NewtNews-132-04Mar97

====================



by Steve Holden <newtnews@pobox.com>.  This is a weekly freeware

newsletter that focuses on the Apple Newton and related technologies.

NewtNews Copyright 1994-97 Steve Holden.  All rights reserved.  See the

Administrivia at end for details and FAQ info.



This issue of NewtNews is sponsored in part by:



 + WinSlurp from Rare White Tiger Creations - Available via WWW at:

   <http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/heringermr/winslurp.htm>.



 + PDA & HANDHELD DIRECT - Putting Technology in the Palm of Your Hand!

   800-279-4PDA 219-882-5228 [F]:219-845-0578 <http://www.pdadirect.com>



 + TeleType GPS and moving map for the Newton - Never get lost again -

   <http://www.teletype.com/gps/> - <TeleTypeGPS@teletype.com>



 + INFORMED FILLER FOR NEWTON - Custom Electronic Forms Integrated With

   Your Desktop - Shana Corp - <info@shana.com> - <http://www.shana.com>



 + PowerMedia presents 'Arcade Game Pack' - Birds With Lances, Rocks

   In Space, Frogs vs. Cars - US$29.95 - <http://www.powermedia.com/~pmi>



 + VITAMIN A MENU EDITOR - Stand Alone has released it's custom and caret

   menu editor and creator! - Demo at: <http://www.standalone.com/newton>



 + X-Port, KwikMenu, NewtPaint, Quicknames Pro, proCALC Ex - Newton 2.0

   solutions - <sales@landware.com> - <http://www.landware.com>



 + RidgeNet - ARA, SLIP, PPP access to the Internet from Ridgecrest, CA.

   <http://owens.ridgecrest.ca.us/RidgeNET/RidgeNETWelcome.html>





Table of Contents

-----------------



 1. Top News

 2. Information from Email

 3. Information from the Internet

 4. Review of Top Weekly Magazine Headlines

 5. Top Weekly Magazine Stories Of Interest

 6. Other PDA News

 7. Edupage, 24Feb97 thru 02Mar97

 8. INNOVATION, 24FEB97

 9. Dear Newton Developer

10. Other Sources of Information

11. News Agent Summary

12. Advertising Notes

13. Product and Service Information

14. Comments from the Editor

15. Administrivia





Top News

--------



** BUSINESS EMATE? **



As we go to press we learn of details about a 'business eMate' from the

Mac OS Rumors page at: <http://www.macosrumors.com>.  Details are sketchy

but this device would most likely be powered by a StrongArm processor

instead of the ARM 710 in the current eMate 300.



** GSM PC CARD FOR MP2K **



Jan Fuellemann <jff@berlin.snafu.de> reports that they are busy working

on releasing a new Type II GSM ready PC Card for the MessagePad 2000.

For more specific information check out: <http://www.novamedia.de>.



** NEW TERMINAL EMULATOR **



Andres Martinez <martinez@netside.net> has announced the release of his

Newton terminal emulator -- EasyConnect 2.0 for Newton 2.0.  For more

information check out: <http://www.netside.net/~martinez>.



** NEWTON SHOP IN GERMANY **



Michael Putz <Michael.Putz@munich.netsurf.de> has announced the creation

of his Newton Shop (called DATA mobil) in Munich, Germany in the

Schwabing district near the University.  If you are interested in getting

a price list send a message to Michael with the word "PL" in the subject

with your address and FAX number in the body of the message.  For more

information call: (++49 89 523 100 26) or fax: (++49 89 523 100 27).



** NEW VERSION OF QFP ON THE WAY **



Don Vollum <donv@teleport.com> reports that PelicanWare will be shipping

soon the new QuickFigure Pro (QFP) 2.1 -- a subset of this application is

distributed on the MP2K and the eMate 3000.  The cost will be US$59.95

and you can get more information via: <http://www.pelicanware.com>.  This

version is reportedly 'significantly' faster on older Newton 2.0 MP120s

and MP130s.



** AN OPINION ABOUT THE MESSAGEPAD 2000 **



Jude Mansilla <jude@hotpocket.com> the Editor-In-Chief at HotPocket

reported the following recently on comp.sys.newton.misc:



    I am in possession of [a MP2K] evaluation unit --

    just got it a few days ago.  So far, I can say that

    I am pretty amazed by the MP2000's stellar

    performance leap over the MP130, which is only one

    generation older.  Expensive?  Yes.  But our

    opinion at HotPocket so far is that it will be

    worth the price to many people.  We've only just

    begun to put it through its paces, and we'll give

    you our full impressions when we've had ample

    opportunity to use it daily for a time.



    To answer your question: the MessagePad 2000 is

    certainly wonderful.





$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

  The New WriteRight Screen Enhancements protect your screen from

  scratches, reduce glare and improve your handwriting recognition by

  simulating the feel of writing on paper. WriteRights are available for

  all Newtons in packs of: 4-for $11.95, 8-for $18.95, and 12-for $24.95.

  Mention NewtNews and receive 10% off our 12-pack. For more info:

  415-929-1002 <Info@ConceptKitchen.com> <http://www.ConceptKitchen.com>

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$



$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

  AvailWorks 3.0 - New version adds a text layer with spell-check, find

  and replace, and support for multiple page documents.  AvailWorks

  integrates text processing, powerful tables, dynamic business charts

  and graphs, and drawing and page layout tools into one convenient package

  for the Newton.  From PelicanWare at $79.95+S&H.  For more info:

  <info@pelicanware.com>. To order 800.655.6398 or visit resellers.

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$





Information from Email

----------------------



** JOB'S DUMP NEWTON CLARIFICATION **



Terry Gritton <tgritton@sprynet.com> reports that Apple has sent out a

clarification piece written by David Harrah, Director of Corporate Public

Relations, that denies many of the facts presented in the FORTUNE

magazine that NewtNews mentioned last week.  The blurb we published said

that Steve Jobs suggested that Gil Amelio dump the Newton.  This 'rumor'

should be taken with a huge grain of salt.



** CLUBPDA NEWS **



ClubPDA <http://www.clubpda.com/> had a host of weekly specials that ran

from 23Feb97 through 01Mar97.  They were offering discounts on: Concept

Kitchen WriteRights, Apple's MP120 & MP130, Go Fetch Email Client,

Palmeta Mail v1.5 for Pilot, and NEC MobilePro 400 4MB (Windows CE).

For more information about placing an order call: 888.258.2732.  To learn

more about getting on their mailing list for these special deals check

out the WWW site above.  ClubPDA also announced that they are expecting

to begin shipping MP2Ks on 24Mar97.



** DESKTOP TO DO SYNC TOOL **



LandWare <sales@landware.com> has announced that they are now shipping

their US$29 Macintosh application ToDo List 2.1 that will sync with a

Newton's built-in To Do task list in Newton 2.0.  For more information

please check out: <http://www.landware.com>.



** MEDIA TRACKING UTILITY NAME CONTEST **



Hardy Macia <hardy@catamount.com> has a 'new' application currently being

called 'MediaBuff' that will enable a Newton user to track CDs, records,

videos, etc. ...  Hardy is currently holding a contest to find a better

name.  To participate check out: <http://www.catamount.com>.



** NEW AMUG NEWTON CDROM COLLECTION **



Michael Bean <bean@amug.org> has announced the availability of their 8th

Volume of the Totally Incomplete PDA CD-ROM for Newton offering 600+ MBs

of Mac and PC format 2.x and 1.x packages.  The cost is US$29+S&H.  For

more info: 602.497.2244, <sales@amug.org>, or <http://cdrom.amug.org/>.



** LINKING NEWTON WWW PAGES **



Newton Classifieds <bnet@pobox.com> has announced the creation of a

Newton Web Ring, and you can get more information by check out the

following URL: <http://pobox.com/~bnet/newton/webring.htm>.  This project

is an excellent way for Newton vendors and information providers to

link together, and expand the Newton users WWW experience.



** MORE MACWORLD EXPO TOKYO TIDBITS **



Tim Meggs <tim@fa.yamatake.co.jp> reported the following tidbits from

MacWorld Expo Tokyo:



    - Main Apple booth didn't have any new Newtons on

      display, just the MP130.

    - The primary Apple developers booth did have a

      MP2K on display.

    - The Enfour booth had several eMate 300s on

      display and at least one MessagePad 2000.

    - Tim found the MP2K to be overall very snappy, and

      handwriting recognition to be much faster.

    - Tim thinks the price of US$1000 is way to high

      to compete against the Sharp Zaurus in Japan.

    - There is someone in Japan working on a PHS phone

      network connectivity solution for the Newton.



** DETAILS ABOUT PAGENOW **



Brian Hall <brian_hall@markspace.com> reports that Mark/Space is the

publisher of PageNOW! for Newton, and that the actual developer of the

product is Ron Flax.  Last week we had a blurb in NewtNews that made it

seem like Brian was the developer.  Sorry about that!  Brian also points

out that they have posted some interesting information concerning

batteries and the Socket PageCard via the following URL:

<http://www.markspace.com/pagenow_newton_faq.html>.



** A TIP AND TRICK **



Roger Coleman <Roger_Coleman@compuserve.com> reports the following 'tip

and trick' for the Newton:



    You can use the 'expand' feature of the personal

    word list to convert seemingly meaningless (but

    easy to write) squiggles into meaningful things.

    For example, I have set 'eee' to expand to my full

    name.  All I have to do is write a three-looped

    squiggle and "Roger Coleman" appears - great for

    signing letters.  I have set 'eeee' to expand to

    my job title, and 'eeeee' to my email address. I

    can just write out a letter, and then finish it

    off with a load of long squiggles!  It is worth

    setting up for purely for those occasions when

    you are dazzling people with a demonstration of

    the Newt's abilities!  It should be noted that

    you have to be using cursive handwriting for this

    to work.



** NEW STUFF FROM FOUNDATION SYSTEMS **



Adam Tow <atow@tow.com> has released Styles+ 1.2 (01Mar97) -- a utility

that replaces the built-in styles palette.  Styles+ supports multiple

styles, larger font sizes, and more fonts.  Adam also reported the Beta 6

release of WriteHere 2.0 on 28Feb97.  This HWR input solution will ship

with Corrector+ for free, and enables handwriting recognition in

applications that doesn't support handwriting recognition (it will also

work in nearly any other application).  For more information:

<http://www.tow.com/>.



** NEWTON PRESS FEEDBACK **



The Newton Press pages on <http://newton.info.apple.com> encourage users

of Newton Press for Macintosh and Windows to send them your comments, bug

reports, and suggestions to: <winpress@newton.apple.com>.





$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

        GET AMIGO NOW! Did you know you can order AMIGO the premier

        8000+ word English/Spanish Dictionary Reference Tool and

        Translation program for the Newton over the World Wide Web

        at: <http://www.1stopsoft.com>?  AMIGO is available for

        US$24.95 and it comes with a full year of upgrades. For more

        information contact ACCSYS by email at: <rkaplan@well.com>

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$



$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

  TeleType GPS is software for the Newton which displays your location

  while driving or flying. The software includes a moving map which shows

  you where you are in relation to cities and towns. It is controlled by

  the Garmin 30 TracPack, a powerful yet small Global Positioning System

  (GPS) antenna.  Never get lost again. Email: <TeleTypeGPS@teletype.com>

  or WWW to: <http://www.teletype.com/gps/> for more information.

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$





Information from the Internet

-----------------------------



** ANOTHER SOURCE FOR NEWTON STUFF **



Ron Marlowe <marlowe@thenet.net> reports that the following site at

<http://www.ascii.net> has a how host of MessagePad products: MP130,

Telescoping Pens, Newton Keyboards, Carrying Cases, and pre-orders for

MP2K.



** ENTERPRISE WIRELESS NEWTON SOLUTION **



Derek A Austin <dekka@ozemail.com.au> has announced that ceMis' version

1.2 of their Wayfarer Newton Client software now supports Apple's soon to

be released MessagePad 2000.  Using Netwave wireless savvy PC cards, and

a Windows NT based Wayfarer server you can 'easily' create a wireless

TCP/IP Newton solution.  For more information: <http://www.cemis.com.au>.



** NEWTON AD IN NEW YORK TIMES **



Marton Carungay <martonc@earthlink.net> points out, that according to

MacWeek's Don Crabb, Apple recently ran several full page ads in the New

York Times which included the MessagePad 2000 and the eMate 300.  You can

check out the ad via: <http://www.apple.com/>.



** CHICAGO NEWTON USER GROUP MEETINGS **



Ben Gottlieb <gottlb@neuman.interaccess.com> reports that the Chicago

Newton Users Group (ChILNUG) meets every fourth Tuesday of the month at

Interactive Bean located at 1137 W. Belmont.  Meetings start at: 7 p.m.,

and for more info call: 773.477.2492 or email: <chilnug@standalone.com>.



** VOICE RECOGNITION SDK COSTS A PRETTY PENNY **



Gavin Maxwell <gkm@magna.com.au> forwarded details that he collected

about the cost of the future Speech Recognition Software Development Kit

(SDK) for the MessagePad 2000 to the USENET newsgroup

comp.sys.newton.programmer.  Here is the 'low-down':



    - SDK with mic, amp and 1 run-time license is ~US$1000

    - The SDK will come with a few hundred word standard

      vocabulary.

    - Developers will have to pay for customized vocabulary

      production.

    - There will be relatively high run-time licensing fees.

    - The 'standard' MP2K will not work, it will have to be

      upgraded to 4-MBs from 1-MBs.



[EDITOR: Unfortunately it appears that this solution will be only

available for those very few who have extremely vertical needs.

Hopefully, a more mainstream solution will be possible from another

source?!?]



** MP2K AT NEWTON SOURCE **



Barry Rock <docroc@pipeline.com> reports that New York City's Newton

Source employees are expecting to receive their shipment of MP2Ks on

17Mar97, and will immediately begin shipping them out to pre-paid

customers.  There will probably not be enough MP2Ks in this shipment to

go to walk-in sales.



** NEWTWORLD GETS MAJOR UPDATES **



Jeff Wright <wrightad@airmail.net> reports that NewtWorld has grown to

over 50 pages in just two short weeks.  He is very thankful to all that

has helped NewtWorld get started so successfully.  For more information

check out the following URL: <http://www.fw3.com/newtworld>.



** USING A KEYBOARD WITH A NEWTON?!? **



Clay Irving <clay@panix.com> suggests that those interested in using a

full-sized keyboard with the Newton check out:



    - FreeKey <http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Flo_Biehler/>

    - ObPlug: Found in the Accessories/Keyboard section of the Newton

      Reference: <http://www.panix.com/~clay/newton>



** DEMO OF EUDORA PRO FOR NEWTON **



Scott Gruby <sgruby@qualcomm.com> reminds NewtNews readers that you can

check out a demo of Eudora Pro for Newton via the following FTP link:

<ftp://ftp.qualcomm.com/>.  You can get more information via this URL:

<http://www.eudora.com/newton.html>.  Eudora Pro for the Newton has a

list price of US$49.95.



** MORE DETAILS ON UNIFEP **



Smittie <smittie@enfour.com> points out that Enfour's UniFEP completely

localizes a U.S. Newton to the Japanese market.  You can get some screen

shots to see what things look like on a "Japanese" Newton by checking

out: <http://www.enfour.co.jp/newton/unifep/index.html>.



** UPDATE ON NEWTON EZINE AND GOOD EMATE MARKET ANALYSIS **



Rik Ahlberg <rik@newtuser.com> reports that the ezine Newton Today has

been renamed 'NewtUser' and can be found on the World Wide Web via:

<http://www.newtuser.com>.  NewtNews readers are encouraged to check out

the following pages regularly:



    - eM300 Watch: <http://www.newtuser.com/news/em300watch.shtml>

    - MP2K Watch: <http://www.newtuser.com/news/mp2000watch.shtml>



Rik also recently made a good point in a post to comp.sys.newton.misc

answering a question on why Apple is using Newton OS in the K-12 market

-- it is one of the "most idiot-proof OS ever built" with features like

"autosave, instant-on, and printed handwriting recognition" which are

ideal of children.



** GOOD PROGRAMMING EXAMPLE **



Want to move a package using a NewtonScript?!?  If you do, Mike Engber

<engber@apple.com> suggestions you check out the SafeMovePackage API that

is documented in an article he wrote via the following FTP link:

<ftp://ftp.apple.com/pub/engber/newt/articles/PackageDeal.rtf>.



** WIRELESS DESKTOP SYNC?!? **



Rumors continue to circulate on the Net that several companies are

working on an IR desktop pod that enable 'wireless auto-sync' with the

MessagePad 2000.



