/// CPU Status Report                     Late Breaking Industry-Wide News
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         » NASA Loans Russia Hardware To Complete Internet Link «


WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 2 (NB) -- The National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration, NASA, has announced that after several year's work 
the agency is now proceeding with the  loan of hardware and software to 
the Russian Space Agency that  will allow a direct high-speed link between 
Moscow scientists and the Internet.

Charles Redmond of NASA told Newsbytes on Tuesday that the system now in 
the process of being installed is basically an upgrade to computer 
facilities at the Soviet Space Agency offices. The deal began with an 
agreement between President Bush and Premier Gorbachev which is only now 
being implemented with the current Russian Space Agency because of delays 
having to do with obtaining permits to ship high-tech equipment to the 
former Soviet Union.

This constitutes the first direct hard-wired link between the Russian 
scientific community and the worldwide Internet scientific, and academic 
communications network. Mr. Redmond told Newsbytes that an indirect link 
has existed for years but that it was made through a gateway located in 
West Germany and therefore only operated at a relatively slow 9600 bits per 
second rate.

The new linkage between the Space Agency facilities just north of Moscow, 
Russia, NASA, and everyone else on the Internet is a high-speed 56-kilobit 
link using a combination of land lines and a satellite linkage.

According to NASA, the new network link will provide a means for the two 
major space agencies to carry on much more intensive liaison activities 
which just wasn't possible using the much slower gateway.

To provide a high-speed Internet link, NASA had to receive Department of 
Commerce permission to ship about $480 thousand worth of routers and front-
end computers, including a MiniVAX, to the Russians on loan from NASA.

The equipment will be in operation by the beginning of 1994 and should 
eventually link a number of Moscow-based and outlying scientific stations' 
networked computers with the Internet although those outlying locations 
will still be linked only through relatively slow dial-up modem lines to 
the high-speed Moscow center.

Shipment of the hardware and necessary software has already begun, but not 
everything is yet in place, according to the NASA spokesperson in 
Washington, DC.



                   » 3DO Int'l Assn, 3DO Club Started «


REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1993 NOV 2 (NB) -- 3DO has started two 
support groups, one for people in businesses related to 3DO technology, the 
3DO International Association (3DOIA), and the 3DO Club for consumers.  The 
compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM)-based 3DO hardware was shipped into 
retail outlets by Panasonic in September.

Panasonic, the only hardware manufacturer currently offering the 3DO player, 
says sales of the Real 3DO are going very well, despite the fact that there 
are only three software titles for the player to date. The 3DO boasts a 
reduced instruction set computing (RISC) chip, is specially designed to offer 
fast graphics rendering, and connects to a television set. The unit will also 
play audio CDs and Kodak Photo CDs.

Twenty more entertainment titles are expected by Christmas and in excess of 
300 developers have signed up to either move existing software titles or 
create new ones for the 3DO market.

The 3DOIA is $95 per year and is aimed at developers, publishers, producers, 
dealers, distributors, and manufacturers of 3DO products. The group has been 
formed to offer a forum and information about 3DO as well as information 
exchange between members and will offer a newsletter, special interest groups
(SIGS), and conferences.

The 3DO Club is the source for fun information aimed at consumers or would-be 
consumers who are willing to spend $19.95 per year to learn more about 3DO. 
Members can expect a quarterly newsletter with information about new 3DO 
products, behind-the-scenes previews, and profiles of those who have licensed 
3DO's technology. Contests, special events, and sweepstakes will also be a 
part of the club, 3DO added.

To entice membership, those purchasing Panasonic 3DO systems now will receive 
free one-year memberships and a sweepstakes with a grand price of an all-
expense-paid trip to Universal Studios is also being offered. Ten first prizes 
of 3DO software titles will be awarded as well, the company said.

Those interested in joining 3DOIA are encouraged to call 3DO for more 
information. Information on the 3DO Club may be obtained by mail. Janet 
Strauss, director of marketing for 3DO said the company has already received 
thousands of letters from people who want to joint the 3DO Club.

3DO has as its largest competitor Philips with the Compact Disc Interactive 
(CD-I) player. Philips has announced a deal with Paramount to introduce 
72-minute movies for the CD-I player that will play with the addition of 
special Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) hardware module for decompression 
of the video. The company recently cut the price of the CD-I player so
with the MPEG module it is comparable to the 3DO price of about $700. Philips 
is also doing "infomercials" on national television and has more game titles 
available as it has been marketing the CD-I player for over a year. However, 
3DO claims other game systems are no match for the graphics capability of
its system.

One other player in this market could be the Atari Jaguar system. While Atari 
officials hope the Jaguar will be as popular as the now ancient Commodore 64 
home computer, the company has lost nearly all its momentum in the US market 
and is struggling to manufacture the Jaguar systems in large enough quantities 
to meet demand. However, Atari does have backing from C-Cube, a maker of video 
compression hardware chips.



                The preceding stories are © 1993 NewsBytes.
                        Reprinted with permission.