NewtNews-142-10Jun97

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



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:



 + BILLS TO PAY PRO 3.5.5 - Easily Track Bills & Expenses - Supports

   German - <info@marsoftware.com> - <http://www.marsoftware.com>



 + 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>



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

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



 + 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, 02Jun97 thru 08Jun97

 9. INNOVATION, 02Jun97

10. Dear Newton Developer

11. Other Tidbits of Information

12. Advertising Notes

13. Product and Service Information

14. Administrivia





Top News

--------



** NEW MP2K SYSTEM UPDATE **



The Newton System Group has posted a MessagePad 2000 System Update 2.1

(717145)US to various Apple sites.  NewtNews found the update at:

<http://support.info.apple.com/tso/tso-Newton.html#aswu>.  A summary of

items fixed:



    - sending large data junks via serial ports now

      works without loss of data

    - out of memory condition related to cursive text

      writing fixed

    - better compatibility with communication cards

    - better cover fax page clarity

    - improved battery level indicator

    - more accurate power switch detection



** VIDEO CARD SOLUTION COMING SOON **



Raven Zachary <raven@rinzai.com> was the first to point NewtNews to a new

Newton based VGA/NTSC/S-VIDEO PC Card solution in the works via:

<http://dcfx.com/forsale/>.  The PC Card will effectively let you display

your Newton screen on any VGA/SVGA monitor or any TV/VCR that supports

Composite or S-video input.  When the US$300 card ships in Aug97 it will

include 'Presentation Software' for the Newton (it will also ship for

Windows and Windows CE devices).  Please contact <sales@dcfx.com> for

more information about pre-orders.



NewtNews contacted Carl Moore <cmoore@dcfx.com> for more information and

learned that they are currently shipping a VGA version (no presentation

software yet) that will work with the MP2K or Windows CE devices (display

your screen).  [EDITOR: As we got to press we've learned that this VGA

card has been sold out.]



** REVELAR CONNECTION UTILITY VERSION 2.5 BUNDLE **



Revelar Software <http://www.revelar.com> has announced the release of

Revelar Connection Utility (RCU) version 2.5 Bundle for Macintosh

computers.  RCU version 2.5 is a live connection from any Newton OS 2.x

PDA to the desktop computer, and is compatible with the MessagePad 2000

and eMate 300.   Version 2.5 for Macintosh contains some bug fixes on

Export, and includes several new ADF files, including MoreInfo by

SilverWARE, and MORGAN and Small Quiz by Catamount Software.



In addition, Version 2.5 will now include a free registration number for

Notable!, Revelar's simple connection for viewing, editing, importing and

exporting Notes from the Newton's Notepad.  And the new retail price for

RCU is US$29.95.



** MP2K HIGHLIGHTED ON NPR **



Richard Dean <richdean@clark.net> reports that his recent monthly

commentary for National Public Radio's Weekend Edition-Sunday with Liane

Hansen included mentions of the Apple's new MessagePad 2000.  The focus

of this show was on how computer technology can help during cross-country

travelling. T he piece runs for 4 minutes and notes the MP2K is the

"perfect road companion" which can interact with GPS units, surf the web,

and check your email.





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

  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>

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



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

  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.

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





Comments from the Editor

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



** TWO MORE NEWTON ADVERTISER COMMENTS ON NEWTON, INC. **



K. Dale McAdams <dale@conceptkitchen.com>:



    "We are very excited about the spin-off of NSG into an

     autonomous group.  This should serve to provide some

     separation between the Newton platform and the 'doom and

     gloom' reporting that has followed Apple over the past year.

     At the same time, it should also accentuate the often

     overlooked fact that NSG is a profitable, thriving

     enterprise perfectly capable of self-sufficiency."



Don Vollum <donv@teleport.com>:



    "I think it's a very positive development for all of us in

     the Newton community!"



** GREAT MP2K PENS ON THE WAY **



NewtNews has had the honor of checking out a pre-release version of the

much anticipated PDA Panache's M20B PDA Stylus for the MessagePad 2000.

The M20B tested for the last couple of days was black with crome

highlights, and the very handy orange tip.  The unit is very solid, and

feels very good when you write with it.



Full scale production has reportedly recently started, and you should

expect M2OB pre-orders to go out in the next two weeks.  PDA Panache also

makes styluses for the PalmPilot; MP100/110/120/130s; Sharp Zaurus;

Psions; and non-PDA specific "Pocket Styli", "The Beacon: L.E.D. Lighted

Tip Stylus", "Low-Cost Stick Styli", and "The PDA Panache Duo

(stylus/ballpen combo)".  You can place an order at: 800.270.7196 or fax:

516.467.6329 or get more info at: <http://www.pdapanche.com>.



** WIN A HANDHELD SYSTEMS SUBSCRIPTION **



If you have a mailing address in the United States or Canada you can win

a one year subscription to Handheld Systems magazine by sending an email

to NewtNews at: <newtnews@pobox.com> with the following in the subject

line "Handheld Developer Give-A-Way" by 12 noon (PST) on 16Jun97.  The

goal of this contest is give an up-and-coming Newton developer access to

a great handheld programming resource, so please only enter this contest

if you have a goal of being a Newton programmer.  We will announce the

random winner in the next issue of NewtNews-143-17Jun97. Thanks!



