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 Wed, Sep 30 1992 Date: Wed, 30 Sep 92 04:52:36 EDT Message-ID: 09-30 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Sept. 30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network IBM WORKFORCE TO DECREASE 11%: IBM says it is losing 40,000 workers this year - double its original estimate - to an early-retirement offer that's likely to be the last decent one they get. The cuts - 11% of IBM's workforce -come as the USA's largest computer company struggles to become more competitive in all its businesses, from large mainframe systems to personal computers. (For more, see special IBM package below.) ROBOTS ENTERING MEDICAL FIELD: HANC (Home Assisted Nursing Care), a user-friendly home-care robot, can check a patient's temperature, pulse and blood pressure and reminds patients to take their medicine. It also alerts a 24-hour central monitoring system if read-outs cause alarm. Robots are quickly becoming a fact of life in today's health-care system, says a recent edition of Modern Healthcare magazine. ALL TYPES OF ROBOTS DEVELOPING: Machines that dispense medicine, analyze blood and even help perform surgery are being developed, says Karen Petitte, managing editor of Modern Healthcare magazine. Robodoc is a computer system that prepares bone for hip-replacement surgery. The creation of Integrated Surgical Systems of Sacramento, Calif., is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration. PATRIOT MISSILE DOUBTED: The dispute over Patriot missile success against Iraqi Scuds in the gulf war flared again Tuesday with release of a congressional report saying hard evidence exists for only 9% of reported hits. The General Accounting Office says there's evidence for just four Patriot hits. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., said the GAO report shows Congress and the public "were misled" by reports of success. MARRIOTT TO USE IBM SYSTEM: IBM said Tuesday that Marriott Hotels, Resorts & Suites has chosen a new worldwide property management system using IBM RISC System:6000 servers to provide support to more than 230 of its full service hotels. The system will handle the day-to-day operations of a Marriott hotel including: Check-in:check-out, back office accounting, sales, catering and food and beverage. HUGHES TO BUILD NASA DATABASE: Hughes Information Technology Co. has been selected by NASA to develop and field what the firm says will be the largest database and mass-storage system ever built. Hughes will produce the ground-based data and information system for the planned Earth Orbiting System series of earth-orbiting spacecraft and instruments. A contract is expected to be signed in January. CORNING BUYS SOFTWARE FIRM: Corning Inc. said Tuesday it has completed its previously announced plan to acquire Biosym Technologies, Inc., a San Diego-based scientific software company. Biosym, with annual sales in excess of $30 million, specializes in the development, marketing and support of computer-aided molecular design software. WIRELESS DATA MODEM DEVELOPED: Coded Communications Corp. and GEC Marconi Communications Ltd. of England have jointly developed a wireless data modem. It will become the standard for data transmissions on GEC Marconi conventional radio networks operated in the United Kingdom, as well as GEC National One, the low cost national mobile communications network. A joint marketing campaign has been launched. RADIO TELECOM OPENS OFFICE: In preparation to market interactive video data service equipment and engineering services this fall, Radio Telecom and Technology Inc. has opened new offices in Riverside, Calif. The firm says it plans to submit equipment for approval by the Federal Communications Commission later this fall. ACQUISITION PROPOSAL CHALLENGED: The Justice Department in court Tuesday challenged Electrovert U.S.A. Corp.'s acquisition of Hollis Automation. Justice said the merger would reduce competition in the high performance and mid-range wave soldering machine markets in the United States. Wave soldering machines are used to attach electronic components to printed circuit boards. SYNERNETICS ADDS NEWS INTERFACE: Synernetics has unveiled a single-mode fiber option for its LANplex 5000 switching hub. It extents the distance between hubs from the standard 2 kilometers to more than 14 kilometers. The single-mode fiber interface costs $4,500 per port and is now available. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON IBM: 30 PLANTS WILL SEE CUTS: IBM says 11% of its workforce will take an early-retirement offer this year. "This is IBM biting the bullet," says Sam Albert, a Scarsdale, N.Y., consultant. "They underestimated the number of people leaving by 100%." IBM said it's cutting back operations at 30 plants that make semiconductors, the tiny computer chips that power computers and other devices. NO EMPLOYEES WILL BE LAID OFF: IBM says the plant cutbacks won't involve further employee cuts, but some employees might have to move to keep jobs. However, IBM says, it's still keeping with its longstanding no-layoffs policy. As part of a seven-year slim down, IBM says it has reduced its workforce 25% since 1985 and its manufacturing capacity 40%. OPERATING COSTS WILL FALL: IBM says the cuts will help shave operating costs by $4 billion a year starting next year. With Tuesday's announcement, the charge to earnings from the cuts will total $2.1 billion this year, IBM says. Bob Djurdjevic of Annex Research says it's good news that IBM is taking the workforce-reduction charge this year. "It suggests that the year end is shaping up pretty well," he says. (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