NewtNews-141-27May97

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



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>.



 + PowerTrans 3.0 - Multilingual Customizable Translator and Vocabulary

   Trainer - Speech on MP2K, eMate - Demo at: <http://www.travel-cs.com>



 + 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>



 + QuickFigure Pro v.3.1 - New version of the spreadsheet solution from

   PelicanWare! - <sales@pelicanware.com> - <http://www.pelicanware.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>



 + WriteRight Screen Enhancements - protect from scratches, reduce glare,

   and simulates writing on real paper - <http://www.ConceptKitchen.com>



 + 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. Comments from the Editor

 3. Information from Email

 4. Information from the Internet

 5. Top Print Sources Of Interest

 6. NewtNews Tips and Tricks You Can Use On Your Newton

 7. Other Related Technology

 8. Edupage, 19May97 thru 25May97

 9. INNOVATION, 19May97

10. Dear Newton Developer

11. Other Tidbits of Information

12. Advertising Notes

13. Product and Service Information

14. What do NewtNews Advertisers Think?!?

15. Comments About Using Email On Newton Last Week

16. Administrivia





Top News

--------



** ITS OFFICIAL -- APPLE TO SPIN-OFF NEWTON **



Apple announced at around 2:00 p.m. on 22May97 (Thursday) that they were

going to created a Newton specific subsidiary that will focus on solving

the computing and communications needs of today's corporate mobile users.

The complete transition is expected to be finalized by 30Jun97.



The current CEO of the 'tentatively named' Newton, Inc. will be the

previous VP of the Newton System Group -- Sandy Benett.  A search is

reportedly currently underway to find an experienced and seasoned "CEO to

lead the organization and complement the existing management team."



Newton, Inc. will take over Apple's MessagePad line and will serve to

help Apple continue to build, support, market, and sell the eMate family

of products to the education markets through Apple's Education Division.



** COVERAGE OF THE NEWTON SPIN-OFF NEWS **



Jodi Mardesich <jmardesich@sjmercury.com> had a pretty good review of the

Newton, Inc. news in her article "Apple to spin off Newton: Wholly-owned

handheld computer firm to target mobile professionals" published on

online on Thursday at the San Jose Mercury News site at this URL:

<http://www.sjmercury.com/business/apple/ap052297.htm>.  The article did

note that Sweden's Ericsson was courted as a potential buyer of the

Newton System Group, but instead will most likely license Newton

technology in the near future to be used in Ericsson cellular phone

devices.  Jodi used Peiter Hartsook as her industry analyst, and included

a quote of support from Newton developer Jay Wright at Wright Strategies.



David Morgenstern <david_morgenstern@macweek.com> also had a pretty good

summary in his "Apple Spins off Newton" article that was posted to

MacWeek: <http://www8.zdnet.com/macweek/mw_1121/nw_newton.html> and to

MacWorld: <http://www5.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/mcwo/0522/mcwo0001.html>.

David uses Dataquest's James Staten has his industry analyst, and also

notes that Newton, Inc. will now have the ability to build more laptop

like Newton devices that will compete against Apple's PowerBook products



Catalina Ortiz at the Associated Press had her take on the announcement

distributed all over the world -- NewtNews saw the article entitled

"Apple cuts loose its cash loser: Newton unit will become independent

subsidiary" in the Business Section of the San Diego Union-Tribune

published on 23May97.  Catalina used the 'dreaded' Dataquest analyst

Kimball Brown for her "industry analyst" -- he thinks that this spin-off

is just a ploy to sell the unit as an intact group.  The article also

included a picture of a MP2K being 'demoed' buy Baron Byron at the

computer retailer Computerwave based in Palo Alto, California.



** OTHER SITES WITH NEWS ABOUT NEWTON, INC. **



    - Official Apple Press Release can be found at:



<http://product.info.apple.com/pr/press.releases/1997/q3/970522.pr.rel.newton.ht

ml>

    - Apple Developer News #58: <http://www.devworld.apple.com/>

    - NSG's FAQ on the Announcement:

      <http://www.newton.apple.com/announce/announce_QnA.html>

    - Information Week (IW) Daily 5/23/97: <http://www.informationweek.com>

    - "Apple fails to find buyer for its Newton division, opts to let

       it swim (or sink) on its own"

<http://www.anchordesk.com/story/story_944.html>

    - "Apple to spin off Newton unit":

      <http://biz.yahoo.com/finance/97/05/22/aapl_1.html>

    - "Newton Unit Will Separate From Apple's Core" by Julie Schmit,

       USA Today, <http://www.usatoday.com/money/mds5.htm>

    - "Users, analysts applaud Apple's move to spin off Newton":

      <http://www.anchordesk.com/story/story_949.html>





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

  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 information:

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

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



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

  NewtCase 3.0 - The Ultimate Newton Utility Suite. A powerful suite of

  utilities designed for Newton 2.0.  Customize your Newton and get more

  power and control over packages.  Includes: Package Manager, Extensions

  Manager, NewtInfo, SleepAid, GestureLaunch, Desktop, and SoupKitchen.

  From PelicanWare at $49.95+S&H (Upgrades $20+S&H). For more info:

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

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





Comments from the Editor

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



** NEWTON SUCCESS DEPENDS ON WHAT 'AUTONOMOUS' MEANS **



Apple said that the new 'Newton, Inc.' will be autonomous, but it appears

that Newton, Inc. will not be able to play in the apparently very

successful eMate education arena as Apple's Education Division has taken

this market for their own.  If supporting this market via Apple's own

product lines, keeps the Newton afloat in the short term then this

arrangement will be satisfactory.  But if Apple starts to declare other

markets off limits, for instance, what if the Business eMate is so

successful that it starts to erode Apple's PowerBook market, then Newton,

Inc. will not survive.  The market will ultimately decide the Newton's

fate, I just hope whatever legal bind Newton, Inc. gets itself into will

not limit their potential for real growth and domination.



** WHAT DO NEWTNEWS ADVERTISERS THINK?!? **



Check out the summary of comments from NewtNews advertisers on the

Newton, Inc. news at the end of NewtNews.



** COMMENTS ABOUT USING EMAIL ON NEWTON LAST WEEK **



I have also summarized at the end of this issue of NewtNews many of the

suggestions and comments that I received from NewtNews readers about my

review last week about trying to do 'industrial strength' email on the

MessagePad 2000 during Apple's WWDC.



** SOME INTERESTING NEW RUMORS ... **



Dragon System hasn't been able to convince the Newton System Group (NSG)

to build or support a 'voice-recognition' savvy version of a MessagePad

2000. Apparently the voice-recognition stuff works pretty well, but the

vocabulary necessary for a horizontal solution requires more memory then

the current MP2Ks offer.  Thus Dragon Systems is 'considering' dropping

support for the Newton.



