GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE OR GUI 
     The GUI helps the customer move from application to application easily. 
Customers simply touch the appropriate icon to use the phone, fax or other
functions. 
  
     FAX 
     The fax application allows sending and receiving faxes over the cellular
network using a built-in modem. Simon customers can create faxes through pen
annotation or by using a variety of built-in touch screens, resembling
keyboards.  Pen annotation means a customer's handwriting will be reflected
exactly; that is, it's not digitized to look like a printed word. 
  
     WIRELESS MESSAGING/PAGING 
     Through its built-in software, Simon is capable of sending and receiving
E-mail through any Lotus(R) cc:Mail(TM) post office that has support for
remote dial-in. 
  
     Simon incorporates a numeric pager that works over the cellular network. 
It receives and stores up to nine messages.  Through this feature, Simon
customers can receive a page and return a call to that number by pressing one
button. 
  
     Simon, when equipped with a PCMCIA paging card, allows customers to 
receive alphanumeric pages and electronic messages on a national, regional or
local basis, even when Simon is turned off.  That is, messages are stored in
the paging card so they can be read when Simon is activated. 
  
     MOBILE OFFICE 
     The organizer includes a Calendar, Appointment Scheduler, To Do List,
Address Book, World Clock, Calculator and Note Pad/Sketch Pad. 
  
     INPUT/OUTPUT (I/O) CONNECTIONS 
     MultiConnector: 
     Simon offers a 33 Pin connector that allows the Simon to connect to a DOS
PC via its RS-232 Serial connection.  Optional software will be made available
within the coming months to allow the transfer of files between Simon and a
DOS PC. 
  
     This 33 Pin connector also allow Simon to be connected to the Public 
Telephone network with an optional RJ-11 telephone cable. 
  
     PCMCIA or PC CARD (Type 2) 
     Simon incorporates PCMCIA technology which enables it to provide a 
variety of current accessories and future software applications.  At the 
current time, Simon's PCMCIA slot empowers the user to have: 
  
     -- an infinite amount of memory storage through PCMCIA flash memory 
        which comes in 1 and 1.8 MB increments. 
     -- an alpha-numeric paging card which will be available in 
        September. 
     -- access to future software applications as they are developed 
        by authorized Simon software developers. 

==========================================
OPTi displays winning hand of new core logic and  peripheral chipse
COMDEX/Fall '94
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. OPTi Inc. (NASDAQ: OPTI), a 
leading supplier of core logic and peripheral chipsets, will display its hand
of new products that include Pentium and 486 desktop and mobile core logic
solutions, as well as graphics and audio chipset offerings at the COMDEX/Fall
'94 trade show Nov.  14-18 in the Sands Expo and Convention Center, Booth
S3533. 
Premiering in the OPTi booth will be its Viper chipset.  This recently 
introduced (Oct. 31) Pentium-class PCI chipset supports multiple 64-bit CPUs
from leading microprocessor vendors, including Intel, AMD, and Cyrix.  OPTi
will demonstrate systems running 5.0- and 3.3-volt Pentium processors with the
Viper chipset. 
In conjunction with Viper, the company will feature an in-booth multimedia
theater presentation entitled "OPTi - Setting the Pace for the Pentium
Revolution," that will discuss the evolving PC market and highlight OPTi's
leading-edge solutions. 
Demonstrating its strength in notebook solutions, mobile core logic, and 
graphic offerings, the OPTi exhibit will include the low-power 82C465MV core
logic chipset for 486 notebooks, as well as the new 92C178 LCD graphics
controller with GUI accelerator.  These products will be demonstrated in Dell
Computer and PADS notebook computers. 
OPTi's audio products at COMDEX will include the recently announced 82C930
16-bit sound controller for desktop and notebook motherboards that offers the
industry's lowest component count and saves valuable board real estate with a
low pin-count package design.  Also in OPTi's booth will be the 82C929 sound
controller for add-on board designs. Cards from Boca Research, Diamond,
MediaMagic, Reveal and Turtle Beach utilizing the 929 sound chip will be on
display.  Rounding out OPTi's audio offerings will be the 82C950 audio and
communications controller that, combined with AT&T's DSP3207, provides
complete audio, telephony and communications functions. 
OPTi will demonstrate its industry-leading 82C802G and 82C895 single-chip 486
Green desktop chipsets, running on IBM's Aptiva and Packard Bell home PCs. 
These systems also include OPTi's Local Bus IDE controller. 

==========================================
Microsoft to Sharpen Focus on Marketing                            
Nov. 9--Microsoft's hiring of an innovative marketeer from Procter & Gamble
is another sign that software companies are finally catching on to consumer
retailing. 
Industry leaders acknowledge they have been slow to market their products and
develop brand-name loyalty among consumers. They have been too busy driving
deals with large corporations to use their word-processing programs and
spreadsheets. 
All that is about to change. Yesterday, the Redmond company announced it was
hiring a Procter & Gamble executive as its new chief operating officer. Robert
Herbold, 52, brings an appropriate combination of skills to Microsoft; at P&G
he was a senior vice president in charge of internal computer operations in
addition to advertising. 
Already, Microsoft has been working on a new brand-name advertising campaign,
due to start this month, that will tout its Home line of software for
education, entertainment, home-budgeting and other uses. 
Herbold will help the company reach out to individual consumers. Part of that,
he said today, is making sure the company offers products that are easy to use
and attractive to mom, dad and their children. The other part is marketing
those items the same way Nintendo and Sega have marketed their games. 
"They've done a very good job of creating brands," Herbold said. "Consumers
understand their products and are very loyal to them." 
Herbold, who spent 26 years at P&G, will start his new job by attending the
giant Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas next week. He plans to arrive in
Redmond next Wednesday. 
Herbold will handle day-to-day operations, freeing Chairman Bill Gates to 
pursue his vision for the future of technology. Herbold's new position will be
part of Gates' Office of the President, which also includes executive vice 
presidents Steve Ballmer and Mike Maples. 
Herbold will be responsible for worldwide operations, including finance, 
manufacturing, distribution, information technology, personnel, real estate 
and development, and Microsoft Press. 
"I am really excited to have Bob as part of the Microsoft executive team,"
Gates said. "His incredible business experience and great management skills
will prove invaluable in taking Microsoft forward as we face new business
challenges." 
Microsoft needs to distinguish itself, and its brand name, in the same way
that P&G has distinguished Crest toothpaste as a leader on a shelf packed with
competitors, said stock analyst Michael Kwatinetz of Paine Webber. 
"The models for the industry are not the tech companies of the past," 
Kwatinetz said. They are consumer-product companies that know how to 
distribute goods, advertise and market them, control their cost and capture 
prime shelf space in stores. 
Herbold was known for doing those things at P&G. He also has been a leader in
the advertising industry's move to play a role in interactive television. 
Herbold's hiring is reminiscent of when Apple Computer recruited marketing
master John Sculley away from PepsiCo. 
The third spot in Gates' Office of the President had been held by Frank 
Gaudette, who served as chief financial officer until he died in April 1993. 
Mike Brown, the current chief financial officer, is not part of the three-man 
office because Gates wanted to use that position for someone with broader 
experience and responsibilities. 
Herbold has a bachelor of science degree from the University of Cincinnati and
a master's degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. in computer science, both from
Case Western Reserve University. 

==========================================
miro selects ProMotion for  video-accelerated graphics card        
LAS VEGAS  Nov. 9, 1994--Alliance Semiconductor 
(NASDAQ:ALSC) announced today that miro Computer Products of Germany has 
chosen Alliance's ProMotion-3210 MMUI accelerator for its new line of motion
video-accelerated PC graphics cards. 
The miroVIDEO-12PD, a high-performance DRAM-based accelerator card for the
U.S. and European markets, is on display starting Nov. 14 at the Fall Comdex
show. 
"Motion video is a must in new graphics cards today, and the miroVIDEO-12PD
brings unprecedented video and graphics performance to the PC mass market for
the first time," said Bob Butchko, president of miro Computer Products. 
"By using the ProMotion controller, miro has been able to deliver high-end
video features at a price comparable to graphics-only accelerator cards.  The
ProMotion-based card is a perfect complement to miro's broad family of
graphics and video products." 
"We are pleased that ProMotion has been adopted by the technology leader miro,
" said Sid Agrawal, vice president of marketing at Alliance. "Their hardware,
software and customer support expertise combine in an excellent
video-accelerated product, the first in its class capable of 30 frames per
second full-screen display."  miroVIDEO 12PD 
The miroVIDEO 12PD card is available for PCI-bus or VESA VL local bus, with 1
or 2 megabytes of DRAM frame buffer memory.   The miroVIDEO 12PD displays
resolutions up to 1280 x 1024 pixels with 256 colors, 1024 x 768 pixels with
65K colors, or 800 x 600 pixels with 16M colors, at ergonomic 75Hz refresh
rate.  The card is bundled with advanced motion video driver software to
accelerate Indeo, Cinepak, and other motion video applications and codecs, as
well as miro's powerful, easy-to-use graphics management software. The
miroVIDEO 12PD incorporates a VESA-compatible feature connector for interface
to other multimedia cards in a system.  ProMotion-3210 MMUI Accelerator 
ProMotion-3210 is the first single-chip Windows accelerator with built-in
hardware acceleration for Microsoft and Intel's Display Control Interface
(DCI), a low-level software definition to standardize access to advanced video
and game acceleration hardware. 
ProMotion-3210 accelerates video and 3D applications written for Video for
Windows, WinG, 3DR and other DCI-compatible multimedia interfaces, as well as
all home and business graphics applications under Microsoft Windows. 
ProMotion-3210 accelerates Windows displays up to 1600 x 1200 resolution at 8
bits per pixel, and up to 800 x 600 resolution at 24 bits per pixel truecolor.
It features a 64-bit internal graphics engine, PCI Local Bus or VESA VLBus
host interface, and support for 1 to 4 megabytes of DRAM memory.  Even with
just 1 megabyte of memory, it can accelerate full-screen, 1024 x 768 graphics
and 30 frames per second motion video playback.  Company Backgrounds 
miro Computer Products is a supplier of high-performance graphics, sound, 
digital video and communications technologies for the PC-based publishing,
design, digital media and workplace productivity environments.  As leaders in
the development of comprehensive graphics-based hardware and software tools
for these users, miro Computer Products offers highly advanced technology,
exceptional quality and world-renowned German engineering. 
Alliance Semiconductor Corp., based in San Jose, Calif., is a leading 
worldwide supplier of high performance memories and related products. Alliance
designs, develops, manufactures and markets CMOS VLSI products using the
latest manufacturing technologies, with feature sizes down to 0.5-mircon.  The
company markets its high performance products to the desktop and portable
computing, networking, telecommunications and instrumentation industries. 