** EMAILING NEWTON DATA TYPES **



Celso Maiolo <celso@netcom.ca>, a principle at Netstrategy Software,

pointed out on comp.sys.newton.misc that their client EnRoute i-net

(bundled on MP2K, and available for purchase for the MP130 and eMate 300)

will allow you to send Newton data types from one Newton to another

Newton over the Internet.  For more information send an email to:

<sales@netstrat.com>.



** NEWTON TO GET VECTOR MAPPING SOLUTION **



Jason Hong <hong@cc.gatech.edu> at the Georgia Institute of Technology

recently responded to a thread on comp.sys.newton.misc about "Urban

street atlas" with a pointer to a project he is working on called

Cyberguide.  The system uses 'vector-based US TIGER/Line data', and will

have plugins to GPS devices and digital cameras in the future.  The are

planning to port this project from their PC laptop prototype to a MP2K

when they become available.  For more info about this project check out:

<http://www.cc.gatech.edu/fce/cyberguide/project_notebook/nfhome.html>.



** NEW DESKTOP SYNC FORMATS TO BE SUPPORTED BY GAIA **



James Uther recently pointed out on comp.sys.newton.misc that the next

available iteration of Netscape Communicator will support vCalendar and

vCard formats, and was wondering if there are plans for Newton

compatibility.



Keven Boyett <keven_boyett@gaia.com> responded that his company Gaia has

commercial clients that can deal with importing and exporting to/from

vCard and vCalendar data and a Newton.  For more information send Keven

email or check out: <http://www.gaia.com>.



You can get more information about these formats by checking out:

<http://www.imc.org/pdi/>.



** REMOTE CONTROL SOFTWARE IN MAC AND PC FORMAT **



Ashish Mishra <ash@sineware.com> has announced the posting of a Mac and

Windows version of their US$15 shareware ShowMate -- Newton scriptable

remote control that works with most Sony and Panasonic equipment via:

<http://www.sineware.com/products/ShowMate>.



** APOLOGY FOR MULTIPLE POSTS **



The President of UseItAgain MACS <sales@useitagain.com> posted a message

to comp.sys.newton.misc on 01Mar97.  Thomas Armes hopes that NewtNews

readers who saw the multiple posts to comp.sys.newton.misc recently

accept his sincere apology for the posts.  Thomas does maintain though

that they will be one of the first to get MessagePad 2000s from Apple and

that they are taking back orders for MP2Ks.  If you have any comments or

concerns please contact Thomas at: <tarmes@elitecomputers.com>.



** INFOSOURCE AND STATIONARY TOOL RELEASED **



AgCal Systems has announced the release of 'The Study Director Companion'

-- which gives a Newton user quick and easy access to information

contained in EPA's 860.1000 Residue Chemistry Guidelines.  Future

enhancement plans include: mapping, livestock feeding tables, number of

trials needed & location, and maximum concentration factors.



AgCal Systems has also recently announced the next iteration of their

freeware Personal Stationary -- version 1.2.  This 'add-on' to the

builtin Notepad makes it easier to add a personal touch to your notes.

For more info check out: <http://www.mindspring.com/~leere/index.html> or

send an email to: Robert Lee <leere@ntrnet.net>.



** VISUALNEWT GETS UPGRADE **



Serg Koren <archimag@netaxs.com> (Serg  Koren) has released a new version

of VisualNewt (02/23/97-1)  -- a programming tool for the Newton.  Some

new features include the following new 'functionals': protoTable,

protoTableEntry, and protoKeypad.  In the future the following tools will

be implemented: Tiny Tim, User protos, and Select bitmap.



** OTHER SITES WORTHY OF A BROWSE **



    - MKLINUX [Mac/Unix]: <http://www.mklinux.apple.com>

    - Tenon [Mac/Unix]: <http://www.tenon.com/whatsnew/next.html>

    - Telequip [Security]: <http://www.telequip.com>

    - Mac95 [Mac on Win95]: <http://cafe.berkeley.edu/~jdustin/mac95>

    - Pretty Good Privacy [Encryption]: <http://www.pgp.com>





$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

$ NS BASIC  $ The latest implementation of this cool programming tool has an

$   3.6     $ easy to use graphic screen layout function, plus indexed file

$   with    $ communications, graphics and more!  Program directly on Newton

$  Visual   $ or with a PC or Mac.  Create packages in the Extras drawer and

$ Designer! $ much more. 260 pg handbook. Cost is $99+5 S&H for all Newtons.

$           $ <info@nsbasic.com>,  <http://www.nsbasic.com>,  416.264.5999

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$



$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

  PDA and Handheld Direct - MP2000 Coming March 21st

   - Apple MessagePad 2000 Standard Model only $949.00 Product (#22005)

   - Apple MessagePad 2000 Business Bundle only $1099.00 Product #22008

   - Apple Message Pad 130 w/ Newton 2.0 OS $655.00

   - Type II PCMCIA Flash Memory for all Apple MPs - Mfg Lifetime Guarantee

     4MB $128 (41070) 8MB $224 (41073) 10MB $274 (41074) 16MB $424 (41077)

   - Revelar Connection Utilities for Win $49.95 #10070 Mac $49.95 #10071

   - Newton Keyboard only $69.00

  To receive special pricing please mention source code #158

  To order call 800-279-4732 or 219-882-5228 or fax 219-845-0578

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$





Review of Top Weekly Magazine Headlines

---------------------------------------



** JUST NEWS **



    - IBM has new 622-Mbps OC-12 ATM based switches

    - IBM has over 1,000 people working on Java projects; Sun's

      JavaSoft only has 240 people doing the same



** MAJOR TRENDS **



    - Mac OS clone price wars: Motorola, Power Computing, UMAX,

      APS all drop prices in US

    - JavaBlaster: Sun plans ISA/PCI microJava plugin cards for PCs



** MINOR TRENDS **



    - QuickTime 3.0: steaming, sprites, & new data types

    - Messaging (email) front-ends battle for attention

    - The selling of 'Component Software & Hardware' matures

    - HP plans to provide Web interfaces to future printers



** NOISE **



    - Apple continues to lose market share in education markets



** WEB POINTERS **



    - Web Week: <http://www.webweek.com>

    - MacWeek: <http://www.macweek.com>

    - InfoWorld: <http://www.infoworld.com>

    - Computer Reseller News: <http://www.crn.com>

    - PC Week: <http://www.pcweek.com>





Top Weekly Magazine Stories Of Interest

---------------------------------------



** NEWTON OPINION MENTION **



Last weeks Newton opinion by Henry Norr in MacWeek generated a 'Letter to

the Editor' from Dave Sawyer at Digitelligence in Denver, Colorado.  Dave

"could not agree more" with Henry's comments, but notes that the Newton

technology is only going to take-off over time, and only if there is a

complete commitment to continued development.  The Newton technology

should not "be allowed to die" because it is "too good." [MacWeek,

24Jan97, page 19]



** NEWTON RUMOR MENTION **



Robert X. Cringley writes the following on page 106 of InfoWorld

published on 24Feb97:



    "Others are saying that Apple will clobber the

     Newton group, but this week's rollout of the eMate

     [300] device for school kids and the new Newton

     [MessagePad 2000] seem to belie those predictions.

     In fact, Apple is ramping up production of the

     school notebook to meet expected demand."



** WINCE TO GET VOICE RECOGNITION **



Scott Berinato and Mark Moore have an article entitled "Pagers, Handheld

PCs To Gain Voice Recognition" on page 10 of PC Week published on

24Feb97.  The focus of this article is on a company called Lernout &

Hauspie Speech Products that is teaming with National Dispatch Center to

offer voice recognition features in future pagers.  The company has also

announced that they have similar software that will work on Windows CE

devices.  Products are expected to be available by the end of 1997.



** MORE WINCE CONNECTIVITY **



Michael Gaton has an review article entitled "Symantec Extends Reach of

Windows CE Handhelds: pcAnywhere CE delivers reliable remote access but

magnifies OS' shortcomings" on page 43 of PC Week published on 24Feb97.

Some of the shortcomings include: small screen, small keyboard, and slow

performance. On the plus side, Michael found: good remote access

features; and using a Web browser via pcAnywhere can be better than

built-in Web browser.



