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, Oct 20 1992 Date: Tue, 20 Oct 92 04:35:16 EDT Message-ID: 10-20 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Oct. 20, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network APPLE UNVEILS DUO SYSTEM: When Apple set out a year ago to redefine the merger of desktop and notebook computers, Apple designers started with the consumer. "People told us, `I want the best of both worlds, but I don't want the hassles,' " says Apple's Dave Rothschild. The result is the Macintosh Duo System, a single computer that functions as a typical Macintosh desktop in the office and a lightweight portable. (For more, see special Apple package below.) COMPAQ, IBM CUT PRICES: Monday, Compaq Computer cut prices on its lowest-cost 386 personal computers by up to 32%, putting its lowest-priced PC - without a monitor but with a 40-megabyte hard drive - at $799. Within hours of Compaq's announcement, IBM scrambled to lower the price on its new line of 386 PCs that come out Tuesday. IBM's ValuePoint PCs will cost $5 less than Compaq's. IBM AIMS TO REGAIN MARKET SHARE: IBM hopes its new personal computers are the final nails in the coffins for dozens of no-name PC makers that have taken huge chunks of business from the firm. IBM's share of the annual $50 billion PC market in 1991 stood at just 14%. In 1986, it had 42% of a $23 billion business. IBM says most customers get its entry-level 386 PC, a hard drive, monitor and internal software for $1,299. NEW CHIP TO BE NAMED PENTIUM: Intel Corp. said Monday it was departing from tradition to name the fifth generation of its microprocessors Pentium and not 586. The latest microprocessor is scheduled to be shipped early in 1993 and carries on it 3 million transistors and is capable of processing more than 100 million instructions per second. CLEARPOINT INTRODUCES UPGRADES: Clearpoint Research Corp. Monday introduced its first family of memory upgrades for Digital Equipment Corp.'s new Alpha APX-based DEC:3000 systems. The new DCME-A15 memory upgrades are available in 32 megabyte and 64 megabyte capacities. Available now, they list for $4,800 for the 32 megabyte kit and $7,800 for the 64 megabyte kit. IBM LAUNCHES CONSULTING SERVICE: IBM Corp. said Monday it is launching a global consulting business to provide management and information technology-related consulting services in 30 countries. The IBM Consulting Group is made up of a network of IBM consulting practices around the world. The new unit is under the direction of general manager Robert M. Howe, formerly of Booz-Allen & Hamilton of New York. EPA PROPOSES EMISSION RULES: The Environmental Protection Agency Monday proposed emission rules for 1994 model-year vehicles running on natural gas or liquid petroleum gas. The agency said the rules will make it easier for automakers to market cars and trucks that use the fuels. The vehicles would be tested for the same pollutants as petroleum-fueled vehicles - carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons. AT&T HIRES RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS: AT&T Bell Laboratories Monday announced a contract with the A. F. Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, for the services of 27 scientists working in four research teams there. They will conduct fundamental research into semiconductor physics and semiconductor lasers. The one-year contract is renewable by mutual agreement. NORTHERN TELECOM GAINS CONTRACT: STC Submarine Systems, a unit of Northern Telecom Ltd., said Monday it won a $370 million contract to supply cable for the first direct link between Canada and Europe. Teleglobe Canada Inc. said it and 20 U.S. and European firms plan to spend $385 million to lay a trans-Atlantic fiber optic cable. It will carry digital voice, data, video, and narrow, wide and broadband transmissions. INTERFACE IS DEMONSTRATED: Hughes Network Systems Inc., and Cascade Communications Corp. Monday became the first vendors to demonstrate the Network-to-Network Interface, a Frame Relay Forum standard that enables communication between frame relay devices from different vendors. The firms established full interoperability between Cascade's STDX frame relay switch and the Hughes FRS 9000 frame relay network. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON APPLE: COMPUTER CAN GO ON ROAD: Apple began shipping the 4.2-pound, 1.4-inch thick PowerBook Duo Monday, and the computers should reach stores by the weekend. The PowerBook Duo functions as both a desktop and portable computer. "It's an astounding product," says Kimbrall Brown, a personal computer analyst with International Data. "You can't get anything at 4 1:4 pounds this powerful." PORTABLE PLUGS INTO MONITOR: The new Apple system eliminates hassles by creating a docking system that doesn't use cables. There are two basic pieces: The PowerBook Duo, a powerful notebook-size portable computer; the Duo Dock, an adapter that lets users plug the portable into a desktop monitor. That's why the system is known within Apple as "BOB W. - best of both worlds." PRICES START AT $2,249: Users can simply slide the PowerBook Duo into the Duo Dock, and the docking system automatically makes all necessary connections. The system also can be adapted to connect to an existing Macintosh. The PowerBook Duo ranges from $2,249 to $2,969, while the Duo Dock lists for $1,079. PORTABLE DOESN'T HAVE COLOR: In the office, users can work with a 50-pound color monitor perched atop the docking unit. When they leave the office, users press a button and the PowerBook Duo slides out. The unit transforms itself into a laptop when the users flip up the black-and-white screen. Apple sacrificed color in the portable to achieve lighter weight and longer battery life, up to 4.5 hours per charge. (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