==========================================
-Microsoft to Launch $100 Million Ad Campaign                       
CHICAGO--Nov. 10--In the face of complaints that a recent wave of dealmaking
by Microsoft Corp. is monopolistic, the company Wednesday announced that it
will launch a $100 million advertising campaign designed to extend its reach
even further. 
Developments raising questions about whether the world's largest 
personal-computer software company is overreaching antitrust limits include 
the following: 
- The announcement last month that Microsoft will pay $1.5 billion to buy 
Intuit Inc., maker of Quicken personal-finance software, which enjoys 85 
percent of the market; Microsoft's competing product, called Money, has just 5
percent. 
- Reports that the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange
Commission have opened inquiries into the Intuit deal. 
- Disclosure that Microsoft plans to include its own on-line dial-up service,
similar to Prodigy, CompuServe and America Online, as part of its Windows 95
personal computer operating system scheduled for shipment in June. 
- The announcement Tuesday that Microsoft sealed a deal with Visa 
International to develop a way to allow bank-card transactions across public 
computer networks, opening the door to interactive on-line shopping by home 
computer. 
- The announcement that the company has hired the top marketing executive from
Procter & Gamble Co. to become its chief operating officer, in charge of an
initiative to move Microsoft products beyond traditional computer owners to
the public at large. 
Calls for a reopening of an antitrust investigation of Microsoft began after
announcement of the Intuit deal and gained volume with Tuesday's disclosure
that the company would include an on-line service in its next computer
operating system. 
Including that sort of applications software in the basic computer operating
system, which handles everything from keyboard input to monitor display,
snares a captive audience among users of the operating system. 
"We are concerned that this is anti-competitive," said Steve Case, president
of America Online, one of the major dial-up services that would feel the brunt
of Microsoft building an on-line service into Windows 95. America Online's
stock has plunged $9.75 the last two days, closing Wednesday at $63.25 a share.
"We are pleased that the Justice Department is examining this issue," Case
said Wednesday when questioned in a conference call with journalists and stock
analysts. 
In July federal investigators concluded an earlier antitrust inquiry by 
allowing the company to sign an agreement to change licensing practices for 
its DOS/Windows operating system, allowing competitors such as IBM and Novell 
Inc. better access to the marketplace. 
But the investigators had emphasized they would continue to watch the company
to make certain future actions didn't take Microsoft beyond the pale of
antitrust regulations. 
Microsoft officials attempted to turn aside antitrust questions in the Intuit
deal by selling its Money product to Novell, a major competitor in the areas
of operating systems, applications software and computer network technology. 
Novell executives, led by the company's former chairman, Ray Noorda, had been
among the most vocal critics of the company during the earlier Justice 
Department inquiry. 
The company had charged that Microsoft's licensing agreements with computer
manufacturers for the DOS/Windows operating system gave it an unfair advantage
over competing Novell DOS 7. 
The agreement that Microsoft signed in July changed that licensing agreement. 
But last week Novell officials told reporters that the Justice Department, as
part of an inquiry into the Intuit deal, had asked for e-mail and other
documents created while negotiating the sale of Microsoft Money. 
That deal, in turn, was only one of many business developments involving the
company that have caused critics to question whether the enormously successful
firm is running afoul of anti-monopoly statutes in its quest to keep growing. 
Much of the dealmaking creating the current stir has been associated with 
plans to add new and powerful features to Microsoft's long-awaited Windows 95. 
Bill Gates, the company's chief executive, plans to announce part of that 
strategy Monday in a keynote address to the annual Comdex computer show in Las
Vegas. 
Company officials have acknowledged that much of Gates' talk will focus on the
addition of a dial-up service to Windows 95. Code-named Marvel, the service
would compete with established on-line enterprises such as Prodigy, 
CompuServe, America Online, GEnie and Delphi. 
But with Microsoft's huge installed base of computers running its DOS/Windows
operating environment, adding a dial-up service to the next generation of
Windows would make the Redmond, Wash.-based company a major player in that
industry overnight. 
More than 50 million personal computers use Microsoft Windows operating 
software, and the bulk of 9 million machines that industry analysts predict 
will be sold this year for home use also use Windows. 
Thus, say critics such as Case, Microsoft should be reined in by federal 
regulators so that it does not use its advantage with what is, by far, the 
predominant personal-computer operating system to sell other products. 
Microsoft officials long have rejected such complaints. In an interview in
Brussels with the Reuters news service Wednesday, Microsoft's chief legal
officer, William Neukom, said that while the software will be in the operating
system loaded onto all computers that use Windows 95, individual users will
have the option of not signing up for the monthly fee that will give them
access to the on-line features. 
"Our plan is to include that feature in that product, and we don't view that
as an anti-competitive activity in any way," Neukom told the wire service. 
Meanwhile, company officals said that the advertising campaign, which will be
announced in detail Thursday, will focus on expanding from the computer world
into the general consumer marketplace. Heading that campaign will be Robert
Herbold, the Procter & Gamble executive Microsoft hired Tuesday as chief
operating officer. 
Herbold will be in charge of the company's worldwide operations, including
finance, manufacturing, distribution, logistics, information technology, human
resources, corporate services, real estate and development and Microsoft Press,
the company's book-publishing arm, according to a company release. 
In recent years at P&G, Herbold had become an advocate of using advertising to
finance development of nationwide electronic databases for schools and public
use. 
The $100 million ad campaign will focus on increasing brand awareness among
casual computer users and will attempt to persuade them to buy computers and
to use them to run the broad spectrum of Microsoft operating systems and
software.  

==========================================
Paul Allen Acquires Stake    In CD-ROM Game Concern
  MEDFORD, Ore. -- Investor Paul Allen has purchased an unspecified minority
 stake in Trilobyte Inc., a closely held software company known for a hit
 multimedia game called The 7th Guest.
  Terms weren't disclosed, but Trilobyte said Mr. Allen's Seattle investment
 firm, Vulcan Ventures Inc., will receive one of five seats on the company's
 board.
  Trilobyte, founded in 1991, specializes in CD-ROM games that include film
 and video footage. The company has also developed specialized software tools
 that allow games to be created by artists that are not programmers.
  The 7th Guest and a sequel due in March, called 11th Hour, are being
 published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment of Irvine, Calif. Trilobyte
 said it plans to begin publishing games itself, and intends to share
 technologies with StarWave Corp., another multimedia-software company owned
 by Mr. Allen.

==========================================
CAT Scan May Soon `Map'      Air Pollution
  CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- When Congress empowered the Environmental Protection
 Agency in 1990 to police 189 air pollutants instead of just seven, lawmakers
 ignored one tiny detail: How would the EPA tackle such a monumental task?
  Lori A. Todd, a scientist at the University of North Carolina, may have an
 answer.
  In the arcane world of emissions regulation, tracing leaks is a laborious
 chore. It relies on the periodic testing of air samples, and on inspectors
 who wave hand-held meters in every nook and cranny of an industrial plant to
 zero in on elusive leaks.
  But the result of all this is little more than a snapshot. It shows only
 what was going on in a specific place at a given moment and is useless in
 tracking a contaminant's path. Furthermore, most air-sample tests are
 time-consuming and apply to only one toxin at a time.
  Dr. Todd, an assistant professor in UNC's School of Public Health, is
 exploring whether computed tomography -- best known as the technology behind
 CAT scans and their wonderfully detailed images of hidden things, such as
 human organs -- can be adapted to map air quality. Her goal is to provide
 continuous monitoring of an area and of myriad toxins all at once.
  If the idea pans out, it will be as dramatic as trading in the Instamatic
 for a video camera. Industry and regulators will be able to detect leaks
 more quickly and accurately, and in much greater detail.
  "We need radical new approaches if we're going to get the job done and make
 it cost effective," says Rima Dishakjian, an EPA chemist who helped Dr. Todd
 get EPA backing.
  Dr. Todd's interest in improving air-pollution monitoring grew out of her
 work as an environmental health inspector, prowling workplaces for the New
 York City health department in the 1980s. "I saw that the way they did it
 wasn't really protecting people," says the Brooklyn native, her accent
 undiminished by years in this genteel Southern college town.
  Her ideas blend existing technologies in an innovative way. Just as a CAT
 scan assembles a network of X-ray images into three-dimensional pictures,
 Dr. Todd envisions using beams of infrared light to scan a factory floor,
 for instance, or the exterior of an industrial plant. The data would be used
 to create computerized grid maps, with peaks and valleys that mark the
 location and concentration of toxins in the air. Ultimately, her research
 could lead to the ability to capture -- on a computer screen and in real
 time -- the moving image of a plume of pollution as it wafts across a room.
  The concept met with considerable skepticism at first. "People thought it
 seemed really Star Trekky," recalls Dr. Todd, a slender woman of 40 with
 unruly blond hair. "Like this is a neat idea, but it will never fly."
  Still, she has gained the ear -- and financial backing -- of some
 heavyweights. In addition to the EPA, the National Institute for
 Occupational Safety and Health (a research arm of the Department of Health
 and Human Services) is funding her work. Most recently, Dr. Todd -- who is
 leaving shortly for a midsemester trek in Nepal -- was among 15 scientists
 named by President Clinton to receive the 1994 Presidential Faculty Fellow
 Award from the National Science Foundation. The spoils: $500,000 over five
 years to continue her work, and also dinner with the president.

==========================================
Yet Another Book About The   Internet To Hit Shelves Soon
  Talk about cloning: Compaq Computer Corp. is about to produce yet another
 Internet book.
  The Houston-based personal-computer maker, together with publisher IDG
 Books Worldwide, plans to unveil today the Compaq Press and its first title,
 "The Internet."
  Compaq hopes the book will make the electronic network more accessible to
 people, who then will need to buy more computers to access it. "The
 Internet" will be tied to a Public Broadcasting System show called "The
 Internet Show," which Compaq is underwriting.
  Next year, Compaq Press plans more titles, including books on multimedia,
 networking and PC troubleshooting.
  IDG, which already publishes the popular "Dummies" series of computer books
 and is one of the largest computer-related publishers, contracted the
 authors for the Compaq Press offering and will publish, distribute and
 market the titles. Compaq provides information and technical support. "We're
 not really trying to get into the book business directly," says Russ
 Setzekorn, Compaq's manager of management communications.
  Even so, does the market really need another Internet book? At a Barnes &
 Noble Bookstore in Dallas, shelves are already filled with 67
 Internet-related titles.
  "We think ours is friendlier and more entertaining," says Mr. Setzekorn.
 "We think you'll probably see a whole lot more books on the Internet."