** HP READIES WINDOWS CE HPC **



Carolyn April has a complete review of the upcoming HP Windows CE savvy

HP300LX and HP320LX in an article called "HP's WinCE palmtop offers

bigger screen" on page 19 of InfoWorld published on 24Feb97.  HP plans to

market these devices as "low-cost" alternatives to notebooks. Andrew

Seybold is quoted in the article with positive things to say about the

HP300LX's screen and keyboard.  The devices will support not only a Type

II PC Card but also a CompactFlash slot.



** OTHER HANDHELD PC WEEK MENTIONS (24FEB97) **



There is a 'News Digest' blurb with a picture of the new HP Windows CE

savvy HP300LX (US$499) and HP320LX (US$699) that are expected to ship by

mid-May97.  For more information: <http://www.hp.com/handheld>. [page 50]



Review by Michael Gaton of Palmeta Software's Pilot based Palmeta Mail

1.5, and Wynd Communications' WyndMail/CE 1.0 for Windows CE devices.

[Page 55]



Another excellent review by Michael Gaton of the new Philips' Velo 1

(US$599/2-MB, US$699/4-MB) on page 55.  Michael feels that this Windows

CE device "stacks up well" against HPCs from Casio, Compaq, and NEC.  For

more information about the Velo check out: <http://www.velo1.com>.



** OTHER ARTICLES OF INTEREST **



    - "New two-way devices give users Web, email

       access: Motorola revises PageWriter as SkyTel

       offers new service" by Mark Moore, PC Week,

       24Feb97, page 10

    - "Smart Cards move towards the creation of a

       standard: Schlumberger, Gemplus are co-developing

       cards with common OSes based on the Java card API"

       by Margaret Kand and Scott Berinato, PC Week,

       24Feb97, page 46

    - "IBM Boosts Wireless Nets" by Mark Moor, PC

       Week, 24Feb97, page 79,

       <http://www.software.ibm.com/mobile>





$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

   WinSlurp! - Rare White Tiger Creations provides Newton Book publishing

   services and is NOW offering WinSlurp. A windows front-end to Slurpee

   which supports transferring notes back and forth between the Newton

   notepad and the PC desktop.  Available for downloading from this URL:

   <http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/heringermr/winslurp.htm>.

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$



$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

   PowerMedia is your source for all the latest cutting edge Newton apps:

     + Super NotePad: Quick access arrows, encryption, tags, filters, etc.

     + DateMan 3.0: Complete agenda and contact management.

     + Stationary Construction Kit: Build your very own custom stationary.

   Commercially available at your favorite Newton retailer.  Or check out

   online demos via the following site: <http://www.powermedia.com/~pmi>.

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$





Other PDA News

--------------



[EDITOR: News collected via snail mail, major publications, USENET

newsgroups, email, and the WWW.]



** PSION **



John Claridge <john@claridge.demon.co.uk> has announced that PCWorld in the

UK is now shipping for UK$399 an English backlit version of the Psion 3c.



Mark Gould <Mark.Gould@Bristol.ac.uk> reports that 'Page of Psion Links'

is going to be closed down soone because of increased 'real' work

pressure.



D. Moore <dmoore3733@aol.com> has written a small software package for

Psion that will calculate wind chill factor.  You can get more information

via: <http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dmcs/homepage.htm>. Moore

has also written a package called "slidemkr" that lets you create

presentation slides which can be printed to postscript printer or run

in a frame-based, JavaScript savvy Web browser.



Ian Penson <ianpenson@enterprise.net> has created a HTML database with

197 definitions for Psion 3a/c users.  The software is available via:

<http://homepages.enterprise.net/ianpenson/psi_html.htm>



Ronald Queloz <qlz@siemens.ch> has posted version 1.3.12 of his vacation

tracker utility called VacTrac for the Psion via the following WWW site

at: <http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/3591/>.



** PILOT **



Kris Noland <kris@entigran.com> reports that the next Boston PDA User

Group will be 'blessed' with Palm Computing showing off their new Pilot

2.0 hardware and software.  The meeting will be held on Tuesday, 11Mar97

at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, in room

3-133, beginning at 7:00pm.



Looking for a spreadsheet to use with your Pilot?  Check out QuickSheet

via: <http://www.cesinc.com> or check out the links available via:

<http://www.inforamp.net/~adam/pilot/>.



Alexander Scott Hinds <ahinds@ahinds.vip.best.com> has announced the

v0.99a1 of SuperPad for Pilot that is now offering Safer-SK 56-bit key

encryption.  For more info: <http://ahinds.vip.best.com/~ahinds/>.



** WINDOWS CE **



William Ofosu-Amaah <XI6W-OFSA@asahi-net.or.jp> has posted an alpha

version of his Window CE Telnet program via the following WWW page:

<http://www.ziplink.net/~maxm/index.html>.



On the Windows CE Web browser front, rumors are circulating that Netscape

plans a Windows CE version of Communicator, and that Microsoft plans to

upgrade their Windows CE Explorer to version 2.0 by the end of Q2'97 to

support Java.



** MAGIC CAP **



Shawn Jipp <sjipp@IBM.NET> has reported created a new "palmtop link" to

the following Web site with pointers to Magic Cap WWW related sites:

<http://www.redbay.com/sjipp>.



Brenda Holloway <brendah@CYBERGAL.COM> has announced that her program

that turns Web pages into Magic Cap library books -- called Simon's

Scriptorium -- can be downloaded via the following Web page:

<http://www.mbay.net/~brendah/dloads/>.



General Magic <http://www.genmagic.com> recently circulated a press

release that highlighted the future strategic direction that will

focus on enabling small business professionals to build Internet-based

network services. This technology will provide a new GUI design focused

on mobile agent technology and will be available by mid-1998.  You can

learn more about this agent technology by examining patent # 5,603,031 --

"System and Method for Distributed Computation Based upon the Movement,

Execution and Interaction of Processes in a Network" via:

<http://www.uspto.gov>.



** OTHER **



Arthur Zygielbaum <aiz@ctwsoft.com> reports on the USENET newsgroup

comp.sys.palmtops that he is working on a GPS to HP palmtop shareware

solution.  Send him email for more information.



Chris De Herrera <pdcchrisd@aol.com> at the Pen Based Computing Web Page

at: <http://members.aol.com/pdcchrisd/> has posted a utility for HP100

users called "GDbio" that will export HP100 databases to comma delimited

text so that the information can be output and used on other PDAs

(Windows CE, Newton, etc. ...).



Alan Dobkin <ADobkin@Emory.Edu> has announced a 'Meeting Maker XP (MMXP)

Discussion List" -- MMXP is a client/server group scheduling product that

currently supports the following handhelds: Casio Boss, Sharp Wizard, HP

100/LX, Newton MessagePad, and Psion.  To subscribe to MMXP-Talk, send the

following command to <LISTSERV@LISTSERV.EMORY.EDU in the BODY of your

message: "SUBSCRIBE MMXP-TALK YourFirstName YourLastName".  For more info

about MMXP check out: <http://WWW.ON.Com/mmxp/mmindex.htm>.





$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

  K2 consultants, Inc. has the best Medical titles for Newton. Just out is

  Dr. Ferri's popular book for internists with special offers! Get the hit

  references like Lexi-Comp Drug Handbook, 5 Min. Clin Consult, Archimedes

  Programmable Calculator, etc.  KJV Bible, Ole spanish translator & more,

  all working with our renowned ART engine. See ART make a big splash at

  <http://www.skyscape.com/k2> or <http://www.1stopsoft.com> for info/sales.

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$



$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

  PDA Panache is your single source for stylus solutions.  Custom stylus

  upgrades for Newton MP130 and MP2000.  Custom styli for WinCE, USR, and

  Sharp PDAs.  Wide selection of Pocket Styli for all tastes and budgets.

  Duo multi-function stylus/pen combo. Beacon L.E.D. lighted stylus. Stylus

  inserts for Cross & other popular pens.  More info: 800.270.7196 or

  516.467.4042, FAX: 516.467.6329, <http://www.PDAPanache.com> (secure)

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$





Edupage, 24Feb97 thru 02Mar97

-----------------------------



** 3COM ACQUIRES U.S. ROBOTICS **



3Com Corporation is buying modem-maker U.S. Robotics for $6.6 billion,

creating a combined company with $5 billion in annual revenues and more

than 12,000 employees.  3Com's move will make it one of the two top

competitors in the networking business, the other being Cisco Systems.

(Washington Post 26 Feb 97)



** RUPERT'S REACH FOR THE SKY **



Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. will spend $1 billion for 50% ownership of

Denver-based Echostar Communications and will sell more than 500 channels

of digital TV service in all 50 states beginning in 1998 under the brand

name Sky, offering serious competition both to cable TV operators and to

such direct broadcast satellite (DBS) operators as DirecTV.  In contrast

with other DBS systems, Sky will have enough satellite capacity to offer

local television programs, and the company will use "spot beams" that

target local signals down toward small geographic areas.  (Washington

Post 25 Feb 97)



** JOBS ON TOP OF THINGS AT APPLE **



Steve Jobs, who returned to Apple Computer in December after an 11-year

hiatus, is rapidly becoming the focal point for the computer company's

revival strategies, say analysts.  "It may not be official, but Jobs is

the guy," says a market researcher at Dataquest Inc.  "He will -- either

through influence or direct control -- have a say in what happens to this

company." Meanwhile, a number of top Apple executives have left over the

past couple of months, and several Next executives have assumed key posts

-- Avie Tevanian now runs Apple's software unit while Jon Rubinstein

manages the hardware unit.  "When you are running hardware and software

-- that doesn't leave much left over," says an analyst with Wasserstein

Perella Securities. (St. Petersburg Times 24 Feb 97)



** AUCTIONING OFF EXTRA AD SPACE ON WEB **



FlyCast Communications Corp. is aiming to become the Web's advertising

liquidator, selling unused ad space through an electronic auction system.

The company estimates that most Web sites fill only about 50% of their

allotted space, often using the remainder for house ads or giving it away

free to steady customers.  FlyCast doesn't see its business as dominated

by blue light specials at rock-bottom prices, however.  It's setting up

its system so that agencies can snap up highly targeted ad space on short

notice, for premium prices.  (Wall Street Journal 24 Feb 97)



** NET HATE **



The Anti-Defamation League's annual report says that "electronic hate is

the dark side of technology, and anti-Semites have particularly taken to

the medium." In 1996 anti-Semitic incidents in traditional forms declined

by 7% from 1,843 to 1,722 incidents, but "anti-Semites and Holocaust

deniers" shifted to the Net.  The report says that, because the Internet

is unregulated, "bigots can spew their hatred without ever running the

risk of being identified."  (USA Today 26 Feb 97)



** TAXING THE NET **



Advising state and local governments not to consider the Internet as a

potential source for new tax revenue, the technology director of the

American Electronics Association says that the imposition of a multitude

of state and local taxes would "degrade and demean the technology."  At

the federal level, the Clinton Administration, the U.S. Treasury, and

House Republicans have all indicated rejection of the idea of taxing

sales on the Internet, but at the state level, Connecticut,

Massachusetts, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin are

taxing some Internet services. New York Governor George Pataki made his

the first state to exempt Internet service providers from state taxes.

(AP 26 Feb 97)



** POWERPC CHIPS BEAT INTEL AT SPEED **



The PowerPC alliance between IBM, Apple and Motorola has inched ahead of

Intel's next microprocessor generation with its G3 family chip,

code-named Arthur (for the 6th century British king), which is slightly

faster and cheaper to manufacture than Intel's Pentium II chip

(code-named Klamath), due out in the second quarter of this year.

Another high-performance PowerPC chip, code-named Mach 5, is planned for

summer or fall release, says an IBM VP.  Arthur, with initial speeds of

250 MHz, is purported to be 90% faster than the current PowerPC 603c

chip, and slightly faster than Klamath. The fact that the PowerPC chips

generate much less heat than the Pentium chips will make them ideal for

laptops, a market that will be critical for Apple in the next couple of

years.  (Wall Street Journal 28 Feb 97)





$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

   This space for rent.  For more info: <newtnews@pobox.com>.  Thanks.

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$





INNOVATION, 24FEB97

-------------------



** TRENDS: DATA-MINING THE U.S. MAIL **



If you thought your biggest privacy protection problem was your credit

card company or your Web browser, think again.  The U.S. Postal Service

is entertaining proposals from Pitney Bowes and other companies to

develop a digital postmark for metered mail that will enable it to link

data about the sender and the recipient together in a database.  The

Postal Service probably wouldn't actually sell the data, but instead

would aggregate it into neighborhood blocks, much as the Census Bureau

does with the information it collects.  Marketers could then determine,

for instance, a neighborhood's food magazine reading habits or how often

residents on a particular street receive deliveries from an outdoor

equipment company.  "If we get the privacy issue right and continue the

tradition of trust in the aggregate, that information could be valuable,"

says the postal service's VP of strategic planning.  Plans are to

implement the digital postmark within the next two to three years.

(Forbes 24 Feb 97)



** STRATEGIES: BRAND-BUILDING IS FOR THE PURE IN HEART **



In successful companies, senior managers drive brand building as part of

their strategic plans, rather than delegate the development of brands to

subordinates without strategic clout or to an advertising agency oriented

toward mass media ad campaigns to the detriment of focused brand

building. "A clear and effective brand identity, one for which there is

understanding and buy-in throughout the organization, should be linked to

the business's vision and its organizational culture and values."  The

test of brand identity is whether it gives guidance as to which programs

and communications will support the brand and which will distract and

confused. You're just flailing around if you create a brand identity that

is so ambiguous and general that almost any kind of customer

communication seems acceptable.  If you try to appeal to everyone, you

appeal to no one, and your brand is everything and nothing.  The most

successful brands have single, forceful messages -- such as social

activism (The Body Shop cosmetics) or Haagen-Dazs ice cream (premium ice

cream:  thicker, creamier, pricier).  Sticking to the message is

equivalent to sticking to principle, so it's a bad mistake to muddy it

with a jumbled product line or a Benetton-like ad campaign that reaps

publicity but results in alienation, confusion, and flat sales.  (Erich

Joachimsthaler & David A. Aaker, "Building Brands Without Mass Media,"

Harvard Business Review Jan/Feb 97)



** INNOVATIONS: CONNECTED AT 35,000 FEET **



Airlines are realizing that today's travel time is no longer "down time"

for most people, and are moving to install entertainment and

communications systems that can turn a passenger's seat into a video

arcade or a mobile office.  In-Flight Phone Corp. has developed the

FlightLink system that enables passengers to check e-mail, send a fax,

monitor stock prices, consult weather forecasts, play a video game or

watch TV.  The FlightLink system is available on all America West planes,

and Continental Airlines hopes to finish rolling out the system by the

end of 1997.  (CIO 15 Feb 97) Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific Airways is

upgrading its planes to offer television viewing at all seats (including

an all-children's-programming station), and British Airways offers TVs in

business class that pop out of the seat's armrest and personal video

players in first class that allow passengers to choose from wide

selection of movies.  In-flight gambling is being tested on British

Airways and Singapore Air flights, offering several traditional casino

games, ranging from blackjack to bingo.  And while gambling cannot

legally be offered on flights originating or ending in the U.S., airlines

are now challenging that law.  (Investor's Business Daily 21 Feb 97)



** MORE INFO ON INNOVATION **



Innovation is published weekly, with individual subscriptions available

at $15 a year. Topics are organized under the following headers:

TRENDS, STRATEGIES, and INNOVATIONS.  For a six-week free trial

subscription to Innovation, please send an email message to

<innovation-trial@newsscan.com> and in the subject line type the word:

'subscribe'.  You can also use the trial registration form on their Web

site at: <http://www.newsscan.com>.  For more info, send email to:

<gehl@newsscan.com> or <douglas@newsscan.com>





$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

  NEED A NEWTON PROGRAMMER? NewtNews has a list of over 40 Internet based

  Newton programmers who are interested in working on vertical or

  horizontal market solutions.  Please send email to: <newtnews@pobox.com>

  if you would like the list or would like to be added to the list.

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$





Dear Newton Developer

---------------------



** BETTER FOREIGN LANGUAGE SUPPORT **



Jens Johansen <Jens.Johansen@gb.swissbank.com> writes:



    One of the problems with being foreign is that we

    have an annoying habit of using letters and

    characters not commonly used in English. This

    becomes a problem as far as the Newton goes when

    you hop into Cyberspace.  I read Danish newspapers

    on the web, and often receive e-mails from people

    in Danish.



    The trouble is that we have three extra letters in

    the Danish alphabet (six characters when you

    distinguish between upper and lower case).

    Although the Newton copes perfectly well with

    these letters on it's own, my web browser and

    email client gets these wrong.  The browser is

    consistent one-to-one mapping--i.e. character X is

    consistently incorrectly displayed as a Y.



    E-mail is rather more complicated because

    different sources produce different character

    mappings, so let's not worry about that for now.



    So in short, could someone develop a character

    re-mapper which would work with NetHopper and

    other CyberApps for the Newt?  The more

    configurarble the better because more languages

    will be accommodated that way.





Other Sources of Information

----------------------------



** SPRINT NEWS **



Sprint recently filed a complaint with the California Public Utilities

Commission accusing Pacific Bell of not timely processing requests to

switch from PacBell local telephone service to Sprint local telephone

service. [Farcast]



Sprint PCS <http://www.sprintpcs.com> has turn on services in the

following cities recently: Salt Lake City; Tulsa and Oklahoma City,

Okla.; Little Rock, Ark.; Des Moines, Iowa; and the Rio Grande Valley in

Texas.  Sprint PCS is using CDMA network infrastructure equipment from

Nortel. [Farcast]



Sprint's Internet Passport service is now Macintosh friendly, and will be

bundled with Netscape Navigator 3.0 for both Macintosh and Windows users.

For more information call: 800.PIN.DROP. [Farcast]



Sprint has filed paperwork with the FCC calling out new plans to team

with Mexico's Telmex to "joint market long distance service" targeted

towards the growing U.S. Hispanic  residential and business segments.

[Farcast]



** MACWORLD, APRIL 1997 **



Short Newton mention in an Apple reorganization article by Stephen Beal

on page 32.  The article 'hints' that the Newton could be on the chopping

block at Apple.  As of 04Feb97, Apple's CAO George Scalise reported that

no decision had been made yet.



Tom Negrino has a major two-page review of the Pilot for MacWorld readers

starting on page 48.  The unit scores four stars (7.8 out of 10).  PROS:

"Truly portable; Graffiti handwriting software makes for easy input;

effortless synchronization of data with desktop Mac; frugal with

batteries." CONS: "Pilot Desktop software isn't an especially capable

PIM; installer application is brain-dead."



There is a short companion article on page 49 to the Pilot review by Jeff

Sacilotto that examines 3rd party Pilot software including: Dinky Pad,

Pilot Application Launcher, Graffiti Help, Found Me?, AlarmHack,

MenuHack, HackMaster, Asteroids, Invaders, and Pocket Chess.



** INTERVIEW WITH AMELIO **



MacCentral <http://www.maccentral.com> recently posted a pointer to an

interview conducted by Eric Nee, editor-at-large for Upside (an ezine),

with Apple's CEO Gil Amelio.  The article, published on 01Mar97, is

mildly interesting, but lacks a Newton mention, so interest may vary.

You should be able to find the article at: <http://www.upside.com>.



** INTERESTING CONFERENCES **



Forum for Hand-Held Computing in Healthcare, 28-30May97, Boston, MA,

415.252.8008, <info@wmsltd.com>, <http://www.pda-expo.com>.



1997 Spring Simulation Interoperability Workshop is being held 03-07Mar97

at the Holiday Inn International Drive in Orlando, FL.  For more

information check out: <http://siso.sc.ist.ucf.edu>.  The cost is US$250.



Second Annual Hackers, Crackers & Sniffers Conference which will focus on

"Perils of the Internet and Practical Solutions" will be held at the

following locations and dates:

    - San Diego, CA, Mar97

    - Atlanta, GA, 22-24Apr97

    - Boston, MA, May97]

Other conferences will be held in Biloxi, Norfolk, Las Vegas, Washington,

D.C., Cleveland, & Melbourne.  For more info: <http://www.newdimensions.net>.



WebNet 97, 31Oct-05Nov97, Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Canada,

<http://www.aace.org/conf/webnet>.



Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness' 7th World Conference on

Disaster Management, 22-25Jun97, in Hamilton, (Ontario) Canada.  For more

info: <http://www.netaccess.on.ca/~ccep/ccep/>.





$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

  To much info in NewtNews for you?  Does all the Macintosh information

  make you want to puke?  Then maybe you should check out NewtNews-Savvy.

  For $20 you get 52 issues of just lean and mean Newton/PDA/Wireless

  information directly to your inbox of choice.  Send an email message

  with the subject containing 'NewtNews-Savvy' to <newtnews@pobox.com>

  and you'll get a sample issue and an order form.  Thanks for reading!

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$



$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$

  If you are too cheap to pay $20 for weekly Newton/PDA/Wireless info,

  then check out the freeware-monthly-Acrobat-savvy-version of NewtNews

  called NewtNews Pro at: <http://members.aol.com/nnpro/newton.html>.

$-----------$------------$------------$------------$-----------$-----------$





News Agent Summary

------------------



For more information about Farcast check out: <http://www.farcast.com>

and for more information about iNews use: <http://www.individual.com>.



** HANDHELD **



Mobile Insights '97 has announced their "Mobility Award Winners" in a

host of categories during their recent conference held 23-25Feb97.  Some

winners of interest include: Palmtop (Keyboard Handheld) - Psion/Psion

Series 3c; PDA (Handheld Pen Tablet) - US Robotics/Pilot 5000; Industrial

Handheld Systems - Fujitsu/Stylistic RF; WIRELESS Software/Service -

Metricom/Ricochet; SmartPhones - Nokia/9000 Communicator; System Software

- Microsoft/Windows CE; and Product of the Year - US Robotics/Pilot.

[Farcast]



Psion Industrial the manufacturing side of Psion <http://www.psion.com>

has opened up a new production facility in the Milton Park Business

Campus, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK. [Farcast]



An industry analysis company called In-Stat <http://www.instat.com> is

predicting that in the near future Compaq will 'revolutionize' the

desktop workstation market and the Windows CE handheld PC market.

[Farcast & iNews]



Microsoft is releasing for free some Windows CE mapping and travel

software that should make 'getting around in unfamiliar places much

easier.'  For more info: <http://www.microsoft.com/automap/pstreets/>.

[Farcast & iNews]



In related news, Nikkei English News is reporting that Microsoft plans to

supply a Japanese version of Windows CE to Japanese OEMs by Jul97.

[iNews]



Socket Communications is now shipping a Windows CE SDK that should make

it easier for VARs and ISVs to integrate and create wireless HPC [iNews]

solutions.



Phoenix Technologies's PICO Group has announced a 'comprehensive software

foundation' for Microsoft Windows CE that should make the creation of

information appliance solutions much easier to create. [iNews]



GoAmerica Communications <info@goamerica.net> is now offering nationwide

wireless Internet and intranet services to Windows CE users using

technology from Bellcore called AirBrowse. [Farcast & iNews]



Nikkei English News is reporting that Toshiba has a new PDA that links to

Personal Handy System (PHS) that runs GEOS.  The Genio PCV100 will be

available on 25Apr97.  For more info about GEOS: <http://www.geoworks.com>.



** MOBILE **



Ericsson <http://www.ericsson.com> recently showed off a new GSM digital

handset (GF788) that is 10 centimeters tall and weighing only 135 grams.

The talk time on unit is 180 minutes on a standard battery or 60 hours of

standby.  [iNews]



Samson Transport has awarded Teklogix with a Canadian$10 million contract

to help them create a mobile TCP/IP based wireless data collection system

that communicates with an IBM AS/400 host platform in 17 sites located

all over the world.  [iNews]



PageNet has announced the availability of Motorola's Tenor voice pager in

the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area.  [iNews]



AMD <http://www.amd.com> has a new 'zero-power flash product' called the

Am29LL800 running at 2.2-volts which uses 50% less power than 3.3-volt

devices. [Farcast]



Breeze Wireless Communications <http://www.breezecom.com> has release a

series of new wireless LAN products including a BreezeNET PRO Access

Point (US$1499), Station Adapters (US$695-195), Bridge (US$1995), and a

PC Card (US$565).  These products "use frequency-hopping,

spread-spectrum radio technology and operate in the license-free 2.4-GHz

ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) band." [Farcast]



Mobile Insights has announced the creation of the Mobility Foundation

that will fund two major academic research efforts -- one at UC Berkeley

called "InfoPad" and the other at Georgia Institute Of Technology called

"Classroom 2000: The Electronic Classroom" -- for a total of US$18,000.

