THE ENABLED COMPUTER: ABLEDATA CD-ROM UPDATE DUE
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 19 (NB) -- The Trace Research and
Development Center is about to release the sixth edition of the Co-
Net Hyper-ABLEDATA and DOS-ABLEDATA, an enabling technology database
of tens of thousands of products. Newsbytes uses this database often
as do many other specialists who work with disabled computer users,
but the latest release had been delayed so the Trace Center was able
to greatly upgrade the disc's offerings.

The same CD-ROM (Compact Disc - Read Only Memory) will contain
Macintosh and MS-DOS versions of the access files with the DOS
version specifically designed to be text-to-speech friendly for
visually impaired users of the reference information.

ABLEDATA is an indexed database containing about 20,000 product
listings (some of which are marked as discontinued) of specialty
products which range from special software and hardware intended to
accommodate various disabilities, to desks designed for wheelchair
users.

The next release, which the center says will be available in August,
will include an expanded text library containing documents covering
special funding, the full text of the new Rehabilitation Act, and
many ADA legislation and technical assistance manuals.

A new co-operative service directory will include information about
state and nation-wide disability-related services providers.

A specific price for the new version of ABLEDATA has not been
announced, but the previous versions were sold as a two-issue
subscription at a very low price and those subscribers who have
already paid for and received issue number five will get the
expanded Co-Net 6 as part of their subscription.

Co-Net is available from The Trace Research and Development Center,
S-151 Waisman Center, 1500 Highland Ave., University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53706, 608-262-6966.

(John McCormick/19930719/Press Contact: Peter Borden, Trace
Center, 608-262-6966)


"HILLARY SHOULD LET AL GORE COME OUT TO PLAY"
WASHINGTON, D.C, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 19 (NB) -- Robert D. Steele, an
ex-government intelligence officer and organizer of the second
annual "National Security & National Competitiveness: Open Source
Solutions" symposium, has asserted that the Clinton Administration
is ignoring Vice President Al Gore's potential contributions in the
field of Information Technology (IT).

According to Steele, the US is living in an age of information and
informational warfare. "Al Gore is our secret weapon and he is not
being used," he told Newsbytes.

As a result, Steele said, he is concerned that Hillary Clinton may
be involved in preventing Gore from "coming out to play."

Steele added that the administration seems to want nothing to
overshadow Hillary Clinton's health care work, but that, in terms of
long range benefit, the effective gathering and use of information
may be even more important to the national interest.

Gore is tentatively scheduled to speak at the lunch on the first day
of the three day Symposium, which opens on November 2 at the Omni
Shorham Hotel in Washington, DC.

Other speakers lined up for the event include Alvin Toffler; author
of "The Third Wave" and "Future Shock"; Phil Leder, deputy director
for management, Office of Management and Budget (OMB); Air Force
retired Lt. General Norman Wood, former director of Intelligence
Community Staff; Ross Stapleton, analyst, Central Intelligence
Agency; and Mitch Kapor, chairman of the Electronic Frontier
Foundation.

Steele told Newsbytes that he has been working with congressional
staff on the drafting of a bill that will greatly increase funding
to seed the transition to an open, more flexible method of
intelligence gathering and sharing.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19930719/Press Contact:
Robert Steele, Open Sources Solutions, 703-536-1775 (voice); 703-
536-1776 (fax); E-mail on the Internet - steller@well.sf.ca.us)


DALSA INTROS 120MB/SEC DIGITAL SCANNER CAMERA
WATERLOO, ONTARIO, CANADA, JUL 19 (NB) -- Dalsa, a Canadian firm
that specializes in the development and manufacture of solid state
image sensors and cameras, has announced a fast digital TDI line
scan camera that has an effective data rate of 120 megabits (MB) per
second.

The company claims that the camera employs time delay and
integration technology which scans an image over multiple scan
states, allowing it to capture high contrast images. That's of
particular importance, Dalsa reckons, for use in applications with
low ambient light, or in applications where images are moving at an
extremely high speed.

Applications include high speed manufacturing and quality
inspection, high speed document scanning and optical character
reading (OCR), wafer and PC board inspection, and defect detection
applications.

