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 20 1992 Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 05:42:18 EDT Message-ID: 04-20 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update April 20, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network HYUNDAI TO MOVE OPERATION: Hyundai of South Korea is expected to announce Monday that it's moving its entire personal-computer business - including manufacturing to San Jose, Calif., the heart of Silicon Valley. Hyundai's Information Systems division so far hasn't been a big player in the PC market. It ships just 100,000 PCs a year. Still, parent company Hyundai had $38.5 billion in revenue last year. (For more, see special Hyundai package below.) DEC TO REORGANIZE: The New York Times reports Digital Equipment Corp. is dissolving the hardware engineering group and moving engineering into the marketing division. The Times says placing hardware engineering under marketing is a big shift for DEC, which has always focused heavily on engineering products. Some analysts say the reorganization may result in huge layoffs. BORLAND DOESN'T COMMENT ON TALK: A spokesman for Borland International, the big computer software firm, declined comment Friday on Wall Street speculation, USA TODAY columnist Dan Dorfman reports. The talk said Borland will report disappointing earnings for its fourth fiscal quarter that ended March 31. MISSILE PASSES TEST: Raytheon Company and the U.S. Navy say they have conducted a successful flight test of an AEGIS Extended Range missile at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The test featured a successful flight with a new booster engine and a modified upper stage rocket motor. The flight also successfully demonstrated the missile's long-range, high-altitude maneuverability, Raytheon says. MTI WINS DEPT. OF ENERGY JOB: Mechanical Technology Incorporated has been notified by the offices of Congressman Michael McNulty, D-N.Y., that it has been selected to develop a surface mapping sensor system for the Department of Energy. It will be used provide three-dimensional descriptions of reactors and nuclear waste storage facilities. MTI makes products for the measurement and defense:aerospace markets. HYDROGEN-POWERED CAR STANDS OUT: Mazda's hydrogen-powered HR-X concept car is among the standouts at the the New York International Automobile Show, which runs through Sunday. The HR-X burns hydrogen and its exhaust is mainly water vapor. Mazda's Takanori Miami says a special tank keeps the explosive hydrogen fuel safely contained, making hydrogen power "a more promising technology for the future than the electric car." CELLULAR PHONES CERTIFIED: Three manufactures have been added to the list of telephone makers with cellular phones earning Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's certification seal. They are AT&T, Fujitsu and NovAtel. They join Audiovox, Diamond Tel, Misubishi, Motorola and OKI telecom. The seal indicates that the phones meet minimum technical standards, as determined for the CTIA. NEW HUB DUE OUT: Interphase Corp. has unveiled a Fiber Distributed hub that supports a mixture of copper and fiber lines. The new hub supports a fiber distributed data interface as well as shielded and unshielded twist-pair wire. Available in July, the hub costs $13,995 for an eight-port configuration. STANDARDIZATION MOVE HITS SNAG: An effort to standardize call management switch-to-computer technology has suffered a setback. U.S. and European groups have failed to reach an agreement, Network World says. The American National Standards Institute and the European Computer Manufactures Association are expected to issue different standards for transferring information from switches to computers this summer. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON HYUNDAI: HYUNDAI CAN'T KEEP UP: Hyundai, which says it plans to move its entire personal computer business to San Jose, Claif., has been struggling for shelf space against dozens of other PC brands. Despite having lower labor costs than its U.S. rivals, Hyundai's PC business has suffered because its designers and factories can't quickly capitalize on U.S. trends in PCs. NEW EXEC. COULD MAKE DIFFERENCE: Analysts say a new operating officer could help turn Hyundai around. Edward Thomas, former president of fast-growing PC maker CompuAdd of Dallas, was named president and chief operating officer of Hyundai's PC business. CompuAdd is an aggressive PC price cutter that has more than $600 million in yearly revenue from 125 stores. THOMAS TO USE FAMILIAR TACTICS: Hyundai's Edward Thomas says he has big plans for the firm. They include mimicking some of the tactics of his former employer, such as opening Hyundai stores or selling PCs via mail order. "If you're going to be successful, you have to be directly in the market," says Thomas. "Shipping products to Europe and the U.S. (from South Korea) didn't make any sense." FIRM COULD MAKE WAVES: Hyundai has a long way to go. IBM and Apple, the biggest PC makers, each ship roughly 1.5 million PCs annually. Packard Bell ships about 500,000 PCs a year. "Hyundai has been a sleeper in the PC business for the past few years," says Bill Ablondi, computer analyst at BIS Strategies. "With somebody like Thomas coming in, there's a good chance they'll make waves in the PC industry." (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. 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