==========================================
Intel May Be Facing New      Antitrust Investigation
  The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to open a new antitrust
 investigation of Intel Corp. for allegedly forcing customers to buy other
 products in conjunction with certain computer chips.
  But the agency's effort is mired for the moment in a turf battle with the
 Justice Department's Antitrust Division. People familiar with the
 discussions say the two agencies have been tussling over the matter for more
 than the 30 days that their own guidelines prescribe for resolving
 jurisdiction in nonmerger cases.
  If a formal investigation goes forward, as seems likely, it will be the
 second such "tying" inquiry of Intel's sales practices by the government in
 recent years. The FTC opened an investigation in June 1991, closing it with
 no further action in July 1993 after examining more than 250,000 company
 documents and interviewing numerous customers under oath.
  "They went through virtually every practice that everybody ever complained
 about," said Thomas Rosch, a San Francisco attorney who represented Intel in
 the matter.
  The earlier case involved allegations that Intel pressured customers to buy
 its 386 chips by threatening to withhold shipment of 486 chips, which only
 Intel made. It couldn't be determined what areas the FTC is currently
 looking at, and an Intel spokesman said the company hasn't been contacted.
 It was first reported by the trade newsletter FTC:Watch.
  One potential subject for any investigation is the sale of Intel's Pentium
 processor, which is available only from the company. In the past,
 allegations of illegal tying actions have generally occurred when Intel was
 allocating scarce chips to high-volume customers. After some initial
 problems, however, Intel customers haven't generally faced shortages of
 Pentium chips.
  "These days, Intel is trying to push everybody to Pentium so it's a
 different environment," said a senior executive of Advanced Micro Devices
 Inc. "We haven't heard of any recent egregious behavior."
  As the dominant supplier of microprocessor chips for the personal-computer
 industry, Intel has been a frequent target of allegations of anticompetitive
 practices. Besides the tying allegations, rivals also claim that Intel has
 misused patents and copyrights to maintain a monopoly. Advanced Micro
 Devices and Cyrix Corp. filed private antitrust suits against Intel; Cyrix
 later settled its case, but Advanced Micro Devices' is still pending in
 federal court in San Jose, Calif. Intel denied the charges in the suits.
  A government official said it wasn't clear how the impasse between the two
 antitrust-enforcement agencies would be resolved. The situation could
 require direct negotiations between FTC Chairwoman Janet Steiger and
 Assistant Attorney General Anne Bingaman. Or, the agencies might resort to
 their version of basketball's possession arrow, in which they take turns
 reviewing disputed cases.
  This isn't their first jurisdictional battle in recent months. The FTC and
 the Antitrust Division, both of which have grown more aggressive over the
 past couple of years, fought in September over the right to review the $10
 billion merger between Lockheed Corp. and Martin Marietta Corp. The FTC won,
 using the arrow. Private antitrust lawyers have complained about the turf
 fights.

==========================================
It's A Plane -- No, It's     An Interactive Arcade
  Put away that wearisome in-flight magazine. Long-haul flying is finally
 getting interesting.
  On a recent Virgin Atlantic Airways flight between Hong Kong and London,
 Sotheby's executive Neil Davey killed some time by playing half a round of
 computer golf. Then he listened to "The Three Tenors" CD and watched the
 movie "Speed."
  The world's airlines are racing to build a multimedia paradise in the sky.
 Carriers are equipping long-distance routes with interactive screens that,
 for a fee, allow passengers to select their own movies and compact disks,
 book hotel rooms and order merchandise. By some estimates, the systems could
 earn $1 million or more an aircraft a year. And if regulators approve plans
 for in-flight gambling, some analysts predict that figure could double.
  Virgin Atlantic, the first airline to get a working system in the air, says
 nine of 10 passengers have used its interactive system -- free of charge
 during its introduction -- since its experimental launch on London-to-Asia
 flights in February. British Airways PLC, Singapore Airlines and UAL Corp.'s
 United Airlines plan to phase in systems on trans-Atlantic routes next year.
  Airlines are paying close attention to the interactive systems because,
 unlike other in-air novelties like massages and single-sex bathrooms, they
 could boost revenues. And for an industry with wafer-thin profit margins,
 "any way an airline can make any extra money is a big benefit," says Steve
 Ridgeway, director of marketing at Virgin Atlantic.
  Airlines see other benefits as well. Passengers busy playing computer games
 or watching movies may be less likely to harass flight attendants with
 endless requests. More important, putting duty-free shopping on computer
 will make it easier to keep track of inventory and buying habits. "We
 believe it will have a significant impact on the bottom line," says Robbie
 Baird, British Airways's general manager for product development.
  Yet skeptics say that, like so much talk about the information highway, the
 multimedia airplane may just be pie in the sky. The costs are high -- about
 $1.5 million to buy and install a system in a new aircraft, more if the
 plane is an older model -- and the bills don't stop there. All that extra
 equipment makes an aircraft much heavier. Flying around with a typical
 entertainment system aboard a 747 jet costs roughly $258,000 a year in extra
 fuel, according to figures supplied by British Airways.
  Moreover, the technology has yet to prove itself. Repeated breakdowns led
 Northwest Airlines temporarily to pull the plug on its new interactive
 entertainment system, made by Hughes Avicom.
  Earlier this year, Northwest trumpeted plans to install a system complete
 with movies, video games and duty-free shopping on all 33 of its 747 jumbo
 jets. By charging $4 an hour, Northwest expected the system to generate a
 lot of cash. But breakdowns forced a radical reduction of the plan after the
 system had been installed in only nine planes. All that's left is an
 expensive television set, which can show several different movies but has no
 interactive capabilities.
  "It's very difficult to ensure 100% reliability," says Northwest spokesman
 Douglas Killian. While he says Northwest was able to keep 96% of the units
 working, flight attendants complained that they were wasting too much time
 soothing irritated passengers whose handsets malfunctioned.

==========================================
All-In-One Faxes Solve Space Crunch, But Quality Varies
  Despite the spread of computers into small businesses and homes, the fax
 machine remains a necessity for many people. Fax modems inside PCs are fine,
 but they can be complicated to use and only allow you to fax documents that
 are on a computer's screen, not hard copy such as a magazine article or
 other paper document. So the old fax machine is often still found right next
 to the personal computer.
  The trouble with that is that it contributes to a space crunch in small
 offices. Many spare bedrooms and tiny business offices have a personal
 computer, a printer, a fax machine and one of those small-volume copiers,
 all crammed so tightly together the places look like the scratch-and-dent
 table at an appliance store. And most of the fax machines out there still
 use those rolls of greasy, smelly paper, so you have to buy separate
 supplies for the fax, printer and copier.
  To solve the problem, electronics companies have long promised
 multifunction devices that would combine printers, faxes and copiers in one
 box. Okidata introduced such a machine, a high-end product called the
 Doc-It, nearly two years ago. But it hasn't taken the market by storm,
 partly because it cost too much and wasn't sold in enough stores. Now,
 Hewlett-Packard, Xerox and others are trying to change the landscape with
 relatively low-priced (less than $1,000) multifunction machines.
  My favorite is the HP OfficeJet, an $800 product that I've been trying out
 in my own home office, a spare bedroom more cramped than my office at the
 newspaper but just as messy. The OfficeJet looks like a large stand-alone
 fax machine, with the usual telephone keypad built in, but it's built around
 the guts of HP's popular DeskJet printers. It's kind of tall and boxy,
 weighs in at around 20 pounds and needs a fair piece of desktop space. But
 it consolidates a separate printer and fax machine. It can even replace a
 small copier -- if you don't plan on making too many copies and don't care
 too much about the quality of the copies.
  As a computer printer, the OfficeJet works pretty much like one of HP's
 basic monochrome inkjet printers, which work by spraying a fine mist of
 fast-drying ink onto the paper. It churns out most documents at two to three
 pages a minute, and the quality is very good -- nearly as good as that of a
 laser printer. It handles letter, legal and other paper sizes, as well as
 envelopes and transparencies. The machine is best suited for IBM-compatibles
 using Microsoft Windows, but it also works with older DOS programs. There
 isn't a specific version for Apple Macintosh computers, but a Canadian
 company called GDT Softworks sells a product called PowerPrint that connects
 the OfficeJet to Macs.
  As a fax, the OfficeJet also does fine. It uses the same print mechanism as
 the printer portion of the device, so you receive faxes that are on real
 paper, not that waxy fax paper. It has a 20-page document feeder, lets you
 program 65 numbers for speed dialing and can store around 24 pages of
 incoming faxes in its memory. The OfficeJet can receive faxes even when it's
 out of paper or ink or while you're printing a document from the computer.
 It just waits until you put in new ink or paper or until the computer is
 done using the OfficeJet and then prints out the faxes it has stored up. It
 can also send faxes while you're printing a computer document because the
 sending process doesn't use the print mechanism at all.

==========================================
Time Warner To Offer :    The Cable Industry
  The cable industry hopes to tap the enormous revenue potential in the local
 telephone business, and analysts estimate it would need only to sign up
 about 15% of homes passed by cable wires to make a profit.
  "At the end of the decade, most homes will likely have two wires and
 they'll do pretty much the same thing," predicts John Reidy, an analyst with
 Smith Barney. "The winner will be the company that gets there first, with
 the most, at a fair price."
  Just yesterday, cable-TV's biggest trade group, the National Cable
 Television Association, long-distance companies and others announced plans
 to target six states in which they will work to tear down barriers that
 prevent companies from fully competing with the regional Bells.
  Only five states currently permit companies to provide regular telephone
 service in competition with the hometown Bell. Federal telecommunications
 legislation, which died this year, is expected to eventually force all
 states to open up local phone markets to all comers.
  For Time Warner -- and indeed, other major cable concerns -- targeting the
 $90 billion local phone business is a natural strategy. The same hybrid
 fiber-optic cable network that carries movies can also transport phone
 conversations.
  "We are adding phone switches and selling telecommunications services on
 top of cable-TV services," said Gerald Levin, chairman and chief executive
 of the cable-TV, entertainment and publishing giant. "It is a natural
 development for us to be both a telecommunications company and a content
 provider."
  Adds Glenn Britt, president of Time Warner Cable Ventures, "We will provide
 phone service across the universe of our cable systems." Including
 affiliated concerns, Time Warner's cable systems pass 14 million homes. Mr.
 Britt points out that the company could break even in the phone business by
 capturing a mere 5% of customers passed by its network. "We have a low
 break-even" point, he said.
  In addition to phone service over its cable system, Time Warner intends to
 include wireless services in its overall offerings. Time Warner will launch
 its first wireless phone service by the end of the month in Rochester.
  Time Warner for years has assembled its cable systems in clusters, grouping
 together large numbers of customers generally in or near cities. By
 clustering subscribers, cable companies can deliver phone services easier,
 and can more immediately create savings on marketing, programming and
 equipment costs.
  As a retailer of such powerful entertainment and publishing brands as
 Warner Bros. movies, HBO pay-TV and Time magazine, Time Warner executives
 say they are better poised to package their phone services with
 entertainment and information offerings.

==========================================
-APPLE TURNS OVER DEVELOPMENT OF MACINTOSH COMMON LISP TO DIGITOOL, 
       Digitool to Market and Support Macintosh Common Lisp, 
            Provide Native Power Macintosh Version 
     CUPERTINO, Calif., Nov. 10  -- As part of its program to 
accelerate the availability of developer tools for the Power Macintosh, and
demonstrating its commitment to Macintosh  Common Lisp (MCL) users, Apple
Computer, Inc. (Nasdaq-NNM: AAPL) today announced that it has licensed its MCL
development software to Digitool, Inc.  The purpose of the agreement is for
Digitool to take over future development of MCL. Digitool has agreed to
provide ongoing marketing and technical support for MCL, and to introduce next
year a Power Macintosh version of the software, which will generate native
PowerPC code. 
Digitool also has agreed to continue further development of the version of MCL
for Macintosh systems based on the Motorola 680x0 processors. Apple will
continue to offer MCL through APDA, the company's source for developer tools. 
"This agreement underscores Apple's ongoing commitment to the developer 
community to provide strong support for our developer tools and to allow 
developers to move their code forward to new hardware platforms and OS 
releases," commented Peter Christy, Apple's senior director of Developer 
Products Engineering.  "With this agreement, Apple and Digitool will be 
working together to ensure a bright future for MCL on both the 680x0-based
Macintosh and Power Macintosh." 
Apple now expects that developers who have programs based on MCL code will be
able to continue development efforts with the knowledge that their code can be
ported to the Power Macintosh.  In addition, developers will benefit by full
support -- and future enhancements -- of the 680x0 version of MCL by Digitool. 
"Digitool is very pleased with this new MCL responsibility," said Hazem Sayed,
president and founder of Digitool.  "MCL is in a league of its own as an
implementation of the Common Lisp standard and object system. It has sold many
Lisp users on the Macintosh and sold many Macintosh developers on Lisp.  Now,
as well as with our future release of a Power Macintosh native MCL, many of
the large workstation-based Lisp systems developed in academe, aerospace,
telecommunications, military, finance and medicine will find an unbeatable
price/performance delivery platform." 
Digitool, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a new software company formed
by the principals of Paradigm Software, Incorporated, and staffed by former
employees of Apple's MCL development team.  Digitool's MCL development effort
is partially funded by eleven corporate sponsors and MCL customers including
Apple Computer, Inc., Flavors Technology, Inc., KyTek, Inc., Lissys Ltd., and
the University of Basel. 
  