The new camera comes in two versions, one that can scan only in the
forward direction, and one with bi-directional capabilities. Both
versions support resolutions of 2,048 pixel elements. One model
provides buffered raw analog video on eight parallel channels
directly from the image sensor, while a second model provides eight-
bit digital video.

The company claims that the low light capability of the camera is
particularly important in applications that cannot tolerate high
light levels, such as light sensitive film and the inspection of
food.

(Jim Mallory/19930719/Press contact: Rob Ambrose, Dalsa - 519-886-
6000; Reader contact: DALSA Inc, 519-886-6000, fax 519-886-8023)


ACC INTROS ETHERNET RISC MODULE FOR ENTERPRISE HUB
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 19 (NB) -- Fault-tolerant
computing is becoming increasingly important for users of Ethernet
networks. Now Advanced Computer Communications has announced the
availability of a new Four-Port Ethernet RISC (reduced instruction-
set computing) Module for its ACCes/4500 Enterprise Hub.

According to the company, the module is designed to allow
organizations to connect dozens of local Ethernet connections into a
single enterprise hub. The new module provides users with increased
local routing flexibility by supporting up to 40 Ethernet networks
in a single 11-slot chassis. Additionally, the module is supported
by a 320 Mbps high-speed backplane and a 10 Mbps backplane for
fault-tolerant, high-speed connectivity.

Announcing the module, Kurt Bauer, ACC's director of marketing,
said: "With the new Four-Port Ethernet RISC Module, we have crafted
a high-performance, fault-tolerant bridge/router solution to allow
organizations to cost-effectively connect their local Ethernet
networks to corporate information highways."

The new module allows for the support of all major internetworking
protocols, including TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol), IPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange), DECnet, AppleTalk,
XNS, RIP, and OSPF. The module supports SNMP (Simple Network
Management Protocol)-based network management.

"This module was created for large- to mid-sized organizations
with mission-critical corporate networks composed of multiple
local and remote networks," he said.

According to ACC, the ACCes/4500 Enterprise Hub is an integrated
physical platform that houses up to 10 internetworking modules in
combinations of Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data
Interchange) and a variety of wide-area interfaces.

The Four-Port Ethernet RISC Module is listed at $8,550.

(Ian Stokell/19930719/Press Contact: Mindy Rauch,
408-864-0630, ACC)


DIGIBOARD INTROS SERIAL PORT PRODUCTS FOR SPARC
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 19 (NB) -- Digiboard has
introduced its first serial port products for the Sun SPARC
computing environment.

The company has announced the SBus C/X and SBus EPC/x, two high
performance cluster controller systems that allow users to add from
16 to 896 users to multi-user and networked systems via asynchronous
serial ports. The company claims that the new controller systems
offer higher speeds, greater CPU efficiency, more channels, longer
distance capabilities and better diagnostic functions than existing
serial products.

The company also claims that the two new systems are ideal for
applications requiring multiple high speed modems or digital
communication devices. Aggregate throughput for the EPC/X system
supports 115 kilobits-per-second (Kbps) on 96 ports. Both systems
can act as remote multiplexors allowing cluster groups to be
configured remotely across telephone lines using standard analog
modems, or via DSU/CSU equipment on a 56 Kbps leased line.

Joe Toste, Digiboard product manager, said that Digiboard developed
the two units in recognition of Sun's growing share of the
commercial workstation and server marketplace and its participation
incorporate downsizing. "Many commercial transaction processing
applications, such as customer service, bank trading, and inventory
control, require large numbers of users on a single system," he
said.

Digiboard's SBus system consists of a host adapter card that is
installed in the Sun host computer, attached to one or more
Digiboard C/CON-16 or EPCCON-16 concentrator boxes. Each box
provides connections for up to 16 users via standard RS-232, DB25 or
RJ45 connectors. The adapter card can support up to 14 EPC/CON-16s
or eight C/CON-16s for a maximum of 224 ports per slot. Up to four
SBus adapters can be installed in the host, allowing for a maximum
of 896 users.

Using synchronous cabling, the C/CON-16 concentrators can be located
as far as 4,000 feet from the host computer. With the Digiboard
Fiber Link option, standard fiber optic cabling can be used to
locate the first concentrator as far as 1.2 miles from the host.
Using synchronous modems, workgroups can be tied to the server from
anywhere in the world.

According to Digiboard, the SBus C/X is capable of sustaining data
transmission rates of up to 38.4 kilobytes with as many as 64
concurrent users. Each serial channel has surge protection and each
concentrator box has pass-through fault tolerance to protect other
concentrators should one fail.

The SBus EPC/x is an enhanced performance cluster system that
utilizes RISC (reduced instruction set computing) technology to
achieve its speed and power. It can handle transmission rates of up
to 115.2 Kbps for systems with up to 96 concurrent users, and
Digiboard guarantees 38.4 Kbps with 896 users.

Both systems are scheduled to ship in August, and will be on display
at the Interop Fall trade show August 25 through 27, 1993. The SBus
c/x has a suggested retail price of $2,395, while the EPC/X sells
for $2,895. Prices include the adapter card and one concentrator
box.

(Jim Mallory/19930719/Press contact: Kristin Kimmel, Digiboard,
612-943-9020, ext 344)


COMDEX/CANADA: BIG CROWDS, BUT FEW NEW PRODUCTS
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUL 19 (NB) -- The first
Comdex/Canada show took its place on the Canadian computer trade
show calendar with authority. Organizers say the show attracted
more than 35,000 visitors.

That figure exceeds the 20,000 advance projection given out by
the show's backer -- The Interface Group of Needham, Massachusetts.
It also about equals the established Canadian Computer Show, which
has taken place in Toronto every fall for 23 years.

There were more than 300 exhibitors at the show -- also
comparable to the Canadian Computer Show -- but a fairly small
number of new products were announced. Newsbytes has already covered
several announcements from the show over the past few days. The
following is a brief summary of others.

Hummingbird Communications, a Markham, Ontario-based supplier of PC
X Windows software, said it recently began shipping eXceed/Xpress,
software that provides remote access to Unix/X applications from a
personal computer running Microsoft Windows. Meant for laptop and
notebook computer users, the software costs US$249 for a single user
and required the company's Xpress/Host software on Unix at a cost of
US$125.

Hummingbird is also shipping eXceed/Motif-W, a tool kit for the
Open Software Foundation's Motif user interface that complements
the X Development Kit sold with the firm's eXceed/W 3.3 X Windows
access software. The price is US$195.

New releases of eXceed/W, which provides access to X applications
from Windows, and eXceed/DOS, which does the same for DOS PCs,
are now available, both at US$545 per single copy. Hummingbird
also said it is readying eXceed/NT, a version of the software for
Microsoft's new Windows NT operating system, and will ship it
when NT becomes available.

Hummingbird has distribution in 40 countries around the world, as
well as offices in Canada, the United States, and Switzerland,
said company spokeswoman Lorraine Neal.

WordPerfect Corporation has released the Canadian-English version of
WordPerfect 6.0 for DOS, and said a Canadian-French version will be
available later this summer. The suggested retail price is C$595 for
a full package, with upgrade available to current WordPerfect
customers for C$155. Owners of rival word processors can switch for
C$179.

HMS Software, the St. Laurent, Quebec-based Canadian distributor for
Welcom Software Technology of Houston, introduced Welcom's new Texim
Project for Windows NT project management software to the Canadian
market. The software will run on Intel, DEC Alpha, and MIPS hardware
under NT, officials said. It will be available when Windows NT
ships.

(Grant Buckler/19930719/Press Contact: Kim Pappas, The Interface
Group, 617-449-6600, fax 617-449-6617; Lorraine Neal, Hummingbird
Communications, 416-470-1203, fax 416-470-1207; Jeff Larsen,
WordPerfect, 801-228-5034, fax 801-228-5077; Denise Desmeules,
HMS Software, 514-333-0718, fax 514-333-7093)


CANADIAN PRODUCT LAUNCH UPDATE
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, 1993 JUL 19 (NB) -- This regular feature,
appearing every Monday or Tuesday, provides further details for the
Canadian market on announcement by international companies that
Newsbytes has already covered. This week: AST's energy-saving PC,
Toshiba's multimedia computer, an AutoCAD update for the Macintosh,
and a new Canadian distributor for Compaq.