Sharp is building a 1000+ MessagePad 2000s a day with backorders running

in the two week time period.  The number of eMates being built is also

similar, but backorder is 2-3 times longer.  Apple employees can now

personally purchase eMates.



The NSG should have detailed documentation available for the InterConnect

port by the end of Jun97.  Several developers are not sure if NSG will

pull off publishing the documentation in a timely manner, and are busy

reverse engineering the port.  Demand for 3rd party docking products, and

'other' interconnect ports are reportedly very high.



There has been recently a very limited developer seeding of Newton

Internet Enabler (NIE) 2.0 with support for Ethernet.



** WHO'S IN CHARGE OF THE MAILING LIST **



The 'great' NewtNews email listmaster Bob Torres is on a 'study trip' for

the next couple of weeks, and has left the NewtNews email list in my

hands.  Hopefully I won't screw up NewtNews' distribution, but if you get

10 copies of NewtNews in your mailbox you'll at least know who to blame.

If for some reason you don't get NewtNews check it out on the WWW -- I

have 'mastered' the art of posting to the WWW. ;-)



** CORRECTION **



Amrik Thethi <amrik@am-tech.demon.co.uk> notes that the correct pointer to the

ARM emulator URL is: <http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/ftp/arm/gnu/>.





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

  Need more Newton information?!?  NewtNews suggests you check out:

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

    + Always Newton Central: <http://newton.theonly.com>

    + NewtUser: <http://www.newtuser.com>

    + NewtWorld: <http://www.fw3.com/newtworld>

    + The Ultimate Newton: <http://shell.rmi.net/~rbruce/>

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



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

  TeleType GPS - New v2.0 - now includes U.S. Interstate Highways data

  overlay. GPS software provides plot of your position on moving maps while

  you drive or fly. Overlay packages include cities and towns, Interstates,

  and special Aviation overlay for pilots. Bundles include GPS receiver and

  software.  Never get lost again.  Email: <TeleTypeGPS@teletype.com> or

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

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





Information from Email

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



** GOLF APPLICATION GETS QUICK UPDATE **



Rick Armstrong at Sun Sabre Software reports that a new version of their

ScorePad application is now available from their World Wide Web site.

Version 3.0.1 fixes a bug with handicap calculation and with routing

problems.  Rick also reports that the 'Analysis' feature can now analyze

your scoring average.  For more information check out the following URL:

<http://members.aol.com/sunsabre/ScorePad.html>.



** NEWTON CHAT EVENT **



Raven Zachary <raven@rinzai.com> reports that Newton Intelligence held a

very informative chat session with Newton developer Serg Koren on 25May97

(Sunday) at 5 p.m. (EDT).  You can learn more about Newton Intelligence

and check out text transcripts of all their chats via the following URL:

<http://www.rinzai.com/ni/>.



** ANOTHER CASE RECOMMENDATION **



Randy Bennett <rbennett@mail.cvn.net> reports that the Samsonite Travel

Toiletry Kit (US$12.99, model# RT-424) is a 'nearly' perfect case for

holding a MP2K, a keyboard, and other cards plus both serial and power

cables.  Randy purchased his at a Staples store.



** NEWTON DISCUSSION FORUM **



David Gewirtz <david@component-net.com> has created an interactive

"Newton Discussion Forum" on a WWW site that you can access via the

following URL: <http://www.component-net.com/webx?14@@.ee6b579>.



** PHOTOGRAPHERS USING THE NEWTON?!? **



Michael Marlborough <harshpic@wr.com.au> is looking for other

photographers who are using the Newton in their work (either

professionally or personally).  Please contact Michael if you are

interested in discussing the world of Newton and taking photos.



** SOUND RECORDING UTILITY RELEASED **



David M. Pompea <74736.172@compuserve.com> at DMP Systems reports the

release of a Newton solution called "DSR-1" that enables recording of

Notepad sounds via the Power Switch on/off capabilities.  DSR-1 will run

in fully functional demo mode for 45-days and retails for US$10.  For

more information check out: <http://www.netacc.net/~dmpsyst>.



** DATA MEASURING SOLUTION WANTED **



Dimitri Pateras <dimitri.pateras@span.ch> is looking for a Newton

solution for a large company based in Geneva, Switzerland that can

measure (via a custom serial port hardware solution) "electricity supply

on major high tension external sub-stations."  And check measured data

against 1-MB of ASCII data for "peak values."  If this sounds like

something you are familiar with, then please send email to:

<sigse@iprolink.com> or <chopard@gkb.com>.



** TWO NEW THINGS FROM TACTILE SYSTEMS **



Robert Bruce <rbruce@tactile.com> has posted a new Newton utility called

WordBuddy at: <http://rainbow.rmi.net/~rbruce/tactile/xWordBuddy.html>.

Robert is also working on a email listserver to link those who have

Newton package file storage sites online together, and also attempts to

tie in the developers so that it is easier to distribute Newton software.

For more information send an email to: <rbruce@tactile.com> with the

title set to: "Site Host.



** NEW VERSION OF SLURPEE AVAILABLE **



Steve Weyer <weyer@kagi.com> has posted on 22May97 new version of his

Newton to/from desktop text/data transfer utility -- Slurpee 2.0 -- which

supports transferring paragraphs or tab-delimited text to and from the

Newton via a terminal emulator or a serial connection.  What is new to

2.0 for Newton 2.x:



    - import gray scale graphics

    - import/export packages

    - support for larger binary objects



The software is US$10 shareware, and you can get more information via

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



** LACK OF NEWTON COVERAGE SHOWS BIAS?!? **



Hang Wong <hwong@inconnect.com> is extremely disappointed with Mark

Bunting's "ComputerMan" syndicated cable computer show.  The latest show

on 18May97 had a focus on PDAs, and only showcased the PalmPilot and

Windows CE devices.  Not even a mention of the Newton was heard through

the entire segment.  Hang has found that Mark has consistently been

anti-Macintosh and anti-Apple in general, so while it doesn't surprise

him, it is very frustrating that the MessagePad 2000 or eMate 300 wasn't

even mentioned.  For more information about the show check out:

<http://www.bunting.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, Everything you need for your Newton

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

   - Apple MessagePad 2000 Business Bundle only $1099.00 (#22008)

   - MP130 Buy Back Program - Trade in your MP130 for special deals on

     MP2000 or other PDAs - Call for details: 219-882-5228

   - MP2000 Accessories: Rech. Battery $31.95 (#22209) AC Adapter $29.95

     (#22202) MP2K Pen $12.95 (#31227) -- Type II Flash Memory 4MB $98

     (#41070) 8MB $174 (#41073) 10MB $210 (#41074) 16MB $310 (#41077)

   - Revelar Connection Utilities (RCU) for Win and Mac $39.95 (#10071)

  To order 800-279-4PDA or 219-882-5228 or FAX 219-845-0578 [Source #161]

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





Information from the Internet

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



** C POCKET REFERENCE **



Paul Meyers <meyers@cise.ufl.edu> has created a Newton Book that contains

C Pocket Reference material including sections on: I/O Functions, String,

Math, Time and Date, and Memory Allocation.  For more information:

<http://mac-iac.cise.ufl.edu>.



