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, Oct 1 1992 Date: Thu, 1 Oct 92 04:57:26 EDT Message-ID: 10-01 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Oct. 1, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network PLANE FIRMS NEED NASA'S HELP: To help the nation's struggling aircraft industry, NASA should expand its research into traditional and supersonic aircraft and use its aeronautics expertise to improve the speed and efficiency of helicopters, a study released Wednesday said. The National Research Council, a congressional research agency, said the USA is losing its competitive edge in aircraft design to Europe and Japan. (For more, see special Aircraft package below.) SOFTWARE FIRM TO MAKE CUTS: Software Publishing Corp. said Wednesday it plans to reduce its work force by 15%, about 120 employees, and re-focus its resources. The firm's long-term plan is to develop software that will "give desktop users the power to grasp and communicate business-critical information graphically," said Fred Gibbons, the firm's CEO. The company makes business software for the IBM personal computers. NUCLEAR BATTERY NEVER WORKED: Peripheral Systems Inc. officials promoted a nuclear-battery power source in an effort to boost its stock even though the battery didn't exist, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged in a suit filed Wednesday. The officials are no longer with the firm. The SEC has asked for an injunction barring the firm from making further untrue statements in connection with fund-raising. INVESTORS WERE DECEIVED: The Securities and Exchange Commission says a nuclear power battery hyped by Peripheral Systems Inc. never worked, even though the firm promoted it to potential investors. Except for a model that reportedly burned up in 1987, the product was just a theory, the suit said. Stories in financial journals talked of a prototype the size of a garbage pail that could power 20 homes for 25 years. FIRMS TO DEVELOP CHIP PACKAGING: W.R. Grace & Co. and Adolph Coors Co. said Wednesday they have agreed to jointly develop advanced ceramic packaging to protect semiconductors in high-speed computers from heat and moisture. The project is expected to take three years to complete. Coors also has applied for $2.5 million of Defense Department funding for the project. MONORAIL DEADLINE MISSED: The Federal Transit Administration missed a Wednesday deadline for announcing the winners in a nationwide competition to build a monorail transit system. The agency was to have awarded grants totaling at least $1 million to three communities by Wednesday to move forward with feasibility studies for the project. The agency says it is still studying proposals. NINTENDO, SONY TO TEAM UP: Nintendo and Sony will sell mutually compatible CD-ROM players for video games, the Japanese newpaper Nihon Keizai reports. Nintendo will also supply central processing units to Sony for production of CD-ROM players. NAM TAI TO MOVE INTO CHINA: The consumer electronics company Nam Tai Electronic Inc. said Wednesday it plans to start selling its products in China and possibly open a factory there. Nam Tai, based in Hong Kong, said it is negotiating a contract with a "major Japanese company" to make photocopiers. If an agreement is reached, it will set up a factory in southern China to make the photocopiers, the firm says. DIGITAL PATENT IS UPHELD: Digital Equipment Corp. said Wednesday the German Patent Court in Munich upheld the validity of an encoder:decoder patent that was challenged by Micro Technology GmbH, the German subsidiary of Micro Technology Inc. in Anaheim, Calif. Digital said Micro is the only company to refuse its offer to sign a phase-out agreement for the technology. More than 20 companies agreed to the program. RADIOMAIL NAMES NEW CEO: RadioMail Corp. Wednesday named William Hipp as president and chief executive. Prior to joining RadioMail, Hipp was president of Dowty Network Systems Inc., a manufacturer of local area network products. RadioMail operates a bureau that provides e-mail and information connections to portable computers, palmtop computers, pagers and other devices equipped with a radio modem. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON AIRCRAFT: SUPPORT IS VITAL: A report from the National Research Council says NASA should use its expertise to improve commercial aviation. "Immediate and long-term support of this activity is of vital importance to the nation and is thus worthy of the highest priority," said Eugene Covert, chairman of the committee that released the study Wednesday. U.S. SHARE IS FALLING: The once-thriving U.S. aeronautical industry is weakening, its market share of global aircraft sales eroding. Market share declined from 87% in 1980 to 64% in 1989. McDonnell Douglas, a U.S.-based airplane manufacturer, has been replaced by the European consortium Airbus Industrie as the second-largest maker of commercial aircraft. U.S.-based Boeing is the industry leader. SUBSONIC AIRCRAFT GETS $93.5M: NASA has devoted $93.5 million this year to research advancements of large subsonic aircraft, which would include technology applicable to commercial jets. With growing international competition for the world's aircraft market, "it stands to reason that (NASA's) level of funding should increase," the study said. SAFETY NEEDS TO IMPROVE: NASA must help the nation relieve congestion both at airports and in the air if the expected increase in air traffic materializes. "Without advancements in on-board control and warning systems, systems that make better use of global positioning satellites for flight pattern design, the future of air travel will be one of longer delays and more accidents," the study warned. HELICOPTER RESEARCH NEEDED: An increase in helicopter use should help reduce expected congestion at smaller airports, the study said. NASA's research efforts with helicopters should concentrate on eliminating high noise levels and operating costs. It should also focus on increasing the speed of helicopters and establishing a network of airports serving helicopters only. (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. 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