Toshiba of Canada Information Systems Group launched the T6600C
portable multimedia computer (Newsbytes, July 9) in Canada. The
Canadian suggested retail price is C$11,399 and shipment is due
to begin before the end of July.

The company also said it will sell two new CD-ROM drives, the
internal XM-3401B-S and the external TXM-3401E, in Canada. Both
are due to be available in July.

AST Canada Inc. introduced to Canada its Bravo LP energy-saving
personal computer. With three models using Intel 486 processors
that run at 25, 33, and 66 megahertz (MHz), the machine conforms
to Energy Star guidelines recently launched in the United States.
Prices start at C$1,799.

Autodesk Canada said that AutoCAD Release 12 for the Apple Macintosh
(Newsbytes, May 18) is now available here. The suggested retail
price is C$4,688, and registered users of Release 11 can upgrade for
C$625.

Compaq Canada has added Computer Brokers of Canada to its list of
Canadian distributors. CBC will handle Compaq servers, as well as
desktop, portable, and notebook personal computers.

(Grant Buckler/19930719/Press Contact: Anthony DeCristofaro, AST
Canada, 416-507-3278; Al Steel, Autodesk Canada, 416-946-0928;
Joh Robinson, Compaq Canada, 416-229-8808; Joel Hinderle,
Computer Brokers of Canada, 416-660-1616 ext. 2092; Sam Orthlieb,
Toshiba Canada, 416-470-3478 ext. 252)


 ****NOVEL RELEASED AS "SHAREWARE" ON THE INTERNET
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 19 (NB) -- INTER.PACT Press
has announced that it has released "Terminal Compromise" by Winn
Schwartau as a shareWare "novel-on-the-net" (a term that the company
has trademarked).

Terminal Connections was previously published as a 562 page
hardcover book (ISBN 0-962-87000-5) and, according to the publishers
"has sold extremely well world-wide." The novel is billed as a
techno-thriller, claiming to deal with information uses, piracy and
attempts to exploit weakness in the US techno-economic
infrastructure.

According to INTER.PACT, the book is not being issued into the
public domain and, in issuing it as shareware, neither the author
nor the publisher is waiving any rights or copyrights.

INTER.PACT claims that the work is "being distributed electronically
so hundreds of thousands more people can enjoy it and understand
just where we are heading with our omnipresent interconnectedness
and the potential dangers we face."

The manuscript may be obtained through use of File Transfer Protocol
(FTP) over the Internet. FTP is a term used to describe the
automated download of a file from a computer system over the
Internet, using standard protocols.

To download the file automatically over the net, Internet-connected
users should log on to netsys.com (in the /pub/novel directory);
or wuarchive.wustl.edu(/doc/misc); or soda.berkeley.edu
(/pub/novel).

The announcement refers to the net version of Terminal Connection as
the "world's first novel-on-the-net". It also mentions that the work
is still available in traditional form in bookstores.

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19930719/Press Contact: Winn
Schwartau, 813-393-6600 (voice); 813-393-6361 (fax); Email over the
Internet: wschwartau@mcimail.com)


ARTISOFT SHIPS NEW T-RUNNER CONCENTRATORS
TUCSON, ARIZONA, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 21 (NB) -- Artisoft Inc., has
begun shipping its two new external, 10Base-T concentrators.

The eight-port T-Runner 800/TC concentrator is priced at $449,
and the twelve-port T-Runner 1200/TC concentrator is priced at
$749.

According to the company, both are compatible with a number of
networking environments, including Artisoft's own LANtastic
peer-to-peer network operating system (NOS) and Novell's
market-leading NetWare NOS.

The company also claims that the non-managed concentrators are
in 100 percent compliance with the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standards
and contain a BNC (Bayonet-Neill-Concelman) connector that
allows concentrators to be linked to one another via thin coax
cable. The BNC connector also allows for the mixing of cable types.