** ADJUSTABLE MP2K STAND **



HI-RIZER <info@hi-rizer.com> reports that they are now shipping their

HiRizer stands for the MP2K that are built out of machined magnesium, and

will work in both an office and/or a car using dual adjustable swivel

mounts.  For more information: <http://www.hi-rizer.com>.



** NEW NEWTONS AVAILABLE DOWN UNDER **



Simon Tout <s.tout@unsw.edu.au> reports that NewtonWorld in Sydney,

Australia has the MessagePad 2000 (Aus-$1600) and eMate 300 (Aus-$1300)

available for purchase.



** GECKO - A NEWTON MAGAZINE **



Gerald Fox <gfox@bekkoame.or.jp> would like to remind Newton users that

Gecko Magazine -- a free monthly Newton Magazine that is published for the

Web and for the Newton in Newton Book format can be access via:

<http://members.aol.com/geckoweb/gecko.html>.



** UPDATE TO NEWT'SPAPER **



Serg Koren <archimag@netaxs.com> has announced the release of his

Newt'sPaper 05/19/97-1 -- a USENET news (NNTP) reader solution for NIE

enable Newton devices.  This new version includes a host of new features

and bug fixes.  For more information check out the following URL:

<http://www.netaxs.com/~archimag/Newton/MyStuff/NewtsPaper.html>.



** THESAURUS FOR NEWTON **



Hayes Haugen <hayes@eskimo.com> has posted his program called

'Lextionary' to: <http://www.eskimo.com/~hayes/dictionary.html>. This

solution contains definitions for 60,000 words and synonym sets for

119,000 words, plus over 750,000+ cross references between words.  More

GUI features are going to be added in the near future which should make

cross reference access easier.



** LOOKING FOR NEWTON SUCCESS STORIES **



Newtonshop <newtonshop@incomm.ch> reports that they are working on

collecting MP130 and MP2000 corporate success stories that they will post

to their Web server in the near future.  Send your contributions or links

to published stories to the email address listed above.



** BULLS USE NEWTONS ON TV **



Benjamin Smith <benjs@ix.netcom.com> reports noticing the Chicago Bulls

personnel using MessagePad 2000s on the sidelines during a recent Bulls

vs. Miami Heat playoff game.



** OTHER NEWTON MENTIONS ON THE WWW **



MacSurfer (19May97) had a Newton mention in reference to the need that

Apple had to make a Newton decision: <http://www.macsurfer.com>.  It

should also be noted that MacInTouch <http://www.macintouch.com> and

MacCentral <http://www.maccentral.com> also have both recently had a

great deal of 'solid' Newton coverage.



THE COMPUTISTS' COMMUNIQUE (TCC) published on 20May97 (Vol. 7, No. 33)

had a Newton news section.  For more information about this most

excellent newsletter check out: <http://www.computists.com>.



TidBITS#380/19-May-97 <http://www.tidbits.com> reported the release of

the update to Newton Connection Utilities 1.0 via Apple's FTP servers.

The updater works on Newton Connection Utilities 1.0b6 that shipped with

earlier MP2Ks and eMate 300s.



Dan Costa has a MP2K review (not that good though) in the Jun97 edition

of Computer Shopper entitled "An Apple for Core Devotees".  Dan thinks

the unit is too big and heavy, handwriting recognition is "far from

acceptable", "the filing system is enigmatic as ever" and will basically

only appeal to devoted Newton fans.  The complete article (with a couple

of positive comments) can be accessed via the World Wide Web at:

<http://www8.zdnet.com/products/content/newrev/cshp/0516cs5.html>.



Marton Carungay <martonc@macconnect.com> reports that The New York Times

Syndicate Web site has an article about what Steve Wozniak thinks about

abut the new Newton eMate 300.  Check it out the article via:

<http://nytsyn.com/live/Latest/140_052097_120014_29887.html>.



Marton Carungay <martonc@macconnect.com> also reports that Mac Home

Journal recently had an interview with Apple's CEO Gil Amelio who is

quoted as saying the that sales of the eMate 300 could reach the hundreds

of thousands.  More info at: <http://www.machome.com/Features/gil1.html>.



** MACWAY NEWTON MENTIONS **



Guy Kawasaki's MacWay Evangelist email listserver had several Newton

blurbs recently including:



    - Tom & Vicki Patten <tvpatten@3-cities.com> reported a

      pointer to an article by Paul Andrews at the Seattle Times

      that has some good things to say about the MP2K:

      <http://www.seattletimes.com/ptech/thisweek/user.html>

    - Iverson Software has Release 1 of a US$10 shareware

      NewtonBook called "Generic Drugs."

      <http://prairie.lakes.com/~j5rson/business/ebooks.html>

    - Blaine Fergerstrom, <webmaster@starbulletin.com> has a

      review of the eMate 300 in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:

      <http://starbulletin.com/97/05/16/business/story2.html>

    - Peter Baral <Peter.Baral@s-direktnet.de> reports a new

      German gradebook application is freely available for

      teachers to try.  For more information:

      <http://www.s-direktnet.de/homepages/medienwerkstatt>.

    - Paul DiGiovanni <pdigi@poboxes.com> sent in a very

      detailed report entitled "Followup - Communications /

      Telephony Solutions for Mac/Newton". Check it out via the

      MacWay WWW site.

    - Brian Hall <brian_hall@markspace.com> reports you can send

      messages from a Newton via modem, and receive them via the

      Socket PageCard using his software called PageNOW! for

      Newton.  For more info: <http://www.markspace.com>.

    - Newton World <<http://newtonworld.com.au> is running a

      "Most Unusual Use of a Newton Contest (Australia)"

    - Robert Deruy <BobXian@sisna.com> has news of Pocket

      System's PocketGIS at: <http://www.pocket.co.uk>

    - Hardy Macia <hardy@catamount.com> has released

      PowerRecorder which lets you record messages using the

      on/off button. For more info: <http://www.catamount.com/>.