     Product Summary 
     Common Lisp is an advanced programming language widely used in industry
and research.  MCL is recognized as a premier implementation of Common Lisp on
personal computers with performance comparable to Lisp workstations.  An
object-oriented dynamic language, MCL implements the ANSI Common Lisp Object
System (CLOS) and includes an incremental compiler and application generator. 
MCL is ideally suited for quick application prototyping and provides a
delivery environment for intelligent applications as well as high-level
Macintosh interface access. 
  
     Availability and Pricing 
     MCL Version 2.0.1 is available for U.S. $495 through APDA, Apple's source
for development tools and related programming products.  Pricing for future
versions will be announced upon product availability. Digitool also has
announced that it will provide current users with the ability to upgrade to
future versions at a reduced price.  Site licenses for MCL are also available
from APDA. 
APDA publishes the APDA Tools Catalog which describes hundreds of Apple and
third-party products.  Developers should contact APDA for orders only and
Digitool for product support and all other inquiries using the following
addresses or phone numbers. 
  
     APDA 
     Apple Computer, Inc. 
     P.O. Box 319 
     Buffalo, NY 14207-0319 
     800-282-2732 (U.S.A.) 
     800-637-0029 (Canada) 
     716-871-6555 (International) 
     716-871-6511 (Fax) 
  
     Digitool, Inc. 
     675 Massachusetts Avenue 
     Cambridge, MA 02139 
     617-441-5000 
     617-576-7680 (fax) 
     DIGITOOL (AppleLink) 
     HSAYEDDIGITOOL.COM (Internet) 

==========================================
MCI Communications To Offer  E-Mail Service In Calling Plan
  NEW YORK MCI Communications Corp., looking to gussy up its Friends and
 Family long-distance program, said it will add extensive electronic-mail
 features to the discount plan so that users with personal computers can let
 their fingers do the talking.
  The Washington, D.C., company said the new feature, Friends and Family
 Mail, will give members of the plan a free electronic mailbox that will
 allow them to send and receive electronic messages -- and transfer them onto
 greeting cards, faxes and phone pagers. The new feature requires that users
 have a personal computer and modem.
  The service is based on MCI Mail, a separate electronic-mail service
 operated by MCI.
  The company is trying to expand its share of the electronic-communications
 market, which has grown rapidly in recent years along with increased use of
 the Internet and commercial on-line services such as H&R Block Co.'s
 CompuServe Inc. and America Online Inc. Eric Arnum, editor of Electronic
 Mail and Messaging Systems, an industry newsletter, said the market for
 consumer use of electronic mail, at about $100 million in revenue this year,
 could grow 70% in 1995.
  "We're trying to introduce consumers to the concept of an electronic
 mailbox," said Paul Erickson, MCI's director of consumer information
 services, adding that the market is still in its infancy. "We're
 specifically targeting our customers."
  Some analysts see the move as a way for MCI to reduce consumer turnover in
 long-distance services. Due to constant promotions and gimmicks by
 long-distance providers -- often involving bonuses for customers who switch
 services -- turnover can be as high as 30% a year, according to Bill
 Deatherage, an analyst for S.G. Warburg & Co. "If a long-distance company
 can stop customers from deserting them, that's half the battle," Mr.
 Deatherage said.
  A spokesman for AT&T Corp., which offers an electronic-mail service similar
 to MCI Mail, called the greeting-card feature and other similar services
 "trinkets." He said his company's AT&T Mail offers faxing, news services and
 postal delivery. The basic service costs $3 a month, though it isn't offered
 through any AT&T long-distance promotions. AT&T Mail offers e-mail service
 that costs 50 cents for the first 1,000 characters and less for subsequent
 text.
  By contrast, the Friends and Family plan includes 10 free e-mail messages a
 month; beyond that, messages will cost 25 cents apiece. For an additional
 $9.95 a month, users will also receive an electronic newspaper,
 News-in-Motion, that includes photos and sound.
  Nonmembers of the Friends and Family long-distance plan can subscribe to
 the new service for $5 a month, MCI said. AT&T said it had no plans for a
 similar linking of its long-distance and e-mail products.

==========================================
MICROSOFT JOURNEYS ON GLOBAL BRAND CAMPAIGN SOFTWARE LEADER ASKS CO
"WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO TODAY?"
  REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 10  -- Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT)
today unveiled an international marketing campaign to build the Microsoft(R)
brand identity.  At the center of the marketing effort is a brand advertising
campaign set to debut worldwide on Nov. 14.  The company is making an
investment of more than $100 million to differentiate the Microsoft brand name
as the software that makes computers empowering, educational and entertaining. 
"The Microsoft brand name represents 'access' -- access to ideas, information,
fun, tools and even other people," said Steve Ballmer, executive vice
president of sales and support at Microsoft.  "We're in the middle of a
computing revolution that is changing the way people everywhere think, learn
and communicate.  As personal computers appear in more and more places, we
want people to recognize how software, and specifically Microsoft software, is
making their computers come to life." 
To communicate with all consumers -- from computing professionals to 
first-time home PC users -- in familiar, emotionally appealing language, 
Microsoft chose Portland, Ore.-based Wieden & Kennedy Inc. advertising to
create natural language executions that will run in Australia, Canada, 
France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.  The new TV spots
are being supported with magazine, newspaper and outdoor advertising
executions that will generate more than 6 billion consumer impressions and
reach more than 95 percent of adults in the United States alone.  The campaign
features a new creative look for Microsoft, including a new tag line, and
encompasses all Microsoft products, including Microsoft Office, Microsoft
BackOffice and hundreds of the company's consumer titles such as the Microsoft
Encarta(TM) multimedia encyclopedia, Microsoft Dinosaurs and the Microsoft
Cinemania(R) interactive movie guide. "The Microsoft tag line 'Where do you
want to go today?'(TM) will come to represent the empowerment consumers feel 
when they use Microsoft products," said Liz King, director of corporate 
marketing, at a press conference in New York today.  "It brings the appeal of
computing back to the individual by enabling consumers to choose software that
helps them realize their aspirations, study what they want to learn about,
enjoy their favorite games and movies, or access the information and services
they need." 
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software for personal
computers.  The company offers a wide range of products and services for
business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier
and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal
computing every day. 
NOTE:  Microsoft and Cinemania are registered trademarks and Encarta and 
"Where do you want to go today?" are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. 

==========================================
Media Vision Rushing From Ch 11, Working On Pdts >MVIQC
  NEW YORK  Finding a way through bankruptcy court is a rarely easy and
 often time-consuming process. 
  But Media Vision Technology Inc. (MVIQC) is setting an enviable pace. After
 filing for Chapter 11 protection in July, the company hopes to emerge
 debt-free by the end of the year. 
  Behind the U.S. Bankruptcy Court quick step is a group of supportive
 creditors who realize the company is worth more out of court than in it,
 said Jim Lopes, an attorney representing the creditors committee. 
  Then there is the Media Vision name, which possesses consumer recognition.
 That recognition is coupled with the promise that new technology will
 produce salable products in the evolving multimedia computing arena, said
 Bob Brownell, company president. 
  Creditors, who will trade $200 million in debts for 20 million shares of
 new common stock, seem to be banking that the company will be more valuable
 in a year, Brownell said. But that means finding success in delivering
 products and then translating that into profits. 
  Brownell told Dow Jones that initial orders for the company's new line of
 SmartStart multimedia kits were good. The kits, which give personal
 computers the ability to produce sound and video images, are being billed as
 easy to install. 
  A better picture of the sales pace will be available by the first quarter. 
  The company also plans to begin shipping a 16-bit PCMCIA sound card for
 notebook computers before year end. An announcement on the product, which is
 designed to be especially appropriate for game playing, is scheduled for the
 Comdex trade show later this month. 
  By the first quarter, Media Vision also expects to have an FM synthesis
 semiconductor to use in its sound card and to sell to other sound-card
 producers. The chip will be less expensive than the one the company buys
 from another maker now. 
  More important, Media Vision has been working on its waveguide technology
 for two or three years and hopes for a product by the end of 1995 or early
 1996. The technology, licensed from Stanford University, would allow for
 ''studio-quality'' sound from a computer sound board, Brownell said. 
  A waveguide chip is being tested. 
  Likewise, the company has been working on research-and-development projects
 using digital-signal processing. DSP technology is hailed for its ability to
 give chip boards multiple functions, such as combining sound reproduction
 and telephone answering. 
  Brownell said only that the projects combine audio and video technology and
 would be involved in a demonstration at Comdex. Two computer users in
 different locations will play the same game and speak to one another at the
 same time. 
  Creditors ''saw some (of the) technology'' and determined there is ''no
 reason with the right set of guidelines this can't be a profitable,
 successful company,'' Media Vision President Brownell said. 
  Creditors committee spokesman Lopes noted that the quicker the company
 moves out of bankruptcy, the faster customers will begin believing it's
 business as usual. 
  In its until-now rapid move through bankruptcy, Media Vision was helped by
 a number of factors. One is that the company organized a creditors committee
 even before it filed with the court, Brownell said. That enabled a rapport
 to be built and for management to convince debtors that new financial
 controls had been put into place, Brownell said. 
  The new policies included better creditor controls, more thorough internal
 audits and a new way of handling returns. The company ran into serious
 financial problems in the spring and eventually restated 1993 profits into
 losses of $99 million on $150 million in sales. 
  A joint Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Bureau of
 Investigation probe continues into allegations it falsified financial
 records. 
  The company also prepared employees for bankruptcy, thereby stemming the
 fears that could have led to a mass exodus, Brownell said. Even so, cost
 cutting and attrition pushed payrolls to about 265 from 500. 
  The company will return to bankruptcy court today, at which time it hopes
 the judge will authorize it to mail ballots to creditors. The result of the
 vote on the reorganization plan is to be submitted to the court in
 mid-December and could be approved by the court by the end of the year, the
 company said. 