As an example, the company says that the T-Runner concentrators
enable users on a 10Base-T segment to connect and communicate
with users on a coax segment.

Both concentrators also include an auto partitioning feature that
automatically disables ports that do not have link integrity.

(Ian Stokell/19930721/Press Contact: Joe Stunkard,
602-670-7145, Artisoft Inc.)


BRAZIL'S GIANT COMPUTER TRADE SHOW OPENS
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 21 (NB) -- Highlighting the
importance of the South American market for both US computer
and software suppliers, as well as their foreign competitors, more
than 1,000 computer companies, 700 of them from South America,
are participating in this year's Sao Paulo, Brazil-based Fenasoft
computer fair.

Douglas Kilarski, managing editor of Reseller World, has called
South America a vital and vigorous, but largely untapped, computer
market.

Brazil's computer market was not always this open to foreign
competition. In fact, the government once blocked nearly all
access to the domestic market to encourage the development of a
local computer industry, but this changed several years ago and a
number of foreign companies are now engaged in joint ventures
and separate business activities in Brazil.

IBM is reportedly concentrating much more on sales to individuals
and small businesses this year, rather than continuing its
traditional near-exclusive pursuit of big business.

At least as large as the US-based Comdex, the Seventh Fenasoft
trade show is expected by sponsors to host about 900,000 visitors
over its four-day life.

(John McCormick/19930721)


FOCUS ON INDIA AT SINGAPORE INFORMATICS '93
NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1993 JUL 21 (NB) -- India will be the "feature
country" at the Singapore Informatics `93 exhibition to be in
Singapore, scheduled for October 14-17, 1993.

"About 15 to 20 Indian companies have shown an interest in
participating in the show," said Yonick Pinto, manager of overseas
trade fairs and exhibitions for Indtravels - the company promoting
the fair in India.

Among the firms said to have shown an interest are Tata Unisys Ltd.,
Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro, Pyramid Business
Solutions, Softpack Computers, Silverline Industries, and Birla
Consultancy Services.

"IT 2000-Excellence in business quality in life" is the theme for
the show being organized by the Singapore Federation of the
Computer Industry and co-sponsored by the National Computer
Board, Singapore Computer Society, Singapore Telecom and the
Microcomputer Trade Association of Singapore.

The feature area for Singapore Informatics this year will be to
exhibit a model home or office as it would appear in the year 2000.
This will include multimedia, imaging, windows, videoconferencing,
virtual reality, open systems, networking, data communications,
and mobile computing.

The show, which was organized for the first time in 1986, is said
to attract 1,000 exhibitors and over a 100,000 visitors. Last year,
visitors from 41 countries were recorded. Also, 27 countries -
including India, US, France, Germany, Canada, Hong Kong, UK,
Austria, and Taiwan - took part in the event.

(C.T. Mahabharat/19930721)


LITTELFUSE FACTORY EARNS ISO 9000 CERTIFICATION
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 JUL 21 (NB) -- The Centralia,
Illinois factory operated by Des Plaines, Ill-based Littelfuse
has just become the first US electronic circuit protection
device manufacturer to receive two ISO quality management
certifications.

ISO 9000 certification, which refers to quality control in
manufacturing, is being required by more companies which are
buying these critical computer system protection components.

This is the second US certification the company has earned in
the last nine months. The first was awarded to its Arcola, Ill.
Power Fuse manufacturing plant in 1992. In addition to its
domestic certifications, Littelfuse was also granted ISO
Certifications for its plants in England and Switzerland in
1988 and 1990.

The Centralia facility is the world's primary producer of latest
technology sub-miniature surface mount fuses utilized on
advanced circuit boards for a broad spectrum of electronic
devices, says the company.

Surface mount components can be packed much more closely
together than traditional circuit board elements because, instead
of having leads which are pushed through circuit boards and
soldered to traces on the back of the board, surface mount
technology allows components to be mounted on both sides of a
board and do not require holes drilled through the board.

The components made by Littelfuse are circuit protectors of
various sorts which provide other sensitive components with
some protection from power surges.

(John McCormick/19930721/Press Contact: Art Skwerski,
708-391-0307, Littelfuse)