For more info about this excellent Apple, Macintosh, Newton, etc. ...

resource check out: <http://www.evangelist.macaddict.com/>.



** OTHER SITES WORTHY OF A BROWSE **



    - DVC'97 West: <http://www.bcr.com>

    - Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies:

      <http://otal.umd.edu/~rccs>

    - Newton Web Ring: <http://pobox.com/~bnet/newton/webring.htm>

    - Yahoo Twin Cities: <http://minn.yahoo.com>

    - FEMA:  <http://www.fema.gov>





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

   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>.

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





Top Print Sources Of Interest

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



[EDITOR: This is a collection of articles of potential interest to

NewtNews readers from the leading technology print newspapers,

newsletters, and magazines.]



** NEWTON TO BE USED BY USDA **



John Moore has an article entitled "Handheld Technology: GTSI nets large

USDA buy of Apple's Newton" on page 43 of Federal Computer Week published

on 19May97.  According to the article, Government Technology Services

Inc. (GTSI) will provide the USDA with 484 MessagePad 2000s for a price

of US$457,065 (or approximately US$944.35 each) for a forms & data

management solution for USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

For more information check out: <http://www.fcw.com>.



** MORE DETAILS ON NEWTON USED ON TIBETAN TREK **



Penny Lunt has several Newton mentions including a picture in an article

entitled "Tibetan Trek Takes Imaging To The End Of The Earth: Custom-made

digital photography systems lets Sir Christian Bonington's expedition

post images never seen before to the Web" on page 36 of Imaging Magazine

published on Jun97.  The key part of this project was a MP130 that

communicated with an INMARSAT Mobiq satellite phone to upload pictures

taken using an Agfa digital camera.  The whole system was designed and

engineered by a company called Logica based in Lexington, MA

(617.476.8000).  The article mentioned that Sir Bonington was already a

Newton user before the trek so using the Newton was a given considering

"it's a well-proven platform."  For more information check out the

following URL: <http://www.bonington.com>.



** NEWTON GETS 9% OF THE MARKET **



According to Dataquest, some 700,000 standard handheld units were shipped

in worldwide in 1996.  The market share was broken up as:



    51% U.S. Robotics

    25% Hewlett-Packard

     9% Apple

     3% Casio

     2% Sony

    10% Other



[Mark Moore, PC Week, 19May97, page 6]



** SEVERAL OTHER NEWTON MENTIONS **



Short pointer to the news that Wynd Communications is now shipping a

WyndMail for Newton version 2.5 that runs on Apple's MessagePad 2000,

130, and 120.  You can learn more on page 46 of PC Week published on

19May97.



Geoff Baum has a Newton mention in an article called "Bouncing Back: In

high tech failure is rarely a dead end.  It's just another opportunity"

that starts on page 49 of Forbes ASAP published on 02Jun97.  Given the

title of the article, can you guess in what context the Newton mention

is?!?  Yes ... it is the "Where are they now?" sideline article that

mentions the Newton in John Sculley's biography.  Yes ... Mr. Sculley

"committed too much capital to the troubled handheld Newton." (page 52).



Apple Developer Technical Support (DTS) Group answered Newton OS and

NewtonScript questions on page 101 of MacTech published on Jun97 in their

"Newton Q&A: Ask the Llama" section.



Charles Haddad has a Newton mention in the article entitled "Hand-held

MessagePad winning rave reviews" published on 04May97 in The Atlanta

Journal - The Atlanta Constitution.  The article covers the recent

positive industry press about the MessagePad 2000, has a good summary of

the MP2K's features, and notes that Atlanta's 24-hour Cable TV news

channel -- CNN -- has plans to test the MP2K for day-to-day news

reporting capabilities.



Tom Crowley <crowltom@niacc.cc.ia.us> reports that TV Technology

published on 22May97 has a feature about Frank Beacham and how he uses a

MP2K with the Newton software solution Shot Logger at WGBH in Boston, MA.

The complete article can be found on page 24.



David Kalish at The Associated Press had a Newton mention in an article

entitled "Newton Spinnoff Fails To Pare Rot At Core of Apple Computer"

published on 24May97 in the Portland Oregonian.   David notes that the

Newton's future is now a "little clearer, but Apple's is as hazy as

ever."  The rest of the article is a mostly a focus on Apple's Macintosh

business strategy and how much overall David feels [SDH: Given the quotes

and the stats he feeds his readership.] Apple is just a sinking ship that

hasn't changed its ways at all.  Even with the recent popularity with

Apple's latest products, it seems, according to David, to little to late.



** SOME OTHER PDA MENTIONS **



Robert X. Cringely has a couple of interesting rumors on page 133 in

his 'Notes From The Field' column published on 19May97 in InfoWorld:



    - U.S. Robotics is interested in building a

      PalmPilot 'Phone' to compete against the Nokia

      9000 mobile phone

    - Be, Inc. is also suppose to be looking at using

      the Hitachi SuperH SH-3 processor for an embedded

      version of Be OS.  This processor is also used in

      Windows CE devices.



** OTHER ARTICLES OF POTENTIAL INTEREST **



    - "Wireless Snakes Into The Big Time: Market

       finally shedding adolescent skin" by Kim Borg,

       Computer Technology Review, May97, page 1

    - "Stanford Research Institute report: Two-way

       paging prices must drop" by Niall McKay, InfoWorld,

       19May97, page 70



** MAJOR WEEKLY MAGAZINE 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>

    - Network World: <http://www.nwfusion.com>

    - LAN Times: <http://www.lantimes.com>





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

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

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





NewtNews Tips and Tricks You Can Use On Your Newton

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



** THE INSTANT GUIDE TO BECOMING A NEWT GURU **



By Roger Coleman <Roger_Coleman@compuserve.com>



If you have similar tidbits for this column, please drop me a line!

<Roger_Coleman@compuserve.com>. Please include details of the model and

OS that you are using. Let me know of any easter eggs, too!



** CAPITALIZATION GESTURES ON MP120, OS2.0 **



Here are some more neat gestures that make using the Newt a little

quicker:



To capitalize or de-capitalize the first letter of a word, the quickest

thing to do is double tap it - the capitalized and non-capitalized

versions of the word are always the top two options in the word list that

pops up.



To do a whole word, first select the word you want by holding the pen

until it squeaks and drawing a line through it.  To make the word into all

capitals, draw a vertical line up through the selected word from just

below it to just above it.  To make it all lower case, draw a line that

goes down instead of up.



