Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.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, Oct 21 1992 Date: Wed, 21 Oct 92 04:30:09 EDT Message-ID: Lines: 118 10-21 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Oct. 21, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network PC SALES ARE SOARING: Personal computer sales are soaring. Records are toppling at nearly every major personal computer maker. For instance, Compaq Computer shipped a record 425,000 PCs in the third quarter - double last year's level. Compaq says it shipped more than 200,000 PCs in September alone. "It was a blowout quarter in every way, shape or form," says analyst Steve Eskenazi at Alex Brown. (For more, see special PC package below.) COMPUTERTOTS IS TOP FRANCHISE: A small company that teaches children how to use computers is the best franchise in the USA, says Success magazine. Computertots tops the magazine's third annual Gold 100 list of the USA's best franchises. The magazine, on newsstands Wednesday calls the 5-year-old Great Falls, Va., firm "the newest convergence of high technology and child development since fetal sonograms." PROGRAMS AIMED AT KIDS UNDER 9: Computertots co-founders Mary Rogers and Karen Marshall left teaching careers five years ago to go into business. The software packages are aimed at children aged 3 to 8 and use art and music computer games to teach them about programming and operation. Now, there are 67 franchises across the USA and revenue is estimated at $4 million for 1992. Plans call for 30 to 40 more stores next year. DATA IS UNPROTECTED: Despite capable new technologies and repeated alarms, two-thirds of U.S. intensive business personal computer users are either unprotected by formal data safeguard policies or unaware of their existence, according to a study sponsored by 3M Corp. As a result, many firms could lose information because of natural disasters, computer viruses and hardware failure due to human error. SPREADSHEET INCLUDES VIDEO: Borland International Inc. Tuesday became the first software company to ship a comprehensive training video as part of a spreadsheet software product, the firm said. Quattro Pro Special Edition, originally released last year, was designed specifically for first-time spreadsheet users. It includes a 100-minute training video and 50 built-in sample spreadsheets. The price: $89.95. THREE TO SPLIT MONORAIL FUNDS: Three monorail competitors - San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit System, Milwaukee County, Wis., and Montgomery County, Md. -will split about $1 million for preliminary design work on a controversial transit system, the federal government announced Tuesday. Next spring, the Federal Transit Administration will pick one of them to proceed with the experimental system. LOCKHEED GETS NAVY CONTRACT: Lockheed Sanders Tuesday was awarded a $4 million U.S. Navy contract to produce a Logistics Support Analysis system for the ALQ-149 Command and Control Countermeasures system. Lockheed will develop logistics analysis, design assurance and test engineering to support and maintain the ALQ-149 when it is delivered to the Navy. INTERACTIVE BETTING ON WAY: Imagine using a credit card to bet on horse races moments before post time - via a home TV set. Or betting through a TV set in a bar. The technology is already there, says Dan Downs, vice president of NTN Communications. The Carlsbad, Calif., company is testing an interactive TV package that allows viewers to sell stocks, make plane reservations and play sports-related games. MOTOROLA UNVEILS NEWSCARD: Motorola Inc. Tuesday introduced NewsCard, which it is billing as the world's first wireless receive modem in a miniature computer-card format. NewsCard can be carried in a pocket or purse and inserted into mobile computers, personal organizers and personal digital assistants to receive electronic mail, information services, data files, or paging messages anywhere in the USA. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON PC: SHOPPERS LURED BY LOW PRICES: Retailers say personal computer sales have been strong for months because of the vicious price war that has lured thousands of bargain-hungry shoppers into computer stores. For the first time, PC shipments should exceed 10 million this year. "You don't see any hint of a recession here," says Bob Samuels, a CompUSA manager in Rockville, Md. "Customers are really scooping them up." REVENUE IS UP AT COMPAQ, APPLE: Tuesday, Compaq reported record third-quarter net income of $49 million versus a $70 million loss a year ago. Revenue soared 55% to a record $1.1 billion. The company is selling virtually every PC it can make. Apple shipped 700,000 PCs in its fourth fiscal quarter ended Sept. 25 - a 35% jump from the prior year. Last week, Apple said its fiscal-year revenue rose 12% to a record $7.1 billion. IBM SEES SALES GO UP: Even troubled IBM shipped 500,000 personal computers in the third quarter. IBM's PC business is in the middle of a major reorganization of its PC business. That's not a record but IBM says sales of its revamped PS:1 line of computers are exploding. (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