Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.tech From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: tech Mon, Apr 13 1992 Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 05:42:38 EDT Message-ID: 04-13 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update April 13, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network FOREIGN FIRM WINS BID FOR LTV: Martin Marietta and Lockheed came up $65 million short on their bid to buy LTV's missile and aircraft business. Thomson CSF, a French military contractor, and the Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C., investment firm, won the bidding at a bankruptcy court auction for $450 million. Because it involves selling a defense business to a foreign firm, the sale must be OK'd by regulators. IBM ANNOUNCES CUTS: IBM Friday said it notified an unspecified number of U.S. sales and marketing employees that they must choose between resignation or re-assignment because their jobs have been targeted for elimination in 1992. The cutbacks will eliminate as many as 9,000 jobs or 10.6% of IBM's U.S. workforce of 85,000, said Sam Albert, a highly regarded IBM-watcher and former employee. (For more, see special IBM package below.) SMART HIGHWAYS BEING DEVELOPED: Lockheed and AT&T are teaming to build "smart" vehicles and highways that can detect accidents and traffic jams seconds after they occur and reroute traffic, electronically collect tolls without stopping drivers, and monitor the weight and speed of trucks. The companies estimate the market in the USA is more than $200 billion the next 20 years. SEGA TO APPEAL CASE: Sega Enterprises Ltd. of Tokyo and its Redwood City, Calif.-based subsidiary, Sega of America Inc., Friday said they will appeal a U.S. District Court decision in which a jury ruled against Sega in a patent infringement case filed by Coyle. The ruling was handed down in Los Angeles Friday. The jury found in favor of patent infringement and found damages of $33 million. EXPERIMENTAL WARHEADS USED: The U.S. Navy used a new class of highly secret, non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse warheads during the opening hours of the Persian Gulf War to disrupt and destroy Iraqi electronics systems, Defense News reports Monday. This was the first use of the warheads, which were carried aboard a few of the Navy's 116 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched on the first day of the war. ELECTRONICS CAN BE DISRUPTED: The electromagnetic pulse warheads used during the Persian Gulf War convert the energy of a conventional explosion into a pulse of radio energy, Defense News reports. The radio energy can penetrate computerized weapons through antennas, wiring, or other metal connections. If the pulse is powerful enough it can disrupt or even burn out electronic systems, say industry experts. WORDSTAR, DELRINA END TALKS: WordStar Inc. and Delrina Corp. say they will not proceed with a proposed merger. Company officials said a definitive agreement could not be reached. "The product strategy underlining the proposed merger remains an important goal for WordStar," said Wordstar CEO Ron Posner, saying the firm is still seeking a merger, though not with Delrina. NEW INTERFACE UNVEILED: Spectrum Information Technologies Inc., through its Spectrum Cellular Corp., and AT&T, through its Safari Systems and Consumer Products Division, unveiled the Safari AXSYS Saturday. It is a cellular interface that connects the Safari computer to AT&T's 3730 portable cellular phone. The AXSYS makes the Safari computer's built-in modem think it is connected to a phone line. PCS TECHNOLOGY ON WAY: Personal Communication Services are bringing out products that are likely to change the telephone business. In a PCS, traditional wired networks are replaced by radio-signal links. That gives users more mobility than the current phones. A pocket phone, now in the experimental stage, is considered a PCS. The PCS market could yield between $30 billion and $40 billion within 10 years after startup. TRANSCEIVER CONNECTS PORTABLES: Photonics Corp. says its infrared transceiver will make it possible to connect computers to a system with the use of wires. It will run with Microsoft's Windows for Pen Computing."They allow portable computers to talk to desktop computers, providing constant access to information, no matter where in the building it resides," said Greg Slyngstad of Microsoft. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON IBM: NINE THOUSAND JOBS COULD GO: Analysts had earlier estimated IBM would cut 5,000 jobs in the USA this year as part of 20,000 jobs to be cut under a restructuring announced Nov. 26, said Bob Djurdjevic, president of Annex Research. Under a plan announced Friday, as many as 9,000 could be cut. Targeted employees have been given the option of relocating or taking a severance package available through July 31. IBM DOESN'T RELEASE FIGURE: IBM spokeswoman Carol Keslar would not confirm or deny the estimate of 9,000 job cuts. "IBM feels that it's too early to attach a specific figure to this," she said. "IBM has set some goals. We've started a process and it's too early to say what those numbers will be." Keslar said the cuts primarily involve headquarters positions in the New York, Atlanta and Dallas area. IBM PROMISES TO FIND JOBS: Employees who choose to resign will be paid one week's severance for each six months of service. Eligible employees also can receive up to 18 months of group medical coverage. "What is being said to employees is if your particular job is eliminated as a result of the restructuring, then the company will find a place to reassign you which may require relocation," Keslar said. MOVE PART OF LARGER PLAN: IBM's plan to cut worldwide employment by 20,000 in 1992 is part of a $3 billion restructuring that will grant greater autonomy to its various subsidiaries and business units. The massive redefinition of how IBM conducts business came during the company's worst year since its founding in 1914. IBM reported a $2.8 billion loss in 1991 despite reducing its work force by 29,000 worldwide. (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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