** OVERVIEW AND ALERT BOXES **



Not exactly a tip, but it may be of interest to MP120 users to learn that

the scroll and overview buttons work with the little alert boxes that pop

up on the Newt from time to time! Next time you get such an alert, tap

the overview button and you will see a list of all of the alerts

displayed since the Newt was last reset. You can tap on any item in the

list to re-read it. I actually used this feature yesterday to re-read a

hint from 'Namigator' that popped up the first time I used it!



** TIPS WANTED **



Please send me any tips, hints, goodies, or similar bits of information

for future issues of this column to me <Roger_Coleman@compuserve.com>.

Credit & Glory will be given to all those that contribute!





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

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   + Customize the vocabulary and/or create new languages, attach notes

   + MP2K and eMate featured - speech, classroom multi-user, keyboards

   + Vocabulary Trainer - based on approved didactical learning system

  Checkout demo: <http://www.travel-cs.com> - contact: <info@travel-cs.com>

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





Other Related Technology

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



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

newsgroups, email, and the WWW.  For more information about Farcast check

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

<http://www.individual.com>.]



** WIRELESS & MOBILE **



USA Today has begun a new service that provides news & business

headlines, along with weather and sport scores to Sprint Spectrum digital

phone customers in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area. [inews]



Metricom has been busy expanding their Ricochet Wireless Network service

to ten major airports in the U.S. including: San Francisco International,

San Jose International, Oakland International, John Wayne/Orange County

Airport, Los Angeles International, Sea-Tac in Seattle, Minneapolis

Airport, and National Airport in Washington, D.C.  In the near future

expect networks up and running at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and La

Guardia Airport in New York City. [Farcast]



Beijing Telecom, NTT and NEC reportedly just began testing a new PHS

(Personal Handyphone) wireless network system in the immediate Beijing,

China area. [Farcast]



Motorola has host of new technologies announced: the MPC850SE processor

is designed for cost-sensitive applications; the MPC860SAR processor has

unique features to make ATM solutions easier to build; GSM SIM cards

should make building GSM mobile phones easier; and the 68HC916R1 an

on-chip flash (50K) microcontroller. [inews]



** PALMPILOT **



Ron Nicholson <rhn@nicholson.com> reports the release of cbasPad (version

0.75) --  a 'Tiny Basic' interpreter for PalmPilot devices.  The software

is currently freeware, and can be downloaded via the following URL:

<http://www.nicholson.com/rhn/pilot/>.



You can find Issac's Tamagotchi Digipet / Pilot Page at:

<http://www.intercon.net/~issaclam/mypet.html>.



Yeechang Lee <ylee@columbia.edu> reminds PalmPilot users to check out the

U.S. Robotics' PalmPilot Reviews Pages at:

<http://www.columbia.edu/~ylee/pilot-reviews.html>



Stephen Herman <sjh@philabs.research.philips.com> recently posted a

"Review: Pilotmail vs. Handstamp" to the USENET newsgroups

comp.sys.palmtops and comp.sys.handhelds.  Those interested in this topic

should check out your favorite search engine (i.e. Wired's HotBot

<http://www.hotbot.com>) for the complete post.



** WINDOWS CE **



Mark Moore has an article entitled "Win CE Slims Down: Next Generation of

Handhelds will take aim at PalmPilot" on page 6 of PC Week published on

19May97.  The next generation of Windows CE will include a pocket-size

device in the US$300 range to target the U.S. Robotics' PalmPilot market.

Expect Windows CE 2.0 to on the street in Nov97 (announced in Sep97).

Some features: handwriting recognition software, software modem, and

better PIM functionalities



Mark Moore also has an article entitled "HP Ships Windows CD-Based 300LX

Series of Palmtops" on page 48 of PC Week published on 19May97.  The

article notes the unique features of the 300LX series, and that HP's

market share in the handheld marketplace should increase to 23% in 1997.



HP has an ad for their HP 300 Series Palmtop PC that is Windows CE savvy

on page 15 of InfoWorld published on 19May97.



MobileWare has announced a new WebMirror Communications Server v5.0 that

runs on Unix and Windows NT, and includes a 'simple client' that supports

Windows CE. [Farcast]



** PSION **



THE SHARPER IMAGE <http://sharperimage.com> reportedly has a price

matching policy for their complete line of products including their PSION

3C units and Psion accessories.



Arnoud van der Giessen <agiessen@worldonline.nl> reports the release of

PsiFile 1.2 -- a freeware compact filemanager for the Psion.  For more

information: <http://www.worldonline.nl/~agiessen>.



** OTHER HANDHELD **



Corel is busy working on a Network Computer (NC) savvy notebook that will

use a standard OEM design and will be powered by a StrongARM processor.

The price is expected to start in the US$2000-2500 range with devices

shipping in Nov97.  The unit will run a hybrid Java Virtual Machines,

Microwave's OS-9 embedded operating system, and reportedly Windows. [Mark

Moore & Michael Fitzgerald, PC Week, 19May97, page 8]



David Gurgel <energyfor@aol.com> reported on the Magic Cap mailing list

that his company is interested in deploying a vertical application that

will use 200 PIC-1000s or PIC-2000s.  Those that can supply 50 units or

more at a time should send David email.  Do not send David email if you

can only supply individual units.



Wintermute <wntrmute@inconnect.com> is looking for a DS-110 Docking

Station for his PC110.  He thinks he's found a picture of one at:

<http://www2e.meshnet.or.jp/~kamio/ds.htm>.  Can anyone confirm this?

And what is the name of the company that builds the unit?



Jacob Schwartz <jschwart@motown.lmco.com> reports that the Philadelphia

Area HP Handheld Club (PAHHC) will be hosting Hewlett-Packard's Eric

Vogel, on 05Jun97 (Thursday evening) at Drexel University in

Philadelphia.  The meeting will start between 7:30-7:45 PM.  For more

information check out: <http://www.waterw.com/~jake-s/pahhc.htm>.



Frederick Friedman-Romell <mlamis@mlahq.org> reports that the IBM 730T

Pen Tablet Web site has moved, you can get to the new site by using:

<http://www.mlahq.org/~mlamis>.



Seamus Waldron <seamus_waldron@cix.compulink.co.uk> has created a World

Wide Web (WWW) site dedicated to the IBM DOS Web Browser called "webBoy"

(ideal for Libretto and PC110 users) at:

<http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~seamus-waldron/webboy/welcome.htm>.



James Laurence <james@pinkworks.com> reports the creation of a new

moderated discussion list called "The Wireless PDA Digest".  You can

learn more about this list via: <http://www.pinkworks.com/wpda.html>.



