Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.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 Mon, Sep 28 1992 Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 04:52:55 EDT Message-ID: 09-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Technology USA TODAY Update Sept. 28, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network COMPAQ MOVES INTO JAPAN: Compaq Computer plans to introduce low-cost computers in Japan, a move that could shake up the high-priced Japanese computer market. The Associated Press says Compaq will announce plans Thursday to market its low-priced ProLinea models in Japan. AP reports that Compaq plans to price its cheapest model in Japan under $1,075. COLUMBIA ENGINE TO BE REPLACED: Kennedy Space Center workers Monday will begin preparing to replace one of Columbia's three main shuttle engines in hopes of meeting a mid-October launch date. The engine is being replaced because officials suspect a crack in the power plant's plumbing that is used to keep the engine nozzle cool during launch, NASA officials said. WINDOWS NT WILL BE LATE: Microsoft Corp. won't begin shipping Windows NT until at least early 1993, a Microsoft spokeswoman said Friday. The software giant set a goal of shipping the new operating system by December 1992, but that target won't be met because corporate testing of the software won't begin until mid-October, Linda O'Neil told Bloomberg Business News. DELAY WAS EXPECTED: Windows NT, a Unix-based software system with networking and workstation capabilities, won't be available until next year. Microsoft developed it with Digital Equipment Systems and Fox Software Inc. Microsoft acquired Fox for $190 million in March. The delay shouldn't come as a huge surprise to Wall Street because many had seen the target date of December 1992 as overly ambitious. HELLMAN PROTESTS SAUDI SALE: Richard Hellman, Christian's Israel Public Action Campaign, Friday spoke out against the sale of 72 F-15XP aircraft, air-to-air, and ground-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia. "This sale makes no sense from the standpoint of Israel's security, the Saudi record on peace and arms transfers, or Middle East peace and arms control," he said. "The sale threatens the security of Israel." SEGA TO OPEN CHICAGO OFFICE: Sega of America Inc. will open a video game development division in Chicago, the firm said Friday. Joe Robbins, managing director, will oversee this new office. The Sega Midwest Development Division, to open Thursday, will develop games for Sega's domestic consumer products operation. The division will initially program for the Sega Genesis, Game Gear and Sega CD-ROM platforms. RAYTHEON BUYS TRW SUBSIDIARY: Raytheon Co. Friday said it has acquired the assets of TRW LSI Products Inc., located in La Jolla, Calif. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. TRW LSI, a subsidiary of Cleveland-based TRW Inc., serves the video and imaging market by providing data acquisition, digital signal processing, and multimedia integrated circuits. Its annual sales have been in the $20 million to $30 million range. MACHINE ORDERS DECLINE 23.2%: U.S. machine tool orders declined 23.2% in August, a symptom of the sick economy and plunging factory employment. Compared to a year earlier, orders declined 33.1% last month, according to the Association for Manufacturing Technology, a trade group that compiles the monthly statistics. However, year-to-date orders were 1.9% ahead of the same period of 1991, the trade group said. IBM GIVING MONEY TO SCHOOLS: IBM is giving awards to nine colleges and universities that will work with IBM on accelerating quality management programs. The schools get $1 million in cash or $3 million in IBM equipment. The winners: Clark Atlanta U.; South College of Tech.; Ga. Institute of Tech.; Oregon St.; Penn St.; Rochester Institute of Tech.; U. of Houston; U. of Maryland; and U. of Wisconsin. CELLULAR INDUSTRY IS CHANGING: The cellular industry is in the transition between the 100 years of wire-line communications and the personal wireless communications systems (PCS) of tomorrow, says Tom Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. He told the Kagan Seminar last week in New York City that PCS will change the way people work, communicate and "change our society." EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES GET SPACE: The Federal Communications Commission has finalized its decision to move microwave users out of their current spectrum in order to create a block of frequencies for emerging technologies such as personal communications services. The emerging technologies frequencies will be in the 1.85-GHz to 2.2 GHz band. SKYPHONE TO GET FAX: British Telecom says it has developed a method for sending facsimiles over the Skyphone radio phone network at 9,600 bits per second. British Telecom says it will work with Skyphone to install the fax machines on a number of planes. Skyphone is currently available on a voice-only basis. The cost of using the service will be between $6 and $7 per minute, the firm says. 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