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 Thu, Aug 27 1992 Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 05:59:07 EDT Message-ID: 08-27 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Aug. 27, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network GATES DONATES $6 MILLION: Bill Gates, the billionaire founder and chairman of Microsoft Corp., has given Stanford University $6 million for a new computer-sciences building, the school announced Wednesday. Gates' contribution closes the funding gap for the $28.1 million building, which will be the primary center for computer sciences at the university. NISSAN SUED OVER ALTIMA NAME: Portable-computer maker Altima Systems Inc. Wednesday filed suit against Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and its U.S. subsidiaries. Altima claims Nissan is infringing on its trademark by using the Altima name for its new sedan. Altima said it was given a certificate of registration from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in August 1990 to use that name for its computers. COMPUTER SYSTEM FEARS DAMAGE: In a suit filed Wednesday in Illinois, portable-computer maker Altima Systems Inc. said it was afraid that Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.'s use of the name for a 1993 model sedan would hurt it. The suit said use of the name would "erode and destroy the advertising value ... and uniqueness" of its Altima name. Altima Systems said it spent more than $2.5 million to promote its products. NOVELL CLIMBS; ADOBE IS HIT: Analysts' insights boosted and pummeled two technology stocks in Wednesday trading. Novell shares jumped 3 7:8 to $49 1:2 after its third-quarter earnings slightly exceeded analysts' expectations and Lehman Bros. upgraded its rating to buy. Adobe Systems fell 3 3:4 to $32 1:8 after Morgan Stanley lowered earnings projections and its rating to hold. NOVELL HOLDS ITS OWN: Novell has been strong despite a weak economy and plenty of competition, analysts say. After markets closed Tuesday, the company said third-quarter earnings jumped almost 50% to 43 cents a share, vs. 29 cents a year earlier. Lehman Bros. analyst David Readerman raised his earnings expectations for the company this fiscal year 9 cents a share to $1.65. PORTABLE PHONES GETTING SMALLER: Phone makers are tripping over one another to make cellular phones as small and as portable as possible. The latest to weigh in: the 6.2-ounce Minivox Lite, a "microportable" model from Audiovox of Hauppauge, N.Y. The phone lists for $995; a version that lets users obtain voicemail messages by pressing a single key costs $1,195. COMPUTER HELPS RECORD BUYERS: There's a computer available in a growing number of record stores that can help people find the song they want. MUZE has listings by artist, album, song title or a word in the title. Some listings even have reviews from Rolling Stone, Downbeat and other publications. MUZE is available in 60 stores now and is expected to reach 200 stores by year's end. LASER-DISC SALES SPINNING: Laser-disc sales are skyrocketing. The Electronic Industries Association reports laser-disc players are the fastest-growing consumer electronics product this year. Revenue from players jumped from $34 million in 1988 to $72 million in 1990 and is expected to reach $100 million this year. WANG COMMITTEE TO BE SELECTED: A seven-member committee to represent the interests of creditors in Wang Laboratories Inc.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing will be appointed by U.S. trustees Thursday, Bloomberg Business News reports. Kathleen Downing, a Justice Department attorney based in Boston, said creditors met Wednesday to choose the committee from among the company's 20 largest creditors. BENITEZ NAMES PARADIGM CEO: The board of directors of Paradigm Technology Inc. announced Wednesday the appointment of Juan Benitez as CEO. He will join the company Sept. 8, replacing Dr. Charles Sutcliffe of Silicon Valley Management, who has been serving as interim chairman and CEO since April of this year. Paradigm, which was founded in 1987, manufactures static random access memories (SRAMS). WINDOW PROGRAMS TO BE BUNDLED: Frame Technology, a developer of electronic document publishing software, Monday announced an agreement with Corel Corp. to offer its FrameMaker 3.0 for Windows, bundled with Corel's CorelDRAW! graphics program for Microsoft Windows. The bundle price will be up to 50% off the total suggested retail price of the two applications when sold separately. AT&T ADDS INTL. FAX SERVICE: AT&T has introduced a new international facsimile service for small and mid-size users. AT&T FaxLine is structured so that calls no longer than three minutes will almost always cost less than those under the carrier's basic direct-dial international rates. 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