Telxon Corporation has been busy working on a major retail mobile

computing system that will total 14,000 Telxon devices for Hallmark Cards

based in Kansas City, Kansas. [Farcast]



Franklin Electronic Publishers has announced that they will continue to

work closely with Voice Powered Technology International (VPTI) to

exploit VPTI's low power Voice Logic voice recognition technology for a

range of future electronic products. [Farcast]



Norand has a new PC compatible system with a full VGA backlit screen

called the PEN*KEY 6360 Hand-Held Computer.[inews]



** APPLE & MACINTOSH **



Apple has joined the INTERSOLV PVCS Enablement Partners' program that

will help bring some of INTERSOLV 'middleware' solutions to from OpenStep

Enterprise Development Environment to Rhapsody. [inews]



The Semiconductor Industry Association (SAI) has recruited Apple's chief

operating officer George Scalise to takeover the SIA's president role.

The COO job at Apple has been eliminated, so no replacement was named.

[inews]



Things continue to 'heat up' at Power Computing.  Their recent

PowerCenter Pro won five diamonds from MacWeek (60-MHz Bus with 180-MHz

PowerPC 604e start at US$2095), and they have also dropped their prices

on their PowerBase systems (200-MHz PowerPC 603e with 2D/3D graphics

video start at US$1399).  For more information: <http://www.powercc.com>.



The hybrid PowerPC microprocessor company called Exponential Technology

that claimed to be able to speed-up PowerPC technology into the 500+ MHz

range has closed shop after learning that Apple had decided to not use

their chip in future hardware products. [inews]



** OTHER **



EarthLink Network has won a judgement by a California judge that prevents

'super spammer' Cyber Promotions from distributing unsolicited commercial

email through EarthLink or to its members.



Acer, Sharp, Matsushita, and Mitsubishi all have new Intel based laptop

systems. [Farcast]



Tandem Computer has teamed with 14 'software alliance partners' to

showcase financial services functionalities on Tandem based Windows NT

hardware systems.  Tandem also has a new 'Porting Service' to help

customers move their OS/2 enterprise solutions to Windows NT Server

platforms. [inews]



LEXIS-NEXIS and Microsoft has announced that LEXIS-NEXIS will be using

Microsoft Commercial Internet System for some new projects that will

bring in the near future new features and capabilities to LEXIS-NEXIS'

legal community customers. [inews]





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

  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 40 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!

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





Edupage, 19May97 thru 25May97

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



** ELLISON SEES HIMSELF AS AN ENLIGHTENED EGOTIST **



Why has billionaire and Oracle founder Larry Ellison wanted to buy Apple

Computer?  Because he has a mission to put a computer on the desk of

every American child.  "This is all being done pro bono.  The question

is:  What do you do with your life?  This is what, after the first

several billion dollars, keeps you going...  I mean, the goal is not be

the richest guy in the graveyard.  I don't care how much I'm worth when

I'm dead.  How do I make myself feel good?  The only way I know to make

myself feel better is to make the world feel better.  Don't mistake that

for altruism.  It's egotism. Call it enlightened egotism."  (Vanity Fair

June 97)



** DR. KNOW **



Xerox and its Japanese sister corporation Fuji Xerox are recognizing the

world's transition into a "knowledge-based society" by establishing a

"Xerox Distinguished Professor in Knowledge" chair at the University of

California at Berkeley.  The first occupant of the chair will be

well-known management theorist Ikujiro Nonaka.  The effort underscores

Xerox's belief that the role of knowledge in the Information Age will

become increasingly important. "The difference between being effective

and being just efficient, is the ability to access, refine, utilize and

disseminate the collective experiences of everyone in the company," says

John Seely Brown, head of Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center.  The hope is

that companies will learn how to document and pass on "tacit knowledge"

-- best practices for solving specific problems or creating specific

products that can be made electronically available to others in the

company.  "It would put an intellectual library at digital fingertip

reach," says a senior VP of strategy.  (New York Times 19 May 97)



** SUN TO SELL ENCRYPTION SOFTWARE THROUGH RUSSIAN FIRM **



Sun Microsystems will sell encryption software licensed from Elvis+ Co.,

a company formed by scientists who worked on the former Soviet space

program. The software will be shipped to overseas customers from Sun

distributors in third countries, effectively skirting U.S. encryption

export laws.  Jim Bidzos, CEO of encryption firm RSA Data Security, says

the move is "blatant and in-your-face," and warns "The government has to

shut this down, or else the competitors of Sun probably have to say,

'We're going to do the same thing.'"  Sun's general manager of

network-security products defends the action, saying "This is not being

done to subvert export-control laws but to deliver solutions to

customers.  Never before have organizations outside of the United States

had access to such advanced security software."  (Wall Street Journal 19

May 97)



** CD SALES SOAR ON THE WEB **



It turns out that online music buyers isn't just for twenty-somethings,

after all.  A recent survey of Music Boulevard's customers shows that

half the frequent buyers are over 30, and that "Leonard Bernstein's New

York Philharmonic Review" has been the best-selling disk since Christmas.

 "A 45-year-old guy doesn't want to hand his Frank Sinatra CD to a kid

with a Mohawk and a nose ring" at the cash register, says the president

of another online music seller, CD Now.  Jupiter Communications predicts

that online CD sales will more than double this year to $47 million -- up

from $19 million in 1996.  (Business Week 26 May 97)



**  SOLAR-POWERED SATELLITE PHONES **



Australian national telecommunications carrier Telstra is making a new

connection -- it's distributed to 10 remote communities telephones that

employ both solar power and satellite communications.  "We're not only

providing technology to remote communities, but we're getting away from

using fossil fuels," says the principal technical officer at Telstra.

"It's clean and green."  Fifteen percent of Australia's population is

spread out over an area that covers 80% of the continent, and the roughly

17,000 phone lines that serve this group works out to less than one line

per 385 sq. kilometers.  In some communities, the new Interra Net system

will work side-by-side with older diesel-powered digital radio

transmitters, which are in the process of being upgraded to offer ISDN,

fax and Internet services. (TechWire 22 May 97)



** INTERNET THIEF APPREHENDED **



A computer cracker who broke into a San Diego Internet service provider's

computer and stole 100,000 credit card numbers has been nabbed.  The

thief used a "packet sniffer" program to gather the information from a

dozen companies selling products over the Internet, and was arrested as

he tried to peddle them to an undercover FBI agent for $260,000.  "What

is unique about this case is that this individual was able to hack into

this third party, copy this information and encrypt it to be sold," says

a Bureau spokesman.  The cracker was using an account at the University

of California at San Francisco, although authorities have not determined

whether he is affiliated with the university.  (New York Times 23 May 97)



** APPLE'S YELLOW BOX **



Apple Computer is working on a development environment called Yellow Box,

an evolution of the OpenStep environment.  The plan is to enable programs

written using Yellow Box to run on five desktop platforms:  PowerPC,

Intel, MacOS, Windows 95 and Windows NT.  (Information Week 19 May 97)





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

  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>.

