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 29 1992 Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 04:43:05 EST Message-ID: 10-29 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Oct. 29, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network NEW DIGITAL MODEMS OUT: UDS Motorola said Wednesday it has introduced a new line of digital modems that makes it easier for corporate users at remote sites or at home to access office Local Area Networks at high speeds and without modem pools. The new digital modems allow a personal computer user to connect with a LAN using Northern Telecom's DataSPAN frame relay. NETWORK TRAFFIC IS CONSOLIDATED: UDS Motorola's new digital modems work with standard personal computer communications software and connect directly to the asynchronous communication ports of most PCs. Using Northern Telecom's DataSPAN frame relay, they eliminate the need for modem pools by allowing network managers to consolidate traffic from many remote users on to a single high-speed trunk connected to a router. PHOTON TECHNOLOGY GETS PATENT: Photon Imaging Corp. Wednesday was awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent Office for an electronic printing technology called Laserfan. The technology allows for producing high resolution pictures and other images with desktop printers at low cost by combining laser and fiber optics technologies. IBM DEVELOPING TELECONFERENCING: IBM researchers have demonstrated technology that could dramatically cut the cost of computer teleconferencing. The prototype - called Multimedia Multiparty Teleconferencing integrates standard IBM PS:2s with new hardware and software. It permits people to see each other and talk without unnaturally slow motion or mismatches between sound and picture. SYSTEM WILL BE INEXPENSIVE: Including microphones and small TV cameras, IBM scientists estimate that mass produced, their new teleconferencing hardware and software could sell in the range of a PC add-in board. IBM has applied for a patent on the conferencing systems' enabling ideas. "It's actually easier to use and more functional than a conference telephone call," says IBM's Mon-Song Chen. SHUTTLE CREW TALKS WITH VESSEL: A historic link-up between explorers in space and on the open seas took place Wednesday as the space shuttle Columbia cruised through the sixth day of a planned 10-day mission. Circling Earth at 17,500 mph, Columbia's crew made contact with the Hawaiian outrigger Hokule'a, a replica of the vessels sailed by Polynesian explorers 3,000 years ago. NETFRAME TO USE NEW INTEL CHIP: NetFrame Systems Inc., a manufacturer of large-sized computer file servers, said Wednesday it will use Intel Corp.'s new Pentium microprocessor in a product scheduled for January introduction. NetFrame says it plans to use the Pentium to develop servers that run industry communications software, including Novell Inc. Netware, Unix and Microsoft NT. ZIFF OFFERS SUPPORT SERVICE: Ziff Desktop Information said Wednesday it is offering Support On Site. It is a database of technical support information for 45 popular personal computer software products. It is available on the ZiffNet and CompuServe online services. The product is designed to help personal computer users at all skill levels get fast answers to technical questions and troubleshoot problems. HUGHES GAINS CONTRACT: Santa Barbara Research Center, a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft Co., has received a contract valued at $120 million to provide the key sensing instruments for the Landsat 7 Earth resource monitoring program. The U.S. Air Force and NASA landsat project has provided more than 3 million images of Earth since it began 20 years ago. Landsat 7 is scheduled to be launched in 1997. LIGHTNING OMNIFLEX WINS AWARD: Lightning Computers received the PC Magazine Editor's Choice award for its Lightning Omniflex 486SX:25 IBM compatible computer. "At $1,695, the Lightning Omniflex 486SX25 represents a superior value among the 58 PCs reviewed here," the magazine said. "It's one of the more outstanding bang-for-the-buck performers." AMOCO INSTALLS CRAY COMPUTER: Cray Research Inc. Wednesday said Amoco Oil Co. has installed its first Cray Research Supercomputer. The announcement came at the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) annual international conference. The computer is an entry-level CRAY Y-MPP EL system binary compatible with the CRAY Y-MP line. SMALLER COMPANIES ARE FAVORED: Abandoning sizeable old-timers such as IBM and Boeing, investors are flocking to computer and biotechnology companies that have market value (stock price times number of shares) of $100 million or less. Many of those small-company stocks are traded on the NASDAQ market. Since Sept. 1, the NASDAQ composite index has climbed 6.3%, while the Dow has been almost flat. AT&T TO OFFER VIDEOPHONE CHIPS: AT&T and Compression Labs Inc. Wednesday announced an agreement to develop new chipsets that will open the market to manufacturers who want to produce videophones and desktop video systems that work on analog telephone lines. These chipsets will provide complete solution sets for stand-alone videophones and computer video add-ons compatible with the Global VideoPhone Standard. VENTURA, HAMLET MAKE DEAL: Ventura Software Inc., a Xerox company, and Hamlet Software Systems APS of Aarhus, Denmark, said Wednesday they have signed an agreement. Ventura has licensed Hamlet's Windows-based image creation and editing software technology to develop and market professional color graphics programs that establish a new pattern for image manipulation. 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