Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.tech From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: tech Wed, Jul 8 1992 Date: Wed, 8 Jul 92 05:13:09 EDT Message-ID: 07-08 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update July 8, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DEVICE UNDERSTANDS JAPANESE: Japan's giant Mitsubishi and tiny Verbex Voice Systems have developed technology that will let personal computers understand limited Japanese. For prices ranging from $1,900 to $5,900, Verbex and Mitsubishi have developed circuit boards that, when plugged into PCs, understand from 300 to several thousand Japanese words. It is being demostrated at the SpeechTech Conference in Tokyo. (For more, see special Japanese package below.) DELL MANAGERS TAKE CUT: Dell Computer's top managers, including Chief Executive Michael Dell, are taking a 5% pay cut as part of a campaign to pare costs. The company has cut prices and introduced a low-cost line of personal computers in response to similar moves by Compaq. Dell wouldn't confirm reports that it also has frozen pay for most employees. CEO Dell's salary before the cut: $327,250 a year. NINTENDO HAS TO PAY $15M: A federal judge ordered Nintendo of America Inc. Tuesday to pay $15 million to Lewis Galoob Toys, a small company whose Nintendo video game-enhancer was kept off the market for a year by a court injunction. Nintendo claimed Galoob's Game Genie violated Nintendo's right to control spinoffs from Nintendo games. Nintendo says it will appeal the ruling. COLUMBIA TO SHOW OFF CHANGES: The longest shuttle flight ever is in the home stretch. Columbia is scheduled to land at 9:09 a.m. EDT Thursday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Columbia, which underwent a $24 million overhaul prior to flight, will be showing off a few modifications that were added to make landings safer. Among them: Improved brakes, more durable landing gear and a more reliable nosewheel steering system. ONLINE SERVICES TAKING OFF: Online computer services sales grew by 61.1% from 1987 to 1991, according to a SIMBA Information report. Sales reached $9.6 billion in 1991. The report predicts a 48% sales increase in the next five years, yielding a $14.2 billion online services market in 1996. Online services provide computer access to information, entertainment and transaction services via phone lines. NEC EXPANDS PLANT: NEC Electronics has expanded its manufacturing facility in Roseville, Calif. The new section was opened Tuesday. The plant currently has 1,050 employees and will reach 1,350 at full production. The plant is now geared to produce 30,000 six-inch advanced computer wafers each month. MCDONNELL DOUGLAS SELLS BIZ: First Financial Management Corp. said it has agreed to purchase TeleCheck Services Inc. from McDonnell Douglas Corp. The purchase price of $159 million involves $116 million cash, $14 million First Financial Management stock and assumption and retirement of $29 million in existing debt. McDonnell Douglas said it sold TeleCheck so it could concentrate on its core aerospace business. MICROSEMI SELLS DIVISION: Unitrode Corp. and Microsemi Corp. jointly announced Tuesday that the two companies have completed the previously announced sale of Unitrode's Semiconductor Products Division to Microsemi Corp. The division manufactures discrete power semiconductors, principally for military and industrial applications. The purchase price was $8.5 million. PORTABLE INTERFACE UNVEILED: Spectrum Information Technologies Inc. Tuesday unveiled its newest cellular accessory for Fujitsu Network Transmission Systems Inc. Used with the Fujitsu Stylus pocket cellular phone, the Pocket Data Interface allows connection with a portable computer modem or facsimile machine for data communications transmission wherever cellular is available. It retails for $399. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON JAPANESE: JAPANESE IS HARD TO TYPE: Mitsubishi and Verbex Voice Systems' new technology that lets personal computers understand limited Japanese is considered a major accomplishment. It's easier to speak Japanese to PCs than to type it on a computer keyboard. The problem with computer keyboards in Japan is that each key can represent several Japanese letters or symbols. USERS DON'T HAVE TO TYPE: Using the VoiceStation, speakers are able to converse with and control computer-based systems using continuous Japanese speech. By providing a natural interface, businesses will be able to streamline computer controlled processing, heighten their competitiveness and reduce keyboard related disorders such as carpel tunnel syndrome, Verbex says. KEYBOARDS ARE BEING REPLACED: PCs that recognize spoken English commands are beginning to replace keyboards throughout corporate USA. On Wall St., traders regularly bark orders at their PCs, which then execute trades in seconds. Most speech-recognition computers can understand English if it is spoken slowly. Verbex technology is considered an advance because users can speak short commands as quickly as they want. (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. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. 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