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



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

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

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





INNOVATION, 19May97

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



** TRENDS: HOME NETWORKS WILL RULE THE ROOST **



Eric Benhamou, CEO of networking gear-maker 3Com, has a 4,000 square foot

home, equipped with eight PCs, three printers, two servers and a fax

machine.  The whole system comes together in a wiring closet under his

stairway that houses a T1 line to the Internet.  Although he admits he's

definitely ahead of the crowd, he predicts that the fully wired home --

with a mini-version of his wiring closet -- is not too far off.  "Today,

we already sell networking into homes.  We just don't know exactly how

much. Eventually, it could be as large or larger than the corporate

market, because it will begin to reflect the size of the population."

Stephen Dix, sales and marketing manager for Bay Networks, another

networking firm, concurs:  "Home networks are not there yet, but we

believe that 12 to 18 months from now, they will be."  Meanwhile, Cisco

Systems, another networking company, envisions a wireless system that

would eliminate the stickiest problem for most homeowners -- where to run

the wires.  The new appliances -- from coffee makers to security systems

-- all would connect via thumbnail-sized antennas.  An analyst for

International Data Corp. says it's all possible:  "Some of it sounds like

conspicuous consumption, but that doesn't mean it won't happen --

conspicuous consumption has been going on for centuries."  (Investor's

Business Daily 14 May 97)



** STRATEGIES: BUILD A WEB SITE AND THEY WILL COME  **



The chairman and cofounder of Cambridge, Mass.-based Open Market, which

promotes Internet business, says the first secret of Net business is to

treat the new medium as "new."  Rather than just dump old material

online, you need to try to figure out how to use the technology to

personalize services for individual users.  You do this by focusing on

(and getting to know) the customers and building relationships with them.

 You also need to build a service, not a Web site:  "Customers do not

come to a Web-based business simply because it runs secure servers well.

They go to business that give them value for their time and money;

businesses they trust; businesses that know them;  and businesses that

give them options they cannot get anywhere else.  (Shikhar Ghosh,

"Selling On The Internet," Strategy & Leadership May/Jun 97)



** INNOVATIONS: A WATCH FOR THE MILLENNIUM **



Third Millennium Challenge, based in Amsterdam, is marketing CountDown

watches that run backwards.  About 35,000 have been snapped up in Europe

since their release last year, and the novelties are now available in

North America through Branco International Inc.  One Canadian technology

expert on the Year 2000 problem buys them to pass out to clients and to

"have a bit of a giggle at the end of a speech by telling the audience

how much time they have left for their coding."  The watches will still

work after the year 2000, says the distributor, but the warranty is for

only one year. (Information Week 12 May 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 48 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

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



** INTRODUCTION & INCENTIVE **



This area is dedicated to trying to solve NewtNews readers programming

needs, and in turn hopefully lead to the creation of a legitimate Newton

shareware solution for the developer solving the problem.  If a developer

solves such a problem, NewtNews will give them a 50% price reduction for

any advertising service they order for that product in our Products and

Services area.  If you have a utility you need written, please let

NewtNews know by sending an email to: <newtnews@pobox.com>.



** IRDA TO DESKTOP SOLUTION **



Bjorn Jensen <bjensen@atwc.teradyne.com> is looking for a developer to

put together wireless desktop connectivity solution that uses the

Farallon Airdock to connect a Newton to a desktop system via IRDA.



** LOCK THOSE NOTES **



Steven Weyhrich <sweyhrich@earthlink.net> is looking for a Notepad

utility that would enable him to lock a note so that it can not be

accidentally altered or deleted.



** GLOBAL KEY COMMAND FOR TURNING ON BACKLIGHTING **



Jim Bailey <jdb@shore.net> reports that his utility 'Lightswitch' will

turn on backlighting with the following key sequence "Command-Shift-L".

For more info check out: <http://www.tiac.net/users/jdb/index.html#LS2>.





Other Tidbits of Information

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



** NEWTON TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL **



The March 1997 edition (Volume III, Number 2) was given away at the

Newton System Group's booth at Apple's recently held World Wide

Developers Conference (WWDC). This issue includes article on:



    - "Behind [the Button] Bar" by Michael Engber, Apple

    - "Binary Communications" by Ryan Robertson, Apple

    - "Letter From The Editor: The Future of Newton" by

       Jennifer Dunvan, Apple

    - "eMate 300 in the Classroom" by Garth Lewis, Apple

    - "Data Structures, Part 2 of 3" by Bob Ebert, Apple

    - "Why Newton Beats Windows CE" by Don Davis, Apple

    - "Speech Recognition for the MessagePad 200" by

       Stephen Breit and Bent Schmidt-Nielsen, Dragon Systems

    - "Surviving the Grip" by Bob Ebert, Apple



This great resource contains a ton of detailed programming information

and marketing information. It is included as part of the Newton Developer

Program offered by Apple.  For more info: <newtondev@apple.com>.



** SMALL SURGE PROTECTOR **



Tripp Lite <http://www.tripplite.com> has a small 'portable' surge

protector that they called the "SMP Notebook Computer Surge Suppressor".

The device will protect modem in, phone in (with phone out), and a single

power supply.  The unit costs US$24.95.  The only draw back is that the

power supply plug is on the top of the unit thus if you plugged in the

new MP2K power plug you'd cover up the phone line inputs. [Information

Week, 19May97, page 136]



** NEW VERSION OF FORM TOOLS AVAILABLE **



Shana is now shipping Informed Designer and Informed Filer versions 2.0

for Macintosh and Windows desktop systems.  Both of these new versions

will interact with the older 1.0 versions of Informed for Newton.  But

there are reportedly some things to look out for.  The major push for 2.0

is greater Internet features, and much better form creation and data

entry capabilities.  For more info send an email to: <info@shana.com> or

check out: <http://www.shana.com>.





Advertising Notes

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



Creative Digital Publishing are now advertising for their comprehensive

Handheld Computer Almanac.



Sun Sabre is also now advertising their golf scorekeeping package called

ScorePad.



