Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.tech From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: tech Mon, Feb 24 1992 Date: Mon, 24 Feb 92 06:25:44 EST Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Feb. 24, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network RUSSIA ASKS NASA TO ACT QUICKLY: The inheritors of the world-class Soviet space program are having an estate sale, putting pressure on cash-strapped NASA to buy equipment and technology now - or risk losing it to customers in Germany and Japan. The head of the new Russian government's space program told a Senate panel Friday a number of Soviet space projects and technology could be of use to NASA. (For more, see special Soviet package below.) GERMANY CITED FOR INFRINGEMENT: The Business Software Alliance Friday joined other U.S. copyright industries in filing a submission to the U.S. Trade Representative citing countries for inadequate copyright protection under the U.S. Trade Act. BSA Managing Director Robert Holleyman said Germany accounted for the most offenses, with piracy there costing the software industry $1.86 billion in 1990. IBM'S NOTEBOOK TO BE DELAYED: For the second time, IBM is expected to delay the U.S. introduction of a notebook-size portable computer, Reuters reports. Notebooks are one of the few hot-selling products in a sluggish computer industry. IBM was to unveil the 6-pound notebook Tuesday after delaying its introduction last year. Now, IBM isn't expected to introduce the machine for at least another month. IBM TO UNVEIL FASTER PS-2: IBM is expected to unveil a faster version of its PS-2 personal-computer line Tuesday, Reuters says. The computers will be powered by IBM's version of Intel's popular 386 chip, the brains of a computer. IBM has exclusive rights to alter Intel's 386 technology. SDI PROJECT MAY MOVE: The Pentagon's Strategic Defense Initiative is taking steps to bypass a site near Grand Forks, N.D., as its initial deployment site for missile defenses, reports Monday's Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. Grand Forks is the only location currently authorized in U.S.-Soviet arms control agreements. Among the alternatives are U.S. military bases scheduled for closure. RADIATION HAS LEAKED FROM LAB: People who work at and live near the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory have been exposed to excessive dosages of radiation during the past four decades, a government report out Monday says. Radiation has been released into the atmosphere at least 115 times since INEL opened in 1949. INEL's prime function is to build, test and operate nuclear reactors and support facilities. RULING WON'T HURT CUSTOMERS: Analog Devices, Inc. said Friday its customers will not be affected by a International Trade Commission Exclusion Order against Analog Devices and four other companies. The order bars the importation and sale of any plastic encapsulated integrated circuit or board-level product that infringes Texas Instruments Inc.'s patent for a plastic encapsulation process. ASCEND MAKES DEAL: AT&T Paradyne and Ascend Communications Inc. say they will jointly develop products for the bandwidth-on-demand market. The products will be based on AT&T Paradyne's Acculink multiplexers and Ascend's inverse mixes. They will develop products for such markets as videoconferencing and LAN internetworking. VISIONPLUS IS ON MARKET: VideoTelecom Corp. says it has introduced a low-end videoconferencing system. Prices for VisionPlus start at $33,500. It features a color monitor and a video coder:decoder. It supports both switched and dedicated links at speeds from 56 to 386 kilobytes per second. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON SOVIET: TIME FOR TALK OVER: NASA has for months been mulling how to save time and money by tapping into the resources of the Soviet space program. "We have been talking ... for a long time," Yuri Semenov, chief of the Energia program, told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA's budget. "It is time to pass from words to deeds and to proceed to some type of cooperative programs." CRAFT COULD BE USED IN CRISIS: Semenov outlined a number of Soviet space projects he said could be adapted for NASA endeavors. Chief among them is the use of the Soyuz spacecraft as an emergency vehicle to carry U.S. astronauts back to Earth from a planned space station NASA hopes to have in orbit by decade's end. He also said U.S. competitors in Japan and Europe may win the race to take advantage of Soviet technology. NASA CRITICIZED FOR DELAY: Members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee sharply questioned officials from NASA and the U.S. State Department about what they said were delays in setting up a formal program for buying and adapting Soviet equipment and know-how. Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah, urged the department to put aside "song and dance routines" and start drafting treaties and agreements. SECURITY IS FIRST PRIORITY: John Boright, deputy assistant secretary of state for environmental and scientific affairs, said the department is eager to see that NASA is able to take full advantage of any technology the Commonwealth may have to offer. But he said initial diplomatic meetings with officials from Russia and the other independent states have focused on matters of national security. (End of package.) Technology Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 08:0002240000D0224 TELE- R M Beepers-finding-new-markets........... A D0224 This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM