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 Tue, Sep 8 1992 Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 04:30:16 EDT Message-ID: 09-08 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Sept. 8, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network LOW-PRICED PCS ARE DUE OUT: For a person in the market for a personal computer, September isn't a bad month to start shopping. The USA's top three PC makers -IBM, Apple and Compaq - are introducing low-priced PCs this month. Wednesday, IBM will unveil six PCs, including three notebook-size models. Apple's Performa line is due out next week, as is a new color notebook computer by Compaq. (For more, see special Computers package below.) TOSHIBA UNVEILS NEW DRAM CHIP: Toshiba Corp. says it has started shipping samples of a new four-megabit dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip with the fastest access time in the industry, according to Toshiba's claims. The new chip has an access time of 50 nanoseconds, 10 nanoseconds faster than the company's previous chips. A nanosecond is one billionth of a second. Mass production of the chip will begin in October. VOICE MESSAGING GROUP FORMED: Leading voice messaging system and service providers have formed the Voice Messaging Education Committee. It will develop guidelines for effective voice messaging management and use. Members include AT&T, Centigram Communications Corp., Northern Telecom, Nynex Corp., Octel Communications Corp. and Siemens:Rolm Corp. NEW ELECTRON GUN DEVELOPED: Toshiba Corp. has developed a new material for making electron guns used in television cathode ray tubes, Bloomberg Business News reports. The material is much more heat resistant than current materials. Toshiba hopes to use the product to create higher resolution television screens, according to Nikkan Kogyo, the Japanese business and technology newspaper. FORUM TO BE HELD VIA SATELLITE: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers will sponsor a live satellite broadcast on Sept. 23 entitled Microelectromechanical Systems: The New Revolution in Miniaturization. Six industry authorities will preside, including Kurt Petersen from Lucas NovaSensor. The broadcast will be shown at various locations throughout the USA. For more information, call 1-212-705-7411. MCDONNELL DENIES REPORT: McDonnell Douglas denies a report in Moday's Aviation Week that said that the Pentagon has told McDonnell Douglas to "cease its strident lobbying campaign for the sale" of 72 F-15s to Saudi Arabia. "We have been neither threatened nor muzzled," said John P. Capellupo, executive vice president of McDonnell Douglas. MIXED MEDIA TESTS UNDERWAY: GTE ImagiTrek, Philips Interactive Media Systems, The Discovery Channel and World Book Inc. have begun a six-month fiber test in Cerritos, Calif. The test merges transmitted Discovery programming with interactive, disc-stored information. GTE UNVEILS ATM SWITCH: GTE Government Systems Corp. has unveiled an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switch which it says will integrate voice, data, video and images over 155 megabits-per-second wide-area links. The Secure Prioritized ATM Network supports eight ports for attaching Ethernet and Fiber Distributed Data Interface local-area networks to T-1 and T-3 networks. The price: $8,000 per port. AT&T GAINS CRYPTOGRAPHY LICENSE: Public Key Partners says AT&T has acquired a patent license to Public Key's cryptography technology. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. AT&T will use the technology to provide an array of security services in its products, including secure voice, data, fax, cellular and video communications. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON COMPUTERS: IBM PCS START AT $1,099: IBM will unveil six personal computers Wednesday. The desktop PCs, powered by Intel's 386 microprocessor, range from $1,099 to $1,499; those equipped with Intel's powerful 486 chip range from $1,599 to $2,799. The notebooks start at $2,199. Most of the IBM models will be sold at Sears, Montgomery Ward and Circuit City stores. PERFORMA LINE READY: Monday, Apple unleashes its Performa line of low-cost Macintoshes, ranging from $1,000 to $3,000, and sold through Sears and Office Depot. The Performa 600 comes with CD:ROM drives that can store much more information than conventional hard-disk drives. The Mac's famous PC screen using on-screen symbols to carry out commands has changed. COLOR NOTEBOOK TO COST $3,000: Compaq is expected to unveil a 6.7-pound color notebook computer Monday. Price: $3,000. Analysts say the fall buying season will be one of the strongest in recent memory. "As in other industries, when you have attractive pricing, it really draws buyers in," says Carl Ravitch, senior vice president of Audits & Surveys. (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