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, Sep 3 1992 Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 04:19:20 EDT Message-ID: 09-03 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Sept. 3, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network IBM TO HAVE PC UNIT: IBM is expected to announce Thursday that it is setting up a separate operating unit to make and market personal computers. It's a bid to make its flagging PC business more competitive with hundreds of other makers of low-cost PCs. IBM Personal Computer will have annual revenue of about $7.5 billion and be headed by Robert Corrigan, now president of IBM's entry-systems division. (For more, see special IBM package below.) LSU TO MAKE MICROSCOPIC CHIP: Louisiana State University says its synchrotron could be ready to print microscopic circuit lines on silicon chips within a couple of months. Put through its final paces last week, the machine "exceeded all technical specifications," according to Volker Saile, director of LSU's Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices. SYNCHROTON PART OF $25M LAB: The synchroton, made by Maxwell-Brobeck of Richmond, Calif., is the heart of a $25 million high-tech facility at Louisiana State University. Scientists will use X-rays from the light-emitting electron storage ring to research production of superpowerful computer chips and microscopic machines. There are eight other synchrotrons in the USA geared for multi-purpose applications. KLH TO STOP PRODUCTION: KLH Computer Wednesday announced it would stop making computers and go out of business. It already has informed employees. The company will shut down over the next two to three months. The low-cost personal-computer supplier has been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy since April. GIGATREND GETS NEW CEO: Amir Moussavian, president of GigaTrend Inc., a manufacturer of tape storage solutions, has been promoted to chief executive officer of the company. Since 1988, GigaTrend Inc. has introduced over 30 DAT solutions in the PC:LAN marketplace and over 10 solutions in the IBM midrange market. MACHINE TECH CUTS 40 JOBS: Machine Technology Inc. said Wednesday it cut its workforce by about 40 employees. The reduction "was required to bring costs in line with the lower rate of shipments that the company is presently experiencing as well as the level of business anticipated for the next few quarters," said the maker of computer chip processors. TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE PLANNED: Secretary of Commerce Barbara Hackman Franklin, Secretary of Energy James D. Watkins and Presidential Science Advisor D. Allan Bromley will all speak at the Sept. 25 National Technology Initiative (NTI) conference in Chicago. The conference is aimed at stengthening U.S. competitiveness. It will be held at the University of Chicago. For information, call 1-312-702-1386. HUGHES, VICTOR TO TEAM UP: Hughes Aircraft Co. and Victor Co. of Japan completed an agreement on a joint venture to manufacture and sell large-screen projection systems. The new company, Hughes-JVC Technology Corp., will make high-resolution image projectors for professional and consumer markets. The company is expected to begin shipping its new products in the fourth quarter of 1992. BUSH MAKES F-16 SALE OFFICIAL: President Bush told employees of a General Dynamics plant in Fort Worth, Texas, about his reversal of a ban on a $6 billion sale of F-16 fighters to Taiwan Wednesday. The move is expected to save 3,000 jobs at the plant and up to 7,000 nationwide. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON IBM: PC UNIT MAY BE SOLD: IBM is setting up a seperate operating unit to make and market personal computers. Analysts think IBM is preparing to sell the PC business, either to a group of private investors or in an initial public offering. "The rumors I've heard is that they eventually want to take this company public," says Casey Dworkin, a PC-industry analyst at Personal Technology Research. UNIT WILL HAVE MORE AUTONOMY: By forming a PC subsidiary that's still owned by IBM but has a separate workforce, the computer giant hopes decisions about PC pricing, product development and availability will be made on the spot instead of by a committee process that takes weeks or months. The company also will be able to buy PC parts from suppliers whose products are less expensive than IBM's. UNIT WILL HAVE DIVISIONS: The new PC unit will have separate divisions responsible for each PC business - such as mobile computing, home PCs and PCs for businesses. Analysts say the new company will have its own profit-and-loss statement, but it's not expected to make those figures available to the public for several years. (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. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM