Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.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, Nov 10 1992 Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 05:07:26 EST Message-ID: 11-10 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Nov. 10, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DIGITAL TO UNVEIL NEW LINE: Battered by losses, Digital Equipment Corp. on Tuesday will unveil a long-awaited line of computers that will mark a major change from the company's past and will be key to its future. The new computers are based on a microprocessor chip called Alpha, designed by Digital to be the fastest anywhere. A microprocessor acts as the "brain" of a computer. SEVEN NEW MODELS PLANNED: Digital Equipment Corp. plans to roll out seven computer models based on the microprocessor chip Alpha. The models range from desktop workstations to mainframes, with prices from less than $15,000 to about $300,000. Also in the wings is an Alpha-based personal computer. SEMICONDUCTOR ORDERS HIT RECORD: Orders for semiconductors in the U.S. market set a new record in October according to statistics released Monday by the Semiconductor Industry Association. October bookings in the U.S. market were $1.77 billion. Also, the industry's key market indicator, the book-to-bill ratio, increased to 1.10, the highest ratio for the month of October since 1983. NEW AUDIO CHIP SET AVAILABLE: Crystal Semiconductor Corp. said Monday its new two-chip set is now available in sample quantities. It brings full 16-bit stereophonic audio capabilities to IBM personal computers and compatible computers, Crystal says. Crystal will also provide software support. It is available in sample quantities, with full production planned by the end of the year. ICEBERG IS DELAYED AGAIN: Storage Technology Monday again delayed the introduction of its Iceberg storage system. It won't begin customer testing until the second half of 1993. The system uses disk arrays, a computer data storage product that uses a series of disk drives strung together by software to quickly access a huge amount of data. VIDEO SYSTEMS MAY SELL WELL: A back-to-basics Christmas may be brewing, but thanks to a price war between Sega and Nintendo, plenty of kids will be waking up to computer game systems this holiday. That's good news for companies that make games played on the systems. "This Christmas will be fantastic for them," says Bob Kleiber, analyst at Piper Jaffray. PRICES ARE DOWN: John Taylor, analyst at San Francisco-based L.H. Alton, says demand for home video games is likely to surge as people snap up more of the latest systems. By the end of the year, 13 million systems will be installed in the USA, says Scott Smith, analyst at Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette. That's up 333% from 3 million last year. Fueling demand: A price war. Some prices have been cut in half. NCR CUTS PRICES: NCR Corp. said Monday it is slashing prices on its personal computers and workstations by 15% to 39%. The company lowered the price of its NCR 3170, a notebook computer, 15.5% to $4,225 from $4,999; the NCR 3215, a 20 MHz entry-level desktop computer based on the Intel 386SX processor chip, 19.5% to $1,600 from $1,985; and the NCR 3330, a workstation, 19.4% to $2,030 from $2,520. MCI WANTS TO SET UP NEW NETWORK: MCI Monday requested permission from the Federal Communications Commission to build and operate a national personal communications network. The move comes less than a week after AT&T announced plans for a $4 billion linkup with McCaw Cellular Communications to build a nationwide cellular phone network. MCI says it is working with unnamed partners to develop personal communications services. VIDEO-ON-DEMAND DEMONSTRATED: Northern Telecom and Bellcore Monday demonstrated its video-on-demand technology. It will allow subscribers to access libraries of video programs around the world over existing networks. Viewers can watch what they want, when they want, all under full playback control. Viewers eventually will be able to gain access to thousands of video programs. VENDORS SUPPORT PLATFORM: Motorola's High Performance Microprocessor Division said Monday that several of its top third-party tools vendors have rushed to support the Integrated Development Platform board, announced in September. To date, 13 third-party developers have ported their tools to Motorola's Integrated Development Platform. VIDEO SOFTWARE PLANNED: Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. Tuesday plan to introduce a cheap video software product to run on desktop personal computers. The product is the latest entry into the growing field of multimedia computing. Microsoft said it plans to sell its Video for Windows for a list price of $199. The product will run on Intel-based 386 or 486 microprocessors. 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