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 Tue, Aug 18 1992 Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 04:30:58 EDT Message-ID: 08-18 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Aug. 18, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network WANG TO FILE BANKRUPTCY: Wang's pre-eminence in office equipment was wiped out during the personal computer revolution and now, after years of decline, the company may be on the verge of bankruptcy proceedings, Bloomberg Business News reports. John Cunningham, Wang's former president, said people at the company told him Wang would file for court protection under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code Wednesday. $1.3 BILLION LOST IN THREE YEARS: Richard Miller, who took over as Wang chief executive three years ago, has negotiated the firm through rough waters before, but time may have run out. Wang lost a total of $1.3 billion in fiscal years 1988, 1989 and 1990. It has yet to report results for fiscal year 1991. The firm is expected to file for bankruptcy and some question if it will survive. WIRELESS SYSTEMS ON WAY: The age of wireless telecommunications - in which phones are linked by radio waves or satellites - has begun. It's a safe bet that within the next few years, millions of wireless phones of some kind or another will follow us everywhere. They will ring in our shirt pockets as we hike through the Rockies or as we soak in the sun on a ship at sea. COLLIDER PASSES TEST: As Congress heads for a showdown on funding the superconducting atom smasher, the string of magnets at the heart of the $8.25 billion project has passed a critical test involving six of the 40-foot-long magnets linked together in what's known as a "half-cell." The U.S. House has voted to scrap the project. The Senate restored funding and the two sides have yet to get together. ENDEAVOUR MAY BE DELAYED: Equipment problems in an assembly building at Cape Canaveral may delay the Sept. 11 flight of Endeavour, NASA said Monday. The seven-day scientific mission includes a number of firsts: NASA's first married crew, Mark Lee and Jan Davis; the first black woman in space, Mae Jemison; and the first Japanese astronaut on a U.S. spacecraft, Maoru Mohri. MULTIMEDIA COMPUTER OFFERED: Packard Bell has unveiled a new multimedia computer. The Packard Bell 486SX:25 Multimedia Computer System combines traditional computing functionality with animation and sound capabilities in one easy-to-use system, the firm says. It is expected to cost less than $2,599. It will be available by the end of the year. CARD TURNS TERMINAL INTO TV: Personal Computer maker Packard Bell has unveiled an add-in card that enables any personal computer to function as a television. Called PBTV3, the card allows users to watch TV while they do word processing or work on a spreadsheet. PBTV3 also accepts feeds from VCRs, laserdisc players and camcorders. It will be available by the end of the year and should cost less than $500. ARCHIVE SUES IOMEGA OVER PATENT: Archive Corp. Monday said it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in federal court against Iomega Corp. of Roy, Utah, and its subsidiary, Iotape of San Diego. Archive is a supplier of data storage backup products. The suit relates to Archive's patent covering Iomega tape drives that use the floppy disk controller in personal computers. H-P, ATL SETTLE PATENT LAWSUIT: Hewlett-Packard Corp. and Advanced Technology Laboratories Inc. announced Monday the settlement of ATL's patent lawsuit over alleged infringement of ATL's heart-imaging technology. ATL spokeswoman Anne Bugge said that both companies have exchanged cross licenses for all multi-plane technologies, which allow doctors to see the inner body from more than one angle at a time. GENCORP GETS CONTRACT EXTENSION: GenCorp Inc. said Monday its Aerojet Electronic Systems Division won a $49.5 million, one-year contract extension to produce the warhead section for antitank missiles made by Hughes Aircraft Co. Aerojet will produce sections for U.S. Army TOW 2B missiles at plants in Azusa, Calif., and Socorro, N.M. LSI SELLS GRAPHIC BOARD LINE: LSI Logic Corp. said Monday it has sold its Video Seven brand and associated line of graphics board products to Computer Visualization Technologies Inc. Computer Visualization Technologies is a newly-formed venture by SPEA Inc. and Glenwood Capital Partners. The Video Seven products include the 1024I Plus, WIN, VGA, VRAM Ergo and SPEA 1280. Terms were not disclosed. U.S., RUSSIA TO STUDY ISOTOPE: Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory are participating in a joint U.S. and Russian experiment to study the distribution of the isotope Beryllium-7. It is scheduled for launch on Aug. 18 aboard the Russian RESURS-F1 spacecraft. An aluminum foil will be extended by an arm from the spacecraft and exposed to space for two weeks. It will be returned to earth and examined in the laboratory. MICRON SIGNS DISTRIBUTION DEAL: Micron Semiconductor Inc. said Monday it has signed an agreement with Hamilton:Avnet, a value-added distributor of electronic components. Under the agreement, Hamilton:Avnet will distribute Micron's semiconductor memory components throughout the USA and Canada. TNC MEDIA BUYS FAX FIRM: TNC Media Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire Interactive Information Systems Inc. of Atlanta. Interactive provides customized facsimile services to subscriber bases, utilizing the service bureau format. The transaction is subject to execution of a definitive purchase agreement. Terms were not announced. COMPUTER, CHECKERS CHAMP BATTLE: The world checkers champ and Chinook, the checkers-playing computer, battled to a draw in London Monday. Marion Tinsley, 65, confronted a Canadian-programmed computer, ranked No. 2 in the world, in the first round of a two-week struggle for the world title. Tinsley, champion since 1955, has played Chinook 18 times before, winning once and drawing 17 times. 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. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM