Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.tech,americast.usa-today.tech From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: tech Fri, Aug 21 1992 Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 04:08:23 EDT Message-ID: 08-21 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Aug. 21-23, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network TILT ROTOR XV-15 CRASHES: A tilt-rotor XV-15 aircraft crashed during a training flight at Arlington (Texas) Municipal Airport. The cause is unknown. The pilot and co-pilot escaped without serious injury Thursday. The experimental craft is a forerunner of the controversial military V-22 Osprey. Two V-22s have crashed in the past 14 months. The remaining three have been grounded. INFO EXCHANGE GOES INDEPENDENT: The American Information Exchange (AMIX) said Thursday it has spun off from Autodesk Inc. and formally established itself as an independent company. AMIX operates an electronic online marketplace, where customers can buy or sell digitally stored information. That includes software components and tools, documents and scripts, market research and industry analysis. SBS ENGINEERING BUYS BERG: SBS Engineering Inc. said Thursday it has purchased Berg Systems International Inc., a maker of flight simulation systems. Terms were not disclosed. SBS Engineering also makes flight-simulation systems for the aerospace industry. For the nine months ended March 31, the company had net income of $394,679 on revenue of $12.64 million. SYMBOL TECH. LAYS OFF 140: Symbol Technologies Inc., which last month said it expected weak sales in the second half of the year, said Thursday it has laid off 140 non-factory employees, or about 6% of its staff of 2,340 worldwide. The company produces equipment that reads bar codes, which are used in retail stores and factories to electronically scan different types of data. BARRINGER MAKES SALES: Barringer Technologies Inc. said Thursday it has sold four of its Ionscan detectors to government agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The devices help detect illegal narcotics and plastic explosives. The units were sold to the U.S. Federal Aviation Agency, the Italian Carabinieri Laboratories and the Swiss National Forensic Laboratory. FIRST CHOICE 4.0 DUE OUT: Spinnaker Software Corp. Thursday introduced PFS:First Choice 4.0. The DOS-based integrated software program features a word processor, an all-new spreadsheet module, an enhanced database, a presentation graphics module, and a communications module. It will be available in the fall. SENSORMATIC MERGER HALTED: Sensormatic Electronics Corp. said Thursday that negotiations to merge Burle Industries into Sensormatic had been halted because the two couldn't agree on terms. Burle, headquartered in Lancaster, Pa., makes closed-circuit television systems. Sensormatic makes electronic and video surveillance equipment. LASER PRINTER IS BIPARTISAN: The Republicans and Democrats don't agree on much this year, but both have used the same laser printer in the press rooms at their respective national conventions. Kyocera's Ecosys aSi printer doesn't use disposable cartridges, reducing waste. Instead, users simply add toner as they do with many photocopiers. Americans discard 16 million laser printer cartridges a year. MARS PROJECT READY TO ROCKET: An electrical problem with a rocket motor on the Mars Observer has been fixed, clearing the way for a Sept. 16 liftoff for its mission to study the red planet. The $891 million project - the agency's first Mars mission since two Viking spacecraft arrived at the planet in 1976 - will be launched on a Martin Marietta Titan 3 commercial rocket. AMERITECH TO RUN TRIAL: Ameritech plans to conduct the first side-by-side trials of both Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) digital cellular technology. Beginning in September and lasting 60 days, the trials will take place in the Chicago metropolitan area. Existing cellular customers will participate in the trials and help compare the two technologies. SHAREHOLDER REFILES SUIT: Scorpion Technologies Inc. shareholder Richard Collner said Thursday he has refiled a lawsuit in California to block Scorpion from purchasing Osicom Technologies Ltd. Collner's action follows Osicom's denial of Scorpion's claim that Scorpion had completed the acquisition. Collner said he has discretionary power of attorney over 350,000 shares. GTE TO TEST CELLULAR CENTREX: The North Carolina Utilities Commission has approved a plan by GTE to hold a trial of cellular centrex service in the Raleigh:Durham area. The year-long test, to begin in October, will be conducted by GTE Mobile Communications and GTE South. Centrex service uses central office switching equipment to route calls directly to the appropriate extension. 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