==========================================
Hewlett-Packard - Notebooks : To Ship In 4Q >HWP
  PALO ALTO, Calif. - Hewlett-Packard Co. (HWP) unveiled its first color
 notebook PC series, including the full-performance notebook, HP OmniBook 600
 PC, and an advanced performance notebook, HP OmniBook 4000 PC. 
  In a press release, Hewlett-Packard said the two new series of notebooks
 are designed to address the full range of today's mobile professional
 computing needs. At 3.8 pounds, the HP OmniBook 600 PC combines portability
 with desktop PC performance in the industry's lightest notebook design. The
 HP OmniBook 4000 PC is an advanced, desktop-to-go notebook, featuring
 convenient expandability, stereo sound and a large color display. 
  OmniBook 600 PCs are expected to start at an estimated street price of
 $2,599 for systems with an Intel DX2/50 processor, DSTN display, 170MB
 hard-disk drive and 4MB of RAM, Hewlett-Packard said in a press release. The
 HP OmniBook 600 notebook PC ships standard with an external floppy drive,
 serial cable, external AC adapter, power cord and rechargeable NiMH battery
 pack. 
  The HP OmniBook 4000 PCs are expected to start at an estimated street price
 of $3,299 for systems equipped with an Intel DX2/50 processor, 260MB hard
 disk drive, DSTN display and 4MB of RAM. The OmniBook 4000 notebook PC ships
 standard with a built-in floppy drive, rechargeable NiMH battery pack and an
 AC adapter with power cord. 
  The new color notebooks are scheduled to ship in the fourth quarter,
 Hewlett-Packard said. 

==========================================
Alcatel-EMC-Pacific Bell : For 'Cinema Of The Future'
  RICHARDSON, Texas  Alcatel Alsthom (ALA), EMC Corp. (EMC) and Pacfici
 Telesis Group's (PAC) Pacific Bell unveiled plans to incorporate EMC's open
 systems-based Media Server into Pacific Bell's Cinema of the Future. 
  In a press release, Alcatel said Cinema of the Future, which will use its
 Switched Digital Video Network A1000 AX ATM technology platform, is bringing
 high-definition movies, live sports and other events to theaters, convention
 centers and other venues in the U.S. 
  The company said with EMC's Media Server, entertainment programming can be
 collected and stored directly in the network in real time and played on
 demand without touching tape or film. Pacific Bell tested the Cinema of the
 Future with the HDTV presentation of Friday's Los Angeles Lakers- Detroit
 Pistons basketball game, which was transmitted via the Cinema of the Future
 network and shown on United Artists theater screens in Detroit and Los
 Angeles. 

==========================================
APPLE ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR ENHANCED CD; NEW INTERACTIVE MUSIC PROG
ED
   QuickTime Technology An Integral Component of New Program 
     CUPERTINO, Calif., Nov. 10  -- Imagine playing your favorite
audio CD, then watching the artist describe his thoughts behind the music.  Or,
sitting at your desk, watching the Fourth of July Boston Symphony concert --
complete with fireworks exploding across your computer screen.  This will
become possible, thanks to an emerging industry standard supported by Apple
Computer Inc. (Nasdaq-NNM: AAPL) that combines audio and computer technology. 
At its Multimedia Festival for press and analysts here today, Apple made a
series of announcements that make it easier for music professionals to use
Apple technology in creating interactive music products. 
  
     Apple Announces Support for Enhanced CD 
     First, Apple announced its support for the emerging standard for enhanced
CD.  An enhanced compact disc can be played not only on an audio CD player,
but also in a CD-ROM player attached to a computer. Companies in the music and
software industries have been working together to create a standard for a new
generation of compact discs called enhanced CDs -- sometimes referred to as
"CD Plus." 
"Apple kick-started the market for CD-ROMs and now is bridging the gap between
the computer industry and the entertainment world," commented Ian Diery,
executive vice president and general manager of Apple Computer's Personal
Computer Division.  "We are 100% behind the Recording Industry Association of
America's efforts to facilitate the development of the enhanced CD format." 
"The news from Apple is very exciting," said Norman Beil, vice president of
New Media at Geffen Records.  "The recording industry looks forward to using
interactive technology to enhance the music listening experience.  Apple's
announcement today is a giant step towards realizing that dream." 
Enhanced compact discs offer many benefits to developers, consumers and 
retailers.  Because enhanced CD technology is based on an emerging industry
standard, developers will find it easy to author these multi-session,
dual-purpose discs.  In addition, developers can use existing musical material
and add interactive multimedia content to create an entirely new experience. 
Consumers can purchase one disc and either enjoy it as a music CD or as an
interactive multimedia title. Retailers are endorsing the enhanced compact
disc concept because it results in one product rather than three separate
items -- audio CD, Apple  Macintosh CD-ROM, Windows CD-ROM -- that take up
valuable shelf space. 
  
     New Interactive Music Developers Program Unveiled 
     Second, Apple outlined its plans to extend its well-established Apple
Multimedia Program to music professionals.  The Apple Multimedia Program is
designed to spur the development of multimedia products by providing marketing
and technical information to its more than 1,500 members in the growing areas
of multimedia authoring and playback. The new Interactive Music Developers
Program will provide music publishers and professional musicians with what
they need to create interactive CDs that can be played not only on audio CD
players, but also Macintosh and Windows computers.  Specifically, the new
program will offer informational materials, tools, worldwide seminars and
events. 
"It's about time," said Thomas Dolby, musician and multimedia developer. 
"Apple has always had great technology.  Now they are backing that up with a
new program and helping us to explore the future." 
  
     QuickTime an Integral Component of New Program 
     Finally, Apple announced that increasing numbers of music professionals
are using the company's QuickTime technology in creating multimedia products. 
"We think the QuickTime approach to interactive music is a powerful and 
elegant solution, because QuickTime is an open cross-platform standard," said
Ty Roberts, co-founder of Ion, a Bertelsmann Music Group company. "It is a
natural solution for the music industry because the creative services
departments of the record labels already use Macintosh." 
Using QuickTime -- Apple's cross-platform multimedia software -- music 
professionals can create material that incorporates sound, video, text, 
graphics and animations and deliver that content to many different platforms
-- including Macintosh and Windows computers and enhanced CDs. 
Apple's QuickTime is already a standard for interactive music CD-ROMs such as
Peter Gabriel's trend-setting Xplora.  Yesterday, Apple announced that
QuickTime 2.0 for Windows is now shipping; the Macintosh version has been
available since June.  QuickTime 2.0 is significant as it allows for larger,
faster video -- resulting in a more TV-like experience for the consumer. 
Apple expects the Interactive Music Developers Program to be available for
musicians and music publishers by the end of this year. For more information,
call (408) 974-1323; AppleLink:  MUSICMAKER; or email: 
Musicmakerapplelink.apple.com. 
Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized pioneer and innovator in the information
industry, creates powerful solutions based on easy to use personal computers,
servers, peripherals, software, online services, and personal digital
assistants.  Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple develops,
manufactures, licenses and markets products, technologies and services for the
business, education, consumer, scientific & engineering and government markets
in over 140 countries. 

==========================================
(Nov. 10) - SCIENCE & MEDICAL - GRUMPY OLD MEN                
 GRUMPY OLD MEN  People who want to see in their 100th birthday should be
cantankerous and grumpy. These are the qualities which will keep them fighting
fit and alive much longer than nice people, according to one of Britain's top
specialists in aging. Profesor John Grimley Evans says in a report by the
Medical Research Council, "Some American data suggests that those people who
insist on staying in control of their lives, the wilful and the cantankerous,
live longer than the more compliant 'sweet o ld folk' who make good patients".

==========================================
XIRCOM TO HOST VIRTUAL BROADCAST LIVE FROM COMDEX VIA AMERICA ONLIN
 CALABASAS, Calif., Nov. 10  -- Xircom Inc. (Nasdaq: XIRC), the
mobile networking leader, today announced a live "broadcast" from their COMDEX
booth to all American Online subscribers. The event will feature a keynote
address by Xircom President and Chief Executive Officer Dirk Gates,
interactive sessions with COMDEX attendees and several guest appearances from
editors and analysts discussing what's hot at COMDEX. 
"Xircom at COMDEX" is produced by Mobile Office Productions on America Online
and will take place in the online service's "virtual auditorium" from 4-5 p.m.
PST on Monday, Nov. 14.; Tuesday, Nov. 15; and Wednesday, Nov. 16.  To access
the special "Xircom at COMDEX" live programming on America Online, use the
keyword "MOBILE" and enter the "Globe Auditorium."  You will then be able to
access "Xircom at COMDEX" and get the chance to interact with Gates, along
with the editors and analysts. 

==========================================
New Microsoft TV Ad Campaign Is Dizzying Without A Hard Sell
  Microsoft, the world's largest computer-software company, wants to make
 consumers comfortable with the personal computer and its plethora of
 applications. Here is how it proposes to do so: produce a commercial with an
 array of dizzying images, including sullen youths and smiling elderly
 people, but without any hardsell pitch.
  Even the most attentive of television viewers will be hard-pressed to
 describe what is being advertised in Microsoft's first global image
 campaign, which includes the tagline: "Where do you want to go today?" The
 commercials are scheduled to begin running on broadcast and cable networks
 Monday, with the exception of Capital Cities/ABC's network. ABC is No. 1 in
 household and demographic ratings so far in the 1994-95 season, according to
 A.C. Nielsen, but a Microsoft executive says ABC is being bypassed because
 its ad rates are too high.
  That is surprising since Microsoft's spending appears boundless. It will
 earmark $100 million for the corporate and brand image campaign over the
 next eight months, about half in the U.S. and the balance in the United
 Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia. There are oneminute and 30-second
 versions of the ad, as well as double-page print ads and an eight-page
 booklet. There also will be outdoor ads and, in Europe and Australia,
 commercials in movie theaters.
  Why a big global campaign now? Software buyers have evolved, says Liz King,
 director of Microsoft's corporate marketing, from a "small community of
 technical decision makers" to "everyone. We want to be the brand associated
 with software buyers. . . . We want to encourage people to become more
 involved in the technology."
  A corporation uses a so-called image ad campaign in order to present its
 logo to the consumer in an arena apart from hard-sell product
 advertisements. Steven E. Permut, president of Marketing Sciences in
 Guilford, Conn., says corporate image advertising "is part of the company's
 overall positioning. They define the environment in relationship to
 alternatives and competitors." The corporate ads generally are more regal in
 tone and are used as a supplement, not a substitute, to a company's product
 advertising.
  The quirky campaign carries risk not only for Microsoft, based in Redmond,
 Wash., but also for its new ad agency, Wieden & Kennedy in Portland, Ore.
 Wieden & Kennedy has had enormous success with Nike, but has suffered major
 setbacks as well, such as losing the Subaru of America account, which
 resulted in closing an office in Philadelphia and firing 60 employees.
  Microsoft has re-energized Wieden & Kennedy, which has added 80 employees
 to bring the total number of employees to 215 and, says Dan G. Wieden, the
 agency's president and creative director, the agency is still hiring.
  Although Microsoft leads the pack in the software industry with programs
 such as Windows, it is facing strong competition from rivals Lotus
 Development and Novell.
  In fact, Lotus, based in Cambridge, Mass., is scheduled to begin airing
 today its first television image campaign from the Boston ad agency Hill
 Holliday Connors Cosmopulos. The ads, which will be seen nationally on
 cable's CNN and on broadcast stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
 Boston and Toronto, show how companies such as Reebok International use its
 software. The tagline of the ads: "Working Together."
  The Microsoft ad isn't quite so direct. The spot, directed by Tony Kaye,
 who won a Grammy this year for the rock video "Runaway Train" by Soul
 Asylum, took three weeks to film in New York, Los Angeles, Prague and Hong
 Kong. A woman's voiceover says in a hypnotic monotone, "Listen, the stuff
 that we make is powerful. It makes you powerful. Gather up your ideas and
 run with them. Make trouble and good things will come from it. We're in your
 corner. We can't wait to see what you're going to do. Just do something."
  Throughout the ad is a seductive piece of soothing original music with the
 line, "The world will never be the same."
  As the words are spoken, there are images shot in both black and white and
 color, and none lasting more than a split second, of a girl playing a
 violin, a room of people sitting behind computers, a sulking woman and an
 elderly, wrinkled woman. Interspersed with the video is film of Microsoft
 software, such as Windows and encyclopedias and bar graphs.
  Microsoft chose to produce such a jolting spot "to get away from technical
 language," says Ms. King, adding that the tagline "is meant to be an
 invitation to go on a journey." The reason to include in the ads individuals
 who may never use a personal computer "is to show the spectrum of society."
 Microsoft, says Ms. King, believes there is a "balance" in the ads between
 technology and consumers reacting to the technology."
  Mr. Wieden says the ads are meant to "give an emotional wrap and warm
 invitation" for consumers to buy Microsoft software. He accomplished that,
 he says, with Nike through a brand and image campaign that includes the
 slogan "Just Do It."
  Wieden & Kennedy was named Microsoft's agency only in late June (the
 tagline was part of its pitch), so it is somewhat impressive that the
 campaign is ready so soon. Ms. King says Microsoft, which was founded 20
 years ago by Bill Gates, wants new personal-computer users "to enter the
 technology arena with confidence" and feels the image campaign will, at
 least in part, do the trick.
  For the time being, Microsoft will stay away from advertising on the
 Internet. It will do so, says Ms. King, "when it is an efficient vehicle for
 us."
  Microsoft's corporate image commercials will run in conjunction with its
 product-specific ads in such publications as Time, Newsweek, People and
 Vanity Fair. An ad for its Money software, for example, asks the question,
 "Did you ever have to get up in the middle of the night and go to the bank?
 If you've never amortized a loan in your pajamas, you've never amortized a
 loan."
  The new television spots, says Ms. King, are only an introductory
 "handshake" with the consumer. "Brands aren't built in a day," she says.
  There is more to come. Perhaps the next batch of image ads will actually
 show a demonstration of Microsoft software. Maybe that's too much to ask.

==========================================
Tadpole Technology May       Finally Swim With The Big Fish
  LONDON -- Is Britain's Tadpole Technology PLC finally ready to swim with
 the big fish?
  The Cambridge, England, portable-computer maker has spent most of its life
 on the technology world's fringe. Its high-priced, high-powered notebook PCs
 have been favorites of graphics designers and engineers, but have failed to
 catch on outside a fairly small niche.
  All that could change with a new machine unveiled this week.
  While still expensive -- the computer retails at $7,500 -- it is the first
 Tadpole product based on Intel Corp.'s mainstream microprocessor design. All
 of the company's other products are based on competing, and less popular,
 chip designs.
  The new machine, based on the swiftest version of Intel's Pentium chip, not
 only gives Tadpole bragging rights to the fastest portable computer in the
 world, but it pits the company against the industry's sharks. Analysts
 expect Toshiba Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., and others to have competing
 machines out by next spring.
  The next six months, then, could be the most important in Tadpole's
 10-year-old life. On the one hand, it now has a chance to grab a slice of a
 much bigger pie. Analysts guess that as many as 100,000 super-high-end
 notebook PCs could be sold within the next year, with Tadpole the market
 leader.
  On the flip side, Tadpole is entering a brutal new game. Competition in the
 Intel-compatible PC market is fierce, and portable PCs are the most
 competitive segment.
  "This is an opportunity for us to grow the company much more rapidly," says
 George Grey, the company's co-founder and chief executive officer.
  Tadpole could use the jump-start. Though the company has long been a
 British stock-market darling -- its shares are up nearly 7% this week alone
 -- its appeal has been more in its promise than its performance. When the
 company announces its fiscal-year results later this month, for instance,
 analysts are bracing for a loss of about 1.4 million pounds ($2.2 million),
 compared with an 800,000 pounds profit a year ago. Sales for the year ended
 Sept. 30 are expected to drop slightly, to 22 million pounds.
  "This is a company that's always had loads and loads of potential," says
 Richard Lucas, a technology analyst at Henry Cooke, Lumsden in Manchester.
 "It's always been a tomorrow kind of story."
  Mr. Grey insists that even with its new profile, Tadpole isn't about to
 enter the cut-throat mass-market PC business. Its customers will remain what
 the industry calls "power" users -- companies like Lockheed Sanders Inc.,
 which uses a Tadpole notebook on a portable mission-planning system, and
 British Telecommunications PLC, which uses the machines to monitor its phone
 network.
  "This is not designed for the person who does word processing and
 electronic mail on an airplane," Mr. Grey says.
  Tadpole, though, does hope it can persuade more and more people to ditch
 their desktop machines altogether and rely solely on a beefed-up portable.
 By doing that, the company can start biting into the even-bigger market for
 desktop PCs. "I just can't see that they can go horribly wrong," says Mr.
 Lucas, the analyst.
  The company, no doubt, hopes he's right. Tadpole expects to be listed on
 America's Nasdaq Stock Market in the first quarter of next year.

==========================================
Pupil-Dilation For Detection Of Alzheimer's Appears Hopeful
  BOSTON -- Researchers here reported that Alzheimer's disease is apparently
 detectable with a simple eye test using a drug that dilates pupils.
  The finding was based on a sample too small to prove that the test
 definitively distinguishes the disease from other forms of "dementia" that
 resemble it. But it stirred excitement among medical experts, who have long
 sought a simple, reliable way to diagnose Alzheimer's, which now can be
 detected definitively only by examining a brain after death.
  The study may lead to screening tests that can detect the disease before
 its memory-killing effects are evident. Alzheimer's afflicts an estimated
 two to four million elderly Americans, costing $80 billion a year in care.
  The researchers showed that the pupils of Alzheimer's patients are
 significantly more dilated by a weak solution of the drug topicamide than
 are pupils of people who don't have the disease. Topicamide is widely used
 for dilation in optometry. The test distinguished 18 of 19 elderly patients
 diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, or suspected to have it, from a group of
 subjects who were unafflicted.
  "We're desperate for an early and accurate diagnostic marker for the
 disease," and "we're hopeful" the eye test will work, said Zaven
 Khachaturian, who directs Alzheimer's disease research at the National
 Institute on Aging. But Mr. Khachaturian cautioned that previously proposed
 tests for the disease have flunked rigorous assessments of accuracy.
  Genica Pharmaceuticals Corp., a closely held Worcester, Mass., company
 specializing in neurological testing, already plans to develop a commercial
 test based on the finding. Michael Boss, Genica's research director, said
 the company is optimistic the test will pan out because it appears able to
 detect the presence of Alzheimer's disease much more accurately than simple
 tests previously proposed.
  Alzheimer's disease is incurable. Doctors are eager for a diagnostic test
 because some 20% of dementia cases resembling the disease are treatable. In
 such cases, depression, a vitamin B-12 deficiency, overmedication or other
 problems may be the cause. Scientists also need a good test to use in
 studies on possible Alzheimer's treatments. Some therapies in the research
 pipeline might arrest the underlying process of the degenerative disease
 before symptoms occur, making early detection invaluable.
  The pupil-dilation test agreed with conventional diagnostic methods in 95%
 of suspected Alzheimer's cases. But the study included only four patients
 with nonAlzheimer's dementia, and one of them showed a pupil dilation
 similar to that found in the Alzheimer's patients.
  One patient stood out as indicating the test's potential for early
 detection. Identified by the initials S.G., he had no obvious cognitive
 deficits when first tested, yet showed a pupil dilation suggestive of
 Alzheimer's disease. Nine months later his mind began to deteriorate in a
 way indicative of the disease.
  Harvard's Dr. Potter originated the idea for the test after learning that
 people with Down's syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes retardation and
 brain decay much like Alzheimer's disease, are hypersensitive to certain
 drugs. The drugs, including tropicamide, inhibit acetylcholine, a chemical
 that carries signals between nerve cells. Dr. Potter reasoned that
 Alzheimer's patients might show similar hypersensitivity. His study
 indicates he was right.
  Alzheimer's disease has long been associated with acetylcholine deficits in
 the brain. But exactly why the pupil-dilation test works isn't clear, Dr.
 Potter said. It may result from wobbly acetylcholine metabolism in the eye
 itself or in brain neurons linked to the eye.

