/// CPU Status Report                     Late Breaking Industry-Wide News
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    ANOTHER VIDEO GAME CONTENDER - It is rumored that 3DO Co. will soon 
 move into the video game market.  Sources say that 3DO's Interactive 
 Multiplayer unit is, "faster and more powerful than game machines now on 
 the market". Much attention has been focused on the 3DO system "because 
 of its ability to combine video, audio, text and graphics."
  
    One problem that the 3DO system has to overcome is the few games that 
 will be available for it through Christmas.  Sources say that "customer 
 decisions on machine purchases usually are based on what games can be 
 played on those machines ... and so far, the software selection for 3DO 
 is slim."
  
    The manufacturer says 10 to 20 games will be available for Christmas 
 sales, though more than 150 games are under development.
  
  
    PEN COMPUTER OFFERS WIRELESS NETWORKING CAPABILITIES - Fujitsu Per-
 sonal Systems Inc. has announced the PadPlus RF, one of the industry's 
 first mobile computers with fully-integrated wireless communications 
 technology.  The PadPlus RF is a pen-based mobile computer that allows 
 transparent wireless client/server and peer-to-peer LAN communications.
  
    The PadPlus RF incorporates Proxim Inc.'s RangeLAN wireless adapter 

 and radio into its enclosed housing, with a retractable antenna in the 
 upper left corner. The PadPlus RF has the same form-factor and func-
 tionality as the PoqetPad Plus.
  
    The PadPlus RF features a communications range of up to 300 feet with 
 interference immunity made possible by the spread spectrum technology. 
 The PadPlus RF has a burst data rate of 242Kbps and provides users with 
 three full channels. With error correcting hardware and firmware desig-
 ned to retransmit undelivered data, users will be sure that data is 
 never lost or corrupted.
  
    The PadPlus RF is available immediately through FPSI systems 
 integrators and VARs. Preliminary pricing for the PadPlus RF is $2,449.
  
  
    HP CUTS VECTRA PRICES - Word from Los Angeles is Hewlett-Packard Co. 
 is cutting prices of selected Vectra personal computers by up to 14%.
  
  
    APPLE BIG IN ASIA-PACIFIC - Apple Computer Inc.'s bottom line is 
 being given a boost by a tremendous boom in the personal computer market 
 in Asia, according to a top company executive.  Reports say that sales 
 of the major Macintosh and PowerBook product lines are higher than the 
 rate of market growth.

    "Our Asia-Pacific business is growing at a rate of around 50 percent" 
 annually, said Randy Battat, vice president of Apple's Macintosh desktop 
 and PowerBook division.


    IBM AND PHILIPS UNVEIL OPTICAL DISK DRIVE - Philips Electronics NV 
 and IBM Corp. announced they have formed a joint venture to develop 
 affordably-priced optical disk drives for the computer market. The 3.5-
 inch IBM MTA-3127 optical disk drive is the first in a series of 
 products aimed at a market for small, high-capacity drives.
  
    "We are aiming at a very big market share, by far the biggest," said 
 Philips spokesman Jack Reemers. He explained the disk drive market is 
 currently worth $250 million annually, but forecasts it will grow 
 rapidly to more than $1 billion.
  
  
    INTEL CORP. ANNOUNCES '386 CHIP FOR EMBEDDED PROCESSING MARKET - A 
 new line of '386 chips intended for the embedded processing market will 
 be available in volume in the second quarter of next year, Intel Corp. 
 says.
  
    The embedded market includes microwave ovens, consumer electronics, 
 copiers, facsimile machines, telecommunications and other devices in 
 which the tasks are more limited than those of microchip-based PCs.
  
  
    NEW CHIP SPEEDS UP GRAPHICS PROCESSING 30 TIMES - Samples of chips 
 that are said to process graphics 30 times faster than current tech-
 nology are being sold in samples by Toshiba Corp.
  
    Toshiba officials said the LSI (large-scale integration) chip is 
 capable of processing 150,000 polygons -- the basic building blocks of 
 computer graphics -- per second, compared with 5,000 per second for 
 computer graphics workstations now on the market.
   
  
    FUJITSU AND HYUNDAI TO JOINTLY PRODUCE CHIPS - Fujitsu and Hyundai 
 Electronic Industries Co. announced they will jointly produce computer 
 memory chips. Manufacturing will take place in the Hyundai factory in 
 Inchon, South Korea, as well as in Fujitsu's plants in northern Japan 
 and Gresham, Ore. The two companies also said they are considering 
 jointly developing more advanced chips.
  
  
    APPLE DENIES TEXAS MOVE IS IN THE WORKS - Apple Computer is once 
 again denying rumors that say the firm will move some of its operations 
 to Austin, Texas.  The company did say, however, that it was planning on 
 moving some of its operations out of California's Silicon Valley.
  
  
    MEGAHERTZ CUTS MODEM COSTS - Megahertz Corp. has reduced prices by as 
 much as 38% on its PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International 
 Association) modems.  The price reductions include those on modems with 
 the company's patented XJACK connector system.
  
    Those reduced in price range from the XJ1144 14,400/14,400bps data/ 
 fax w/XJACK (reduced to $399 from $599) to the CC324FM 2400/9600bps 
 data/fax (to $239 from $379).
  
  
    ASTRONAUTS TO TEST COMPUTER - The helpfulness of an "intelligent" 
 computer called the Astronaut Science Advisor is to be tested later this 
 month on the next space shuttle mission. The system was designed "to 
 help space travelers increase their productivity and improve the 
 scientific quality of data they collect".
  
    Experts at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., say 
 that the computer has four major functions:
    -:- Diagnosis and trouble-shooting of experiment equipment.
    -:- Data collection.
    -:- Management of experimental procedures.
    -:- Detection of "interesting" information.
  
    "Scientists hope the nonhuman assistant will enhance the crew's abi-
 lity to perform science experiments and reduce reliance on air-to-ground 
 communications," sources said. "If it does, it can play a critical part 
 on longer missions and the space station."
  
  
    NO JAIL TIME FOR 'NASA CRACKER' -- An Australian computerist who
 authorities say shut down some NASA computers for 24 hours in a 1990
 system intrusion has avoided jail time.
  
    In Melbourne, the 22-year-old Nahshon Even-Chaim was sentenced to 12 
 months' jail but was freed immediately by the judge on a good behavior 
 bond.
  
    Judge Anthony Smith warned Even-Chaim, who was known in his 
 underground computing circles as "Friend," that he may have to serve the 
 sentence if he breached the $1,000 bond over the coming year. Smith also 
 ordered Even-Chaim to carry out 500 hours of unpaid community work over 
 the next two years.
  
  
    WORDPERFECT CORP. SETTLES SUITS - WordPerfect Corp. says it has set-
 tled lawsuits against a Canadian bulletin board system operator and a 
 Texas beta-tester it accused of illegally copying and distributing beta 
 versions of its new WordPerfect 6.0 word processor.

    A statement from the company says the software was first found on a 
 BBS called "California Dreamin" located in Toronto. It was then traced 
 to a beta-tester in Texas, the company said.
  
    "Under court authority," says the statement, "U.S. marshals and Royal 
 Canadian Mounted Police, together with company representatives, con-
 fiscated computer equipment and unauthorized copies of the program from 
 the electronic bulletin board operator and from the beta-test site."

    This was WordPerfect Corp.'s first direct action against a beta-
 tester, though the publisher previously has taken actions against pirate 
 BBSes through the Business Software Alliance of which WordPerfect Corp. 
 is a founding member.