[Farcast]



US West Communications has awarded Sony/Qualcomm with a US$80 million

contract to provide QCP-1900 Personal Communications Service (PCS) CDMA

digital phones. [Farcast]



Franklin Electronic Publishers <http://www.franklin.com> has announced

plans to spend about US$3.5 million in cash/stock for Voice Powered

Technology's voice recognition and voice activation technology. [Farcast]



The City of Houston has awarded Trimble Navigation with a US$15 million

contract to provide the GPS/AVL subsystem equipment necessary to field a

205 vehicle location tracking system. [Farcast]



Reflection Technology <http://www.reflection.com> has a new small

personal fax reader called 'FaxView' that is capable of interoperating

with Motorola's StarTAC cellular phone. [Farcast]



Sanyo reportedly has a new Personal Handyphone System (PHS) phone that

supports the new PHS Internet Access Forum Standard (PIAFS) giving users

access to wireless data systems and ultimately the Internet.  The unit

should cost around US$333, and will be called 'Sanyo PHS-P301 Pascal'.

Sanyo expects to sell 10,000 units a month. [Farcast]



** WIRELESS **



Harris Corporation <http://www.harris.com/> has been awarded a US$17

million service contract to provide Valero Natural Gas Company with a

wireless microwave radio communications network that links their major

operations in Texas and Rhode Island. [Farcast]



Motorola is reportedly using Microtec's VRTX real-time operating system

and developer tools in a host of current and future CDMA products.

[iNews]



GTE has turned on their 1.9-GHZ CDMA based PCS network in the Cincinnati

Major Trading Area (MTA) covering greater Cincinnati and Northern

Kentucky. [iNews]



AT&T has a new electronic box' that will enable home telephones to tie

into AT&T's wireless network which could create a powerful option for

AT&T to offer local phone services nationwide to millions of customers.

[iNews]



ARDIS <http://www.ardis.com> has reportedly made some significant

upgrades to their existing wireless network over the last year including:

additional coverage in 13 new cities; 19.2-Kbps access upgrades in 5

sites; and beefed up customer support services. [Farcast]



** APPLE **



Apple has plans to offer 200 technology seminars for K-12 educators

called the U.S. The Tools for Discovery.  For more information check out:

<http://www.education.apple.com/> or call: 800.800.APPL.  [iNews]



Apple plans to partner with Home Box Office (HBO) to provide technology

to enable HBO to cover the Third Annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival that is

taking place 26Feb-01Mar97.  For more information check out the following

site: <http://www.hbo.com/aspen/>.  [iNews]



David Manovich has been named Apple's new VP of Worldwide Sales and

Service. He was most recently VP of Sales at Fujitsu PC Corporation, but

was before this Apple's VP of US Consumer/Retail Sales division. [iNews]



Ellen Hancock has repeatedly told the press that she has no plans to

leave her current position as Apple's chief technical officer. This

information comes after many in the industry press started to report that

Apple management expects to layoff 40% of their workforce.  This report

is also being flatly denied by Apple.  [iNews & Farcast]



Metrowerks and Apple have announced that they have finished their

agreement that outlines the deliver development timeline and features

that Metrowerks will build for porting Mac OS applications to Rhapsody

and to deliver Codewarrior IDE for Rhapsody.  [iNews]



** MACINTOSH **



Apple is changing the name of their new Power Macintosh 4400/200 in the

Asian marketplace because the number "44" is believed by many to bring

bad luck.  The system will be called the 7200/200. [Farcast]



The StarNine Division of Quarterdeck has announced an upgrade 2.0.2 to

their WebSTAR server for Mac OS.  The new version has important Plug-In

enhancements.  For more information check out the following site:

<http://www.starnine.com/webstar/webstarupdates.html>.  [iNews]



Milum Corporation has announced Office Tracker Pro 3.0 that offers

client/server solutions that enable Windows 3.1/95/NT, and Macintosh

clients over TCP/IP or AppleTalk networks.  The current server runs on

Macintosh servers, but by the end of 1997 there will be a Windows NT

server version.  For more info: <http://www.milum.com/Demos.html>.



ZNYX Corporation <http://www.znyx.com> has a version of their PCI-based

NetBlaster Ethernet (US$99) and Fast Ethernet (US$179) network adapters

for Mac OS.



There has been a 'root' upgrade of Frontier to version 4.2.1.  This very

powerful Macintosh and Web scripting tool can be downloaded for free

from: <http://www.scripting.com>.



Integrated Micro Solutions has announced that several of Apple's new

Power Macintosh machines introduced at the recent MacWorld Tokyo 1997 are

being powered by their TwinTurbo 128 4-MB graphics accelerator cards.



** OTHER **



Wall Street analysts are reportedly still wary of the merger between

Silicon Graphics and Cray Computers.  [iNews]



Nikkei English News is reporting that Compaq Computer has plans to

introduce YEN$300,0000 PC servers in Japan.  [iNews]



Motorola has announced that Citrix Systems has a licensed Motorola's ICA

distributed Windows protocol for the PowerPC.  [iNews]



LSI Logic and Motorola have announced an agreement to build an embedded

V.34 software modem that should be ideal for set-top boxes and

interactive gaming.  [iNews]



ATI Technologies will be shipping Silicon Graphics's VRML 2.0 browser

called Cosmo Player with their future 3D RAGE graphics accelerator

products.  [iNews]



Focalink and Bellcore are reportedly working on a new Web advertising

management solution using a new protocol called "Simple

Advertising Management Protocol (SAMP)." Those interested in

participating in the direction of SAMP should contact: Neil Gehani,

Focalink, at: 415.842.0660; or Mike Giovia, Bellcore, at: 908.699.2413.

[Farcast]





Advertising Notes

-----------------



Tim Constantine is now advertising 3 of his applications: Flash,

CrazyDice, & Clean Notes; along with custom application development

services.



PDA and Handheld Direct is now taking orders for the MessagePad 2000.



If you are interested in advertising in NewtNews please send email to:

<newtnews@pobox.com>.  NewtNews is freeware because of the advertisers

that support this effort, and we appreciate their support.



When you purchase products from NewtNews vendors please mention that you

heard about their product in NewtNews.





Product and Service Information

-------------------------------



* NEW! 8th Volume of the Totally Incomplete PDA CD-ROM for Newton! This

CD-ROM from AMUG CD, Inc. contains over 1400 packages, and 600+ megs in

Mac and PC format. 2.x & 1.x Packages can be downloaded directly from the

CD to your MessagePad. Maximize your Newton experience! $29 + S/H. Call

AMUG 602.497-2244, or email <sales@amug.org> to order! See our Newton CD

web page at <http://cdrom.amug.org/>.



* BUSINESS PRODUCTIVITY PACKAGES FROM PELICANWARE

   All packages for Newton 2.0 OS - Upgrades also available.

 - QUICKFIGURE PRO 3.0: Spreadsheet application  $59.95

 - NEWTCASE 3.0: The Ultimate Utility Suite  $49.95

 - NOTION 1.5: High Performance List Manager  $59.95

 - AVAILWORKS 2.0: Text, spreadsheets, drawing, and graphing $79.95.

All from PELICANWARE.  For more details email: <info@pelicanware.com>,

vox: 503-221-1148, fax: 503-221-8709, or <http://www.pelicanware.com>.



* CATAMOUNT SOFTWARE offers the following:

   - POCKETMONEY assists you in balancing your checking, savings,

       credit card and loan accounts. Export and import transactions

       to Quicken, MYM and other desktop based program.

   - NAMIGATOR gives rapid access to Names. I know, I have over 3000.

   - MPG helps you keep your vehicle records in order. Track fuel

       economy, record mileage for tax purposes, schedule repeating

       vehicle maintenance items for multiple vehicles.

   - SILK makes your MP130 GLOW. Floating silk screen palette so

       the built-in buttons can be seen in the dark.

For more information call 802-863-5256, email <info@catamount.com>, or

visit our web site <http://www.catamount.com>.



* NEW BILLS TO PAY PRO 3.5.5 Rated 5 out of 5 by Gecko Magazine! Now

available in German! For NOS 2.0. Includes support for stationery,

enhanced overview, and new printing options! Easily track bills and

expenses; create budget projections; and set alarms to remind you of

bills. Send bill info to Pocket Quicken or Pocket Money. $39.95+S&H MAR

Software at: <info@marsoftware.com> or <http://www.marsoftware.com>.



* Newt Development Environment: develop object-oriented applications in

NewtonScript on the Newton (shareware: $49.50; tools, examples, support).