==========================================
Video Conferencing Takes     Center Stage At Comdex Show
  Remember all of those predictions that face-to-face conversations on big
 video screens would replace the phone? Judging by the exhibits in Comdex,
 the world's premier computer show, the industry is finally planning to make
 video collaboration commonplace in the next few years.
  Comdex, which starts on Monday in Las Vegas and is expected to draw 190,000
 people, also will be used to promote several other hot trends, including
 increasingly effective wireless communications and very powerful laptop
 computers. But some of the biggest buzz at the show will be about video
 conferencing.
  Right now, video conferencing on a personal computer is fairly frustrating.
 Moving images flicker because of low-powered transmission lines, and in most
 cases underpowered computers can only process enough video to fill a small
 window on the screen. Then there are the cultural problems. Many people are
 uncomfortable about appearing on video, or don't like the way other people
 can read their faces.
  But some of those hurdles are falling as high-powered fiber-optic networks
 are only two or three years away, microprocessors are better able to process
 video data, and prices of video equipment and software are crashing. The
 industry senses a vast new profit opportunity.
  So Far The current product offerings are crude and costly in comparison
 with what analysts say will come. PictureTel Corp., for instance, will be
 exhibiting its PictureTel Live PCS 100 conferencing system, which starts at
 about $5,000 but can only display slow and jerky video images because
 today's computers can't compress data well enough for a TV-style image.
 Intel Corp., the chip giant, will be showing its new ProShare family of
 personal-conferencing systems, which start for about $1,000, but only
 display small "window" images on the screen.
  Intel also will be unveiling a modem that allows video-conference users to
 see and talk through one phone connection in the computer. Up to now, a
 hindrance to video conferencing has been that both users have needed two
 phone lines: one for the video transmissions, the other to talk over.
  Most corporations, so far, are waiting on the sidelines for things to
 improve. But growing sales are expected to lower prices rapidly: Elliot
 Gold, an analyst in Altadena, Calif., says the average price of a desktop
 system will drop from a current $3,000 to below $750 by 1996. Researcher
 Dataquest Inc. reports yearly world-wide shipments will nearly sextuple to
 about 400,000 units by 1997. Intel predicts every PC will ship with some
 conferencing features by the end of the decade.
  "When price and performance get better, I think you will see more interest
 in that as a corporate tool," says Kathy Klotz, an analyst at Dataquest, San
 Jose, Calif.
  Intel, whose Pentium microprocessor will be prominently featured in
 computers at the show, also is advocating an overhaul of the PC that will
 make video conferencing and other multimedia an integral part of the
 machine. Users of the Intel-based PCs that dominate the market now must buy
 special add-on circuit boards to handle sound, video and other special
 functions, such as compressing data for transmission over phone lines. Intel
 is advocating a new approach that will allow its most-powerful
 microprocessors to take on most of these jobs, with the aid of special
 software. The concept is expected to be touted Wednesday in a keynote speech
 by Andrew Grove, Intel's chief executive officer.
  Bruce Thompson, marketing manager for Spectron Microsystems Inc., a Santa
 Barbara, Calif., software maker, expects audio capabilities, such as
 built-in phone-answering technologies, to be among the first applications of
 the technology. Some potential bugs need to be worked out, though. Other
 executives predict high-quality video will swamp even the most powerful
 chips, or block PCs from carrying out other useful functions.
  "You are going to bring the entire system to a screeching halt," says Alex
 Balkanski, chief operating officer of CCube Microsystems Inc., a maker of
 video-compression chips in Milpitas, Calif.
  The ability of PCs to squeeze and expand video signals is crucial to
 improving the quality of multimedia software. Most PCs now can only display
 video in a small window on the display screen. Several companies at Comdex
 are expected to demonstrate circuit boards that use a compression scheme
 called MPEG that improves video quality and expands images to fill the
 screen.
  Meanwhile, software giant Microsoft Corp. will accelerate the move towards
 more powerful and easy-to-use computers with a new operating system called
 Windows 95. Scheduled out next spring, but expected to get much attention at
 Comdex, Windows 95 will kick off "plug-and-play" computers that are much
 easier to install and use. At the same time, International Business Machines
 Corp. will promote its rival OS/2 Warp operating system.
  Chips are becoming so powerful that even the smallest laptops are now able
 to run programs about as quickly as a desktop. Both Hewlett-Packard Co. and
 Digital Equipment Corp. will unveil powerful entries at the show. Both the
 H-P OmniBook and Digital HiNote series of small and medium-sized notebooks
 feature color screens and speedy Intel 486 microprocessors. For H-P, the
 fast-growing computer giant based in Palo Alto, Calif., the OmniBook 4000
 marks its entry into the midsize notebook market, while Digital's products
 are the first it has engineered itself.
  Besides containing desktop-like hard-drive capacity of as much as 520
 megabytes for the OmniBooks and 340 megabytes for the HiNotes, these laptops
 join rival offerings from the likes of IBM and Toshiba Corp. in ability to
 perform two-way communications in the fast-evolving wireless world. The
 first wireless networks will begin to take shape later next year, making
 possible seamless use of, say, electronic mail and two-way paging untethered
 from phone lines. For now, a taste of the future comes from Motorola Inc.'s
 recently introduced Power card, a $339 modem that slips into a laptop and
 lets the user send and receive messages via a Motorola cellular phone.
  "Wireless will be gradually more important" in portable computing, says
 Richard Shaffer, principal at Technologic Partners in New York.
  The Achilles heel for laptops, though, remains battery life of only two
 hours or so on the more powerful versions. Battery manufacturers are working
 to extend the life sharply, and analysts think this problem will lessen over
 time. Although some businesspeople may eventually abandon the desktop
 computer to use laptops fulltime, the trend isn't expected to be that big,
 because desktops will generally have more powerful processors, hard drives
 and screens, as well as superior multimedia capabilities, such as CD-ROM
 drives.

==========================================
Oracle announces $1 million in grants to  challenge developers of i
education applications
REDWOOD SHORES, CALIF.  -Nov. 11, 1994--Oracle Corp.,
the leading provider of software for interactive multimedia services, today
announced the Oracle Challenge Grant, a $1 million fund issued to challenge
software developers and media producers to create a new class of interactive
education titles for use on the evolving Information Superhighway. 
"This kind of interactive educational software has the potential to 
dramatically expand a student's educational experience," said Lawrence J.
Ellison, Oracle's president and chief executive officer. "With only a standard
TV or PC, a set-top box and a simple four button remote control, 
students will be able to travel the information highway and experience from
their desktop everything from other cultures and other worlds to current
events and ancient history." 
Intended for use by Kindergarten through 12th grade, the winning educational
titles must be developed using Oracle's multimedia authoring tool, Oracle
Media Objects.  The Oracle Challenge Grant is a series of grants that will be
awarded in two increments:  In February 1995, Oracle judges will select 20
developers to award each a $25,000 concept development grant; of these 20,
five $100,000 implementation grants will be awarded in April 1995. 
"While there is plenty of educational material, the real challenge is to allow
teachers and students to bring the volumes of sights, sounds and facts from
the Information Superhighway into the classroom," said James A. Abrahamson,
Oracle's Chairman of the Board. 
Oracle's role in evolving this new paradigm of multimedia education is to
provide the enabling software to manage vast amounts of graphics and sound,
full-motion video and text.  To make this information available, Oracle
software is used to store volumes of information -- text, images, audio and
video -- that can be instantly accessed and delivered over standard telephone
wires to standard PCs or TVs with a set-top box. 
Far exceeding a CD-ROM's capacity to hold minutes of playing time, these 
digital libraries can store hours of information on Oracle's video servers. 
To date, Oracle has delivered its market leading software to companies like
Bell Atlantic, Bell South, British Telecom and US West, who will ultimately
provide these high-quality interactive services to consumers, businesses and
academia. 
The Oracle Challenge Grant is the first of its kind from the newly formed
division, Oracle Innovations for Education.  This division is chartered to
develop applications and projects to allow teachers and students to gain
access to the evolving educational resources on the information superhighway. 
The Oracle Challenge Grant will be judged by Oracle based on three criteria:
how the software will be integrated into a K-12 curriculum; how effectively
the software addresses every mode of learning from auditory, visual and
kinetic; and the aesthetic value of the user interface for the student,
including the usage of animation and video footage to heighten and focus the
student's learning experience. 
For more information on the Oracle Challenge Grant, please contact Theresa
Baker-Hancock, Oracle Corp., at 415/506-4403. 
Oracle Corp. a $2 billion company with headquarters in Redwood Shores, Calif.,
is the world's leading supplier of information management software.  Oracle
develops and markets Oracle Media Server and the Oracle7 family of software
products for database management; Cooperative Development Environment (CDE), a
complete set of tools for enterprise-wide, client/server application
development; and Oracle Cooperative Applications, packaged client/server
solutions for accounting, manufacturing, distribution, human resources and
project control.  Oracle software runs on personal digital assistants, PCs, 
workstations, minicomputers, mainframes and massively parallel computers.  The
company offers its products, along with related consulting, education and
support services in more than 90 countries around the world. 

==========================================
MICROTEK TAPS MULTIMEDIA TO HELP RETAILERS SELL SCANNERS; COMPACT D
ENTERTAINS, EDUCATES CUSTOMERS ON BENEFITS OF SCANNERS
 REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Nov. 11  -- How can retailers cash in on
the $1.2 billion scanner industry that analysts project will overtake fax
machine sales in five more years?  One way would be to expand shelf space and
spend thousands of dollars each year retraining salespeople on ever-growing
scanner features and applications.  An easier way would be to use Microtek's
"Virtual Scanner," a compact disc- based scanner demonstration, and let the
incredibly creative and time- saving power of scanners sell themselves. 
"We produced the 'Virtual Scanner' to relieve retailers of the three most
common challenges to selling any computer equipment -- limited demo shelf
space, high training costs and rapid sales force turnover," said Woody Hale,
Microtek's vice president of marketing and sales.  "Besides, scanning is a
visual application that most buyers have never seen.  In many of today's
retail environments, requests for scanner demonstrations go unanswered." 
With its' full-motion video clips, dazzling graphics and narration, the 
"Virtual Scanner" entices customers to try for themselves the computer 
industry's "nextwave" peripheral.  What's more, the five- minute, interactive
and self-looping presentation explains the underlying virtues and features of
scanning to customers in an educational format. The net effect answers the
needs of customers who request in-store scanner demonstrations.  This takes
considerable pressure off sales people and lets them focus on selling. 
The multimedia package is designed to complement or, in some cases, replace
today's more costly approach to selling scanners at retail -- i.e. investing
heavily in demo equipment and sales training.  The most costly alternative, of
course, is simply to lose scanner sales to competing channels. 
Retailers can see a demonstration of the "Virtual Scanner" during November's
COMDEX in Las Vegas.  Authorized Microtek retailers will receive the "Virtual
Scanner" in quantity by mid-December.  Non- authorized retailers can receive a
free copy by calling Microtek at 800-654-4160. 

==========================================
Jones Computer Network and Mind Extension  University pioneer the v
trade show covering COMDEX '94
ENGLEWOOD, COLO. -Nov. 11, 1994--Jones Computer 
Network (JCN) and Mind Extension University (ME/U): The Education Network will
air JCN Special Reports: COMDEX, providing next-day comprehensive coverage of
the COMDEX trade show, November 14-17 in Las Vegas. 
JCN Special Reports: COMDEX next-day coverage of COMDEX will air on Jones
Computer Network and also on Mind Extension University on Nov. 15 and 16 from
8 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET and again at 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Hosted by Bill
Rafferty of Real People fame, JCN Special Reports: COMDEX will feature news
coverage of the expected announcement of Microsoft's new Marvel service and
other industry developments. 
In addition, JCN Special Reports: COMDEX will cover the new Power PC platform,
a joint effort by IBM, Motorola and Apple Computers, to compete with
Intel-based products. 
"JCN Special Reports: COMDEX will bring to our viewers the latest breaking
news on the latest technical breakthroughs and the most interesting new
products that are going to be demonstrated on the COMDEX showroom floor," said
Bernard Luskin, president, Jones Education Networks Inc., global operations. 
"Our coverage will focus on the ever-evolving international aspect of the
communications industry with this comprehensive virtual trade show programming
of the actual show." 
Marc Doyle, producer of JCN Special Reports: COMDEX, will be behind the scenes
to bring viewers the various "Power Panels" that feature the biggest names in
the computer industry.  In addition to the extensive news coverage of COMDEX,
Doyle will also include special segments focusing on the social dimension of
the conference. Doyle is also the producer of JCN Profiles, a weekly program
examining the leaders of the information age that airs on both JCN and ME/U. 
Jones Computer Network, a subsidiary of Jones Education Networks Inc., debuted
its first JCN test programming in the fall of 1993 as a nightly programming
block on Mind Extension University (ME/U): The Education Network, and launched
as a full-time cable network on Sept. 6, 1994. 
JCN's primary mission is to help individuals become more knowledgeable about
computers, communications, multimedia, software and microcomputer-based
technologies and, consequently, to stimulate broader use of these new
information and communications tools nationwide and even globally. 
Mind Extension University (ME/U): The Education Network, a subsidiary of Jones
Education Networks Inc., is the only basic cable television network devoted to
distance education and currently reaches 25 million households in more than
8,500 communities. Selected JCN programming continues to air on ME/U from 8
p.m. to midnight ET. 
Jones Education Networks (JEN), a subsidiary of Jones International Ltd., 
operates Jones Computer Network and Mind Extension University.  The JEN 
networks, which will include additional channels addressing health care and
languages/cultural topics, are dedicated to increasing educational and
learning opportunities through personal communications technologies. 