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

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



* THE HANDHELD COMPUTER ALMANAC -- The definitive guide to handheld

products and services, from organizers to ruggedized systems. 150 pages,

600 companies, 1300 products and services in 50+ categories, with more

than 300 Newton products. Only $24.95 + S&H from Creative Digital

Publishing Inc. 30-day money-back guarantee. email: <hhca@cdpubs.com>,

URL: <http://www.cdpubs.com>, voice: 415.621.4252, fax: 415.621.4922



* NEW SCOREPAD 3.0.1 -- Golf scorekeeping package for Newton 2.0. Easily

keeps scores and statistics - analyze and graph the results. Figure your

unofficial handicap. Automatically calculates nassaus and skins. Keep

notes about each round and course.  Available for US$50 from Software

Unboxed <http://www.unboxed.com> or directly from Sun Sabre (513.459.9330)

with 10% by mentioning NewtNews. <http:members.aol.com/sunsabre/ScorePad.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 - Multi-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.



* 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 5000.

   - 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.

   - MORGAN is the Newton Media ORGANizer. Track CDs, tapes, records

       books, laserdiscs, videos, and more...

For more information call 802-372-9512, email <products@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>.



* 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>



* GPS MAP and GPS MAP LITE -- GPS based navigation with real moving maps,

showing all details as familiar from paper based maps.  Features -- map

calculator, route planning, database, history track, and mission

recorder.  Import your own maps from your Mac or PC at any scale.

Connects to most GPS receiver's offering a NMEA183 interface.  For more

info/demo: <http://www.soaring.de/gps/GPS_Map.html> or <gerds@micronet.de>.



* 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>



* 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.  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 Filler on your desktop for further

processing.  Now when you buy Informed Designer, you'll also get Informed

Filler for the desktop AND a BONUS Newton Filler.  For more details about

this exciting offer, contact Shana Corp. at: (800) 386-7244, email at:

<info@shana.com> or visit our Web site at: <http://www.shana.com>.



* 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>





What do NewtNews Advertisers Think?!?

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



Ken Landau <kl@landware.com> at LandWare <http://www.landware.com>:



    "We feel this move is a positive step as it will finally

     allow the Newton group to completely focus on doing what

     they do best - deliver a strong Newton core platform.

     Without having to worry about always doing what Apple

     Computer in general feels is best, the mission of the team

     can be much more focused on what the market is demanding.

     Also by spinning off from Apple, perhaps we will see

     additional hardware partners licensing the Newton OS."



Frank Wegener <wegener@travel-cs.com> at Travel Concept Solutions

<http://www.travel-cs.com>:



    "Principally we welcome Apple's decision, but we hope that

     Apple will sell this new company as fast as possible. The

     Newton OS platform needs strong partners with retail

     channels (and money) Apple does not have. The Newton OS

     platform has extreme marketing problems here in Europe (and

     U.S too) which need to be solved when the Newton OS will

     compete against Windows CE."



George Henne <gh@nsbasic.com> at NS Basic <http://www.nsbasic.com>:



    "One of the things we're excited about is the increased focus

     on the corporate market.  Many companies are discovering that

     NS BASIC with Visual Designer is the perfect tool for

     developing in house applications.  Most of these companies

     are PC based, so a more independent Newton subsidiary will

     help as well. This is going to be good for our business."



Lou Krieg <Lou@GMSW.com> at Green Mountain Software Corporation

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



    "This is best of the many possible outcomes for the Newton

     Systems Group.  This will allow the group to chart its own

     destiny, while having some of the financial protection of

     Apple as the parent company.  Success is never guaranteed,

     but I'm betting on Sandy Benett and the rest of the

     management team making good decisions.



    "Our customers, for whom we are developing vertical

     applications, will find this a very reassuring direction for

     the future of Newton as a platform. Keep in mind the pace of

     development for Newton technology.  By the time Rhapsody

     ships, we will already be using the successors to the MP2000

     and eMate 300!"



Ben Gottlieb <info@standalone.com> at Stand Alone Software

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



    "I think the new spin-off is an idea long overdue. It will

     give the Newton group the freedom to pursue new markets that

     were previously restricted because they may have come into

     direct conflict with other Apple products or markets. In

     addition, it breaks the group away from a company that is

     currently metamorphasizing into something wholly different

     than what was there when the Newton was started. Bottom

     line: the Newton is a mature technology that is able to

     stand on it's own, and will now be allowed to."





Comments About Using Email On Newton Last Week

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



** NIE SLOWNESS IN GENERAL **



Don Bellenger <Don_Bellenger@3com.com> has also seen the noted delays

with doing SMTP transactions via most Unix boxes, and that using Mac OS

based EIM seems to be much faster.  He also notes that this problem

didn't existed on the MP130 running NIE 1.0.



Jeff Greenberg <jgreenberg@raptor.srl.ford.com> also noted on the USENET

newsgroup comp.sys.newton.misc an overall noticeable slowness in many NIE

solutions running at 28.8 modem speeds compared to desktop Macintosh

systems.



** USING TELNET **



Chris Abraham <chris@tmn.com> was one of many who suggested using one of

the Newton Telnet solutions for getting my email instead of using the

Macs at the conference.  This would have been ideal if the current MP2Ks

supported Ethernet, but since they currently don't, I would have only

been able to check my email via a landline modem connection, and those

were only 'easy' to obtain in my hotel room in the evenings after the

conference.  Plus, this also requires you to have an open connection

which can increase online costs (which can be expensive if you use hotel

phone line connections).



** BETTER EMAIL FILTERING **



Scott Gruby <sgruby@qualcomm.com> suggested checking out the Unix program

called ProcMail that provides 'filtering' of email before email gets

stored on a POP server.  NewtNews found a great deal of pointers to

ProcMail by searching for "procmail" on: <http://www.yahoo.com>.



Brian Hall <brian_hall@markspace.com> reports that the next version of

his PageNow! 2.0 will support 'paging via email' and will let you do

limited message text forwarding to a second email account or to a pager.

For more info: <http://www.markspace.com>.



** LEAVING MAIL ON THE SERVER **



Jim Bailey <jdb@shore.net> reports that if your POP3 server excepts the

UIDL command that GoFetch 1.2.5r2 will use this command to track each

messages unit id number, thus making it easier to manage email left on a

server. [EDITOR: The next iteration of Enroute will also have similar

UIDL support.]  Jim also notes that the latest version of Go Fetch is

also written to deal with unexpected disconnects and thus should be able

to track the state of your mailbox correctly if your Newton resets

unexpectedly.





Administrivia

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



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

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

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Send contributions and comments to Steve Holden, Editor and Publisher

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This edition of NewtNews was written with the help of: ushering for

"Forever Plaid" at the Old Globe Theater; a 24 hour visit to Dick Six's

cabin on Palomar Mountain; dinner at San Diego Brewing Company to

celebrate Jenn's new job; and a Memorial Day party/dinner at Sara's

house.



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

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