* Newt's Cape: create Newton books with text, graphics, tables, links,

and forms from HTML (via web browsing or Notepad) (shareware: $38.50;

tools, examples, support). For details, software, and registration info:

<http://www.netaxs.com/~weyer/newton/releases.html> or <weyer@netaxs.com>



* PDA Panache is your single source for stylus solutions. Our stylus

upgrades for your MessagePad are the ultimate in writing comfort and

control. Screen-safe writing tip guaranteed for life.

 - Telescoping styli for all Newtons in Black-Chrome, Gold & Sterling.

 - The "Duo" multi-function stylus/ball pen or pencil combo. With

   "EasyView" orange tip.

 - The "Beacon" LED lighted-tip stylus. Functional, slim and  elegant.

 - Low-cost Stick Styli. Custom Stylus Solutions for VARs/OEMs.

More info or Visa/MasterCard orders at: 800.270.7196, FAX: 516.467.6329,

Int'l: 516.467.4042, or visit our Web site: <http://www.pdapanache.com>



* INFORMED FILLER FOR NEWTON is your mobile data collection solution for

Inspection forms, Health Care forms ... in fact, for any forms you use!

Design custom forms on your Macintosh with Informed Designer (included).

Then, fill out your forms on the Newton quickly and accurately using

automatic defaults, choice lists, calculations and signatures.  Finally,

send completed forms directly to Informed Manager on your desktop for

further processing.  For a limited time when you mention this ad, you'll

receive both Informed Filler for Newton AND Informed Manager (for

desktop integration) for $99US (SRP $390US).  Contact Shana Corp. at:

800.386.7244, email: <info@shana.com> or WWW: <http://www.shana.com>



* MoreInfo 4.0 - This new version adds even more useful features to this

already essential product.  Version 4.0 now allows you to link together

any number of names, meetings, events, to dos, notes or calls all

through a single screen.  A powerful new "At a Glance" screen makes

managing your schedule effortless.  From SilverWARE at $69.95+S&H.  For

more info: <info@silverware.com> <http://www.silverware.com> 508.521.5262



* SOLUTIONS FROM LANDWARE. All work in the Newton 2.0 OS.

  - PROCALC EX: Programmable calc. w/ SAN & RPN, includes: proCALC 12c.

  - QUICKNAMES PRO: Rapid access to names and much more.

  - X-PORT: The 2.0 connection utility. Send/receive notes, contacts...

  - KWIKMENU: the Newton dashboard, includes GestureLaunch Lite.

  - NEWTPAINT: "MacPaint" on your Newton, w/zoom-in and screen shot.

  - SYNC+: Dates to Schedule+ 1.0 or 7.0

LandWare, 201-347-0031, <sales@landware.com>, <http://www.landware.com>



* Frustrated by the amount of time required to input long notes?  Looking

for a faster method?  GESTURE MOSAIC is a hybrid keyboard/recognition

system which enables the rapid (30-40+wpm) pen-based entry of text.  Now

updated for OS2.0, you can use it to quickly input text anywhere in your

Newton. FREEWARE versions are available at: <http://www.amtelcom.com/Mosaic>

For more information contact: <amtelmit@aol.com> or call: 800-696-6724.



* ChessPad 2.0 turns the Newton into a digital chess book and a portable

chess set. It contains 28 fully-annotated games played by the greatest

players of all time, 100 brilliant winning combinations by Morphy, Tal,

Fischer, and Kasparov, and 100 chess problems.  ChessPad can also import

games in Portable Game Notation format. Only $39.95. Clear Lake Research

713.663.7513 <DavidL62@aol.com> <http://members.aol.com/clrsch/chesspad.html>



* STAND ALONE offers a variety of Newton applications for Newton 2.0:

   - PACKAGE POPUP: instant access to all your packages, launch

      with a tap, automatically thaw and re-freeze. $15.

   - SECURE-A-NEWT: Password protect folders in your NotePad, Names,

      and Extras Drawer. Protect your info from prying eyes. $20.

   - KEYMAN: Adds function keys, a multi-function calculator, and a

      new keyboard designed for one-fingered typing. $20.

   - NOTEMAN: Instant access to the NotePad from any package. $10.

   - BACKGAMMON: The classic board game, brought to Newton. $20.

   - SUPER SORTER: Fast, Usable list management, featuring fully

      expandable and customizable list creation and editing. $20

For information about any of these or other Stand Alone products,

contact us at: <info@standalone.com>, or (312) 262-5150. Also check

out our Web site at: <http://www.standalone.com/newton>.



* Tim Constantine has several cutting edge Newton solutions: Flash - A

Speed Reading Tutor; CrazyDice - Muti-Player Strategy Game, and Clean

Notes - Stationary w/o Lines.  For more info: <timconstan@kagi.com> or

<http://www.kagi.com/timconstan>.  Tim is also available for custom

Newton application development.  Send Tim email if you have a question

about custom application development or about his cutting edge solutions.





Comments from the Editor

------------------------



** LOTS OF ENERGY **



There is a ton of soon to be overflowing Newton energy starting to build

up as the release of the MessagePad 2000 and eMate 300 get closer.

Developers and users seem to be nearly ready to burst with new ideas and

new solutions that focus on the strengths that these new units bring.  It

is pretty cool to participate in this pre-stage of an impending storm.



But it is still this Newton evangelists opinion that the energy would be

much higher, and the success much greater if Apple had been able to

create (or have a 3rd party create) a much smaller Newton that could go

after the $400-600 market that Windows CE seems on the verge of

completely dominating -- thus cursing another generation of 'computer

device users' to inferior technology.



** COOL STUFF?!? **



I have been playing around with the next generation of GPS software from

TeleType GPS.  This version includes the major U.S. Highways organized by

state.  It is really neat to be able to add more depth to what you can

see when using the GPS device instead of just waypoint markers.  This

version also has some much need GUI interface enhancements, along with

the ability to export waypoints to the Notepad.



Do you have goals?  Do you want to track them and make sure you get them

accomplished.  The latest iteration of DateMan 3.x from StandAlone

software has added 'GOALS' and it is really something that has caught my

fancy.



Both of these 'solutions' have demos at their respective WWW sites.  Give

them a whirl, and you can then make the decision if they are really are

'cool stuff!'





Administrivia

-------------



NewtNews Copyright 1994-97 Steve Holden.  All rights reserved.

Non-profit, non-commercial publications may reprint articles if full

credit is given.  Others please contact me.  NewtNews doesn't guarantee

accuracy of articles.  NewtNews does not express or imply any

endorsement of any businesses participating in this publication.  My

personal comments may be included in articles NewtNews reports by

highlighting them as -- [SDH: Comments].  Official NewtNews Editor's

comments are highlighted as -- [Editor: Comments].  Publication,

product, and company names may be registered trademarks of their

companies.  All trademarks used in this publication are for

informational purposes only and to the benefit of the trademark owner,

with no intention of infringing on that trademark.



Send contributions and comments to Steve Holden, Editor and Publisher

at: <newtnews@pobox.com>.  Other important NewtNews players include:



    - Reviews Editor: Bob Torres <btorres@io.com>

    - Newton Book: Mark Heringer <4535904@mcimail.com>

    - NewtNews Pro: Dave Hina <daverh@aol.com>

    - FTP site & email list admin: Bob Torres <btorres@io.com>

    - NewtNews Travel Guide: Andrew Wong <swong@email.sdsu.edu>



      SUBSCRIPTIONS: email <majordomo@tristero.io.com> with

                     'subscribe newt_news' as the body of your

                     message (no quotes)

        UNSUBSCRIBE: email <majordomo@tristero.io.com> with

                     'unsubscribe newt_news'

                WWW: <http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/NewtNews/>

                     <http://members.aol.com/nnpro/newton.html>

                FTP: <ftp://ftp.io.com/pub/usr/btorres/NewtNews>

                     <ftp://members.aol.com/NewtNews1>

                     <ftp://ftp.amug.org/pub/newton/news/newt-news>

                     <ftp://ftp.scamedia.com.au/pub/newtnews/>

   NEWTON REFERENCE: <http://www.panix.com/~clay/newton/>

 NEWTON CLASSIFIEDS: <http://pobox.com/~bnet/newton>



This edition of NewtNews was written with the help of: Aunt Pat's

surprise 50th B-Day party in Anaheim, California; and a very nice lunch

with Mike & Claire and their new son Ethan at their even 'newer' new home

in San Marcos, California.



Disclaimer:  I am doing this on my own time, and on my own hardware

***********  and software not the government's or my employer's.