==========================================
WINDOWS 95 GAINS NEW PROFESSIONAL VIDEO-EDITING SOLUTION           
 REDMOND, Wash. Nov. 11 - Avid Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: AVID)
announced today it is developing a version of its Emmy Award-winning Media
Suite(TM) Pro product for the Microsoft(R) (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows(TM) 95
operating system.  A preliminary version of the product will be shown next
week at COMDEX/Fall '94. 
"We are very pleased with the advanced multimedia functionality in Windows 95,
" said Carmen Bal, product manager for Media Suite Pro at Avid Technology. 
"With the kind of performance we are seeing in Windows 95, our
Windows-compatible version of Media Suite Pro should be impressive.  We are
especially happy with the superior hard disk throughput that Windows 95 makes
possible, but the improved graphics speed and 32-bit subsystems were also
important in our decision to join. We have some interesting ideas about ways
to take advantage of multitasking support and OLE compound files." 
"We're excited to have Avid and Media Suite Pro join the rapidly growing 
number of powerful multimedia development tools for Windows 95," said Paul
Osborne, director of multimedia technology at Microsoft. "Avid is a leader in
the professional video-editing market.  With Media Suite Pro, high-quality
digital-video production will be accessible to millions of users of Windows 95
in corporations and other environments in which video is an essential
communications medium." 
Avid Technology Inc.,  headquartered in Tewksbury, Mass., is an international
supplier of comprehensive solutions for capturing, creating, editing and
distributing digital media.  Avid is a pioneering developer of nonlinear film,
video- and audio-editing software and hardware technologies for applications
ranging from desktop video to broadcast news.  Integrated with the company's
storage and networking solutions, Avid's products are used in post-production
facilities; production companies; network, independent and cable-television 
stations; advertising agencies; educational institutions; and corporate film
and video departments worldwide.  Avid's products are sold through direct
sales offices and a network of distributors and resellers around the world. 
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software for personal
computers.  The company offers a wide range of products and services for
business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier
and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal
computing every day. 

==========================================
DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION AND EVANS & SUTHERLAND ANNOUNCE RELAT
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -November 11, 1994-- Digital 
Equipment Corporation and Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation (E&S) today
announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding concerning E&S's
plans to develop 3D graphics accelerators for the newest members of Digital's
workstation family, the AlphaStation line. 
The first product expected for the Digital platforms will be a 
high-performance 3D graphics accelerator based on the E&S Freedom Series for
the PCI-based AlphaStation systems.  The combination of Digital's Alpha
processor power together with the wide bandwidth offered by the PCI bus is
expected to deliver industry leadership graphics performance on the Digital
implementation of the Freedom Series. 
The Freedom Series graphics performance specifications are in excess of 4
million antialiased 3D lines per second, 4 million triangle-mesh polygons per
second, and 320,000 MIP-mapped texture- mapped polygons per second. 
"We are extremely pleased with the potential of this arrangement. The demand
for high-performance graphics on Digital's Alpha-based workstations is strong
and Digital is implementing an aggressive plan to capitalize on that demand.  d
workstation computing available,"  said Philippe Ribeyre, Vice President of
Digital's Workstation Business Segment.  "The Freedom Series yields the
fastest 3D graphics available, and this superior graphics performance on our
new workstations is expected to provide customers with the most powerful
graphics workstations in the industry." 
The initial Freedom Series offering on the Digital Alpha workstations is 
planned to be supported with the DEC OSF/1 operating system and the OpenGL 3D
graphics application programming interface. Digital's position as an early
adopter of the OpenGL programming interface ensures a healthy ramp-up for
application availability on the joint product. 
Customers with applications which capitalize on the high- performance system
include visual simulation, mechanical CAD, computer-aided molecular design,
industrial design, and entertainment. 
Early interest from large industrial customers is indicative of the solid
opportunity for the combination of the two companies respective technologies. 
For Evans & Sutherland, an agreement with Digital will further reinforce the
successful move from direct supplier of high-end graphics to an OEM supplier
of high-performance graphics to the world's largest computer and workstation
manufacturers. 
Evans & Sutherland is a leader in advanced 3D graphics and visualization 
systems for science, industry, education, and entertainment.  The Design 
Systems Division provides graphics hardware and software solutions that are
sold and supported by HP, IBM, and Sun Microsystems.  The Division is also the
supplier of CDRS, the world's leading automotive styling and design software.
Evans & Sutherland was founded in 1968 and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. 
Digital Equipment Corporation is the world's leader in open client/server
solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information systems.
Digital's scalable Alpha platforms, storage, networking, software and services,
together with industry- focused solutions from business partners, help
organizations compete and win in today's global marketplace. 

==========================================
SYMANTEC GIVES COMDEX SNEAK PREVIEW OF UTILITIES FOR WINDOWS 95    
  Next Generation Utilities for the Next Generation of Windows 
     Symantec Corporation (Nasdaq: SYMC) will preview components of The Norton
Utilities for Windows 95 and The Norton AntiVirus for Windows 95, and also
exhibit the recently announced
Symantec offers complete, everyday utility solutions for individuals, 
corporations, network administrators, and new users moving to Windows 95.  The
cost-effective migration, save time during the transition, and ensure system
and data integrity.  Utilities offered for Windows 95 include disk repair and
optimization, data recovery and protection, virus protection, backup, security,
file management and asset management. 
  
     WHO:            SYMANTEC CORPORATION 
  
     WHAT:   The Norton Utilities for Windows 95 (preview only) 
                 The Norton AntiVirus for Windows 95 (preview only) 
                 The pcAnywhere 2.0 for Windows 
                 The Norton Enterprise Backup 
                 The Norton Disklock 
                 ACT! 
                 TimeLine for Windows 
                 The Norton Administrator for Networks 
                 LANLord 
  
     WHEN:   Monday, November 14 
                 10: 30AM - 5:00PM 
  
                 Tuesday, November 15 - Thursday, November 17 
                 10:00AM - 5:00PM 
  
                 Friday, November 18 
                 10:00AM - 4:00PM 
  
     WHERE:  Las Vegas Convention Center 
                 South Annex 
                 Booth A-630 

==========================================
Packard Bell To Distribute Software Programs In Stores
  WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.  Packard Bell Electronics Inc., the nation's
 biggest seller of personal computers for the home, will extend its brand
 reach by distributing software programs in stores, according to Mal Ransom,
 marketing vice president. 
  Packard Bell is closely held but considered an important indicator of the
 PC market because of its size in the consumer market and its fast growth in
 market share. 
  Analysts say the distribution move, expected to be announced Monday at the
 Comdex trade show, will broaden the Packard Bell brand name beyond the
 company's PCs that outsell all others in retail stores. Ransom said the
 company intends to distribute titles from its recently acquired
 subsidiaries, Ark Interface Inc. in Seattle and Active Imagination Inc.
 here. 
  They will include six children's storybook titles from Active Imagination
 and two by Ark, which developed a Navigator software shell that simplifies
 the complex Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Windows operating system for Packard Bell
 computers. Ark's two programs are enhanced versions of consumer help centers
 taken from Navigator that can be run on other personal computers. 
  Richard Zwetchkenbaum, an analyst for International Data Corp., said the
 software foray is a significant one because it helps extend the Packard Bell
 name, much as consumer electronics companies like Sony Corp. (SNE) do in
 labeling their names on a multitude of products. The software titles carry
 names of the subsidiary companies but add, ''A Packard Bell company.'' 
  ''The business model of greatest envy in the PC industry is Sony,''
 Zwetchkenbaum said. ''Everyone wants to extend their brands like Sony.'' 
  Packard Bell's distribution news comes as many makers of multimedia
 software struggle for space on crowded store shelves. Ransom said Packard
 Bell will use its vast reach in stores to provide space for the programs of
 its software units. ''We have a lot of brand equity,'' Ransom said. ''We
 feel we can take that to a separate but similar market.'' 

==========================================
Gingrich : Says Opposed To Any Tax Increase
  On other fronts, House Speaker-to-be Gingrich said he's opposed to any tax
 increase; the House will eliminate the use of the ''current services
 budget'' to bring greater candor to the budget process. 
  He said House Republicans will open each session of the upcoming Congress
 for the first 100 days by reviewing the ''Contract With America,'' which
 calls for steps including a balanced budget constitutional amendment and a
 capital gains tax cut. 
  Gingrich said all ''Great Society'' programs should be reviewed from the
 bottom up, with an eye toward being scaled back if not totally eliminated.
 All Congressional documents will be filed electronically, and won't be made
 available to anyone until made available to all citizens. 
  He also said he wants to work to ''renew American civilization.'' 
================================================

Large Volume Insider selling at McAfee 
(can often be a signal for an investor to follow the insiders and "GET OUT")

MCAFEE ASSOCIATES : J.D. MCAFEE, DIR., SELLS 675,000 SHARES        
FORM 4 
SEC - FROM OCT 17, 1994 TO OCT 28, 1994, JOHN D MCAFEE, DIR. OF MCAFEE 
ASSOCIATES INC. (TICKER: MCAF), SOLD 675,000 SHARES FROM $14.00 TO $14.50 PER 
SHARE, BRINGING INDIRECT HOLDINGS TO 1,037,280. 

MCAFEE ASSOCIATES : J.&.J. TRUST, BEN. OWNER, SELLS 675,000 SHARES 
FORM 4 
SEC - FROM OCT 17, 1994 TO OCT 28, 1994, J & J TRUST, BEN. OWNER OF MCAFEE 
ASSOCIATES INC. (TICKER: MCAF), SOLD 675,000 SHARES FROM $14.00 TO $14.50 PER 
SHARE, BRINGING DIRECT HOLDINGS TO 1,037,280. 

MCAFEE ASSOCIATES : W.L. LARSON, OFFICER, SELLS 30,000 SHARES      
FORM 4 
SEC - FROM OCT 13, 1994 TO OCT 20, 1994, WILLIAM L LARSON, OFFICER OF MCAFEE 
ASSOCIATES INC. (TICKER: MCAF), SOLD 30,000 SHARES FROM $13.78 TO $13.88 PER 
SHARE. 

MCAFEE ASSOCIATES : J.D. MCCAMMON, DIR., SELLS 10,000 SHARES       
FORM 4 
SEC - ON OCT 31, 1994, JAMES DANIEL MCCAMMON, DIR. OF MCAFEE ASSOCIATES INC. 
(TICKER: MCAF), SOLD 10,000 SHARES AT $15.00 PER SHARE. 

MCAFEE ASSOCIATES : R.J. SCHWEI, OFFICER, SELLS 10,000 SHARES      
FORM 4 
SEC - ON OCT 18, 1994, ROBERT J SCHWEI, OFFICER OF MCAFEE ASSOCIATES INC. 
(TICKER: MCAF), SOLD 10,000 SHARES FROM $13.75 TO $14.00 PER SHARE. 