** 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. ;-)





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

  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

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



** CONSUMER PROTECTION DIRECTORY IN NEWTON BOOK FORMAT **



Jeff Iverson <j5rson@prairie.lakes.com> reports the release of the

Consumer Protection Directory (US$5) that contains contact information

for consumer protection agencies in all 50 of the United States, plus

American Samoa, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, and Washington DC.   The

directory comes in Newton, Mac OS, and Windows formats.  For more

information check out: <http://prairie.lakes.com/~j5rson/>.



** PICTURES OF PROTOTYPE NEWTONS **



Contour created for Apple the "Media Surfer PDA" models designed by

Astro, and pictures have been posted to the following Astro portfolio Web

pages at: <http://hamaki8.lanminds.com/portfolio/applemediasurfer.html>.

The theme of devices -- "PDAs to interact with diverse hypermedia formats

such as the internet, television and computer games."  The photographs on

the pages are done by Beverley Harper.



** WEYER ON NEWTON INTELLIGENCE **



Raven Zachary <raven@rinzai.com> reports that Steve Weyer (author of

Newt, Slurpee, and Newt's Cape) participated in an online chat on 01Jun97

(Sunday) on the Newton Intelligence 'chat' server.  For more information

and transcripts of past sessions check out: <http://www.rinzai.com/ni/>.



** HANDJIVE DELIVERS NEWTON BOOK VERSION **



Patrick Rhone <PRHONE@worldnet.att.net> reports that NewtNews readers can

download a Newton Book version of their HandJive Magazine 1.02 via this

URL: <http://www.phosphor.com/handjive>.  This month's focus is on Year

2000 issues.



** HEXDUMP HATCHED FROM POWERPEN EFFORTS **



Harry Kardash <harry@hexdump.com> reports that a small group of

developers previously at powerPen (a faculty sponsored group at

Washington State University) have formed a new corporation called Hexdump

Development with the goal of developing "quality software for multiple

PDA platforms including the Newton."  In the near future expect a 'gift

reminder' utility and a paint program.



** NEW STUFF FROM ROADRUNNER TRACKS **



Janet Honek <Janet@roadrunnertracks.com> reports that RoadRunner Tracks

has two new products that should be out very soon.  The first is a new

MessagePad 2000 savvy Wedge desktop stand that will retail for US$19.95.

They also plan to have eMate-Savvy Barrier screen protectors shipping on

24Jun97 with pricing starting at 2-pack for US$14.45.  You can learn more

via: <http://www.roadrunnertracks.com>.



** NEW NEWTON COMPANY ON TV **



Blake Moore <blakem@bigfoot.com> reports that the 02Jun97 edition of the

Nightly Business Report (NBR) on PBS was going to have discussion about

the Apple spin-off of the Newton System Group.  After this news, NewtNews

learned from posts by Keith Rollin <rollin@newton.apple.com> that because

of the verdict in the Oklahoma City bombing trial, the Newton segment was

then rescheduled to be on Wednesday morning, and was then moved to the

Nightly Business Report -- but -- then ultimately got put on hold until

it could be combined with more technology news.  So, basically NewtNews

is not sure when the segment will be on.



** NEWTON SOURCE EUROPE SITE UPDATED **



Christophe Lenaerts <christophe@bbg.be> reports that Newton Source Europe

has redone their Web site at: <http://www.newtonsrc.be>.  They also

report that sales of the MP2K are brisk (backlog until mid-Jul96), they

just hired 2 new people to work at Newton Source Belgium, and they

'sense' more large accounts starting up soon in Belgium and in France.



** PMI PICKS UP MORGAN **



Power Media Inc. (PMI) <http://www.powermedia.com/~pmi> has announced

that they are now making available to the retail chains -- Catamount's

MORGAN and MORGAN Pro -- which is best described as a 'great' collectors

tool (CDs, software, records, comic books, etc. ...).  You can learn more

about this new product by checking out the URL above or the following

site: <http://www.catamount.com>.



** SATELLITE IMAGES ON MP2K **



Jeff Bailey <jeff@ria.com.au> at Resource Industry Associates (RIA)

reports that RIA now has the ability to display SPOT satellite images on

a MP2K and have the images overlapped with geocoded GIS/Asset points that

their software can use for data point collection.  For more information

check out: <http://www.ria.com.au/mp>.



** SOFTWARE DIGEST PAGE UPDATED **



Ian Robinson <ian@stormont.cix.co.uk> reports that he has recently

updated the Newton Software Digest with short descriptions and links to

the following software:



    Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Newton Book), Adventures of

    Tom Sawyer (Newton Book), Airports 3 (Newton Book), Appgen 3

    Demo, Applefacts 5.97 (Newton Book), Area Code Change 1.1,

    Backlight Plus 1.3, Backlight Control Button, Bullet Proof

    Utilities, C Reference (Newton Book), Chesspad Lite,

    Chesspad Game Files (Kasparov v. Deeper Blue), Corrector+

    2.3, DragNDrop Names 1.0, Drugs Generic (Newton Book), Dsr

    1, eMate Classroom Exchange 1.0, FlashClock 2.0, Fontpack

    Bundle, Gecko 06-97 (Newton Book), Lava 2.0, Lextionary,

    ModemBridge 1.5, Moreinfo 4.11, Mover Mac Demo, Newton

    Connection Utilities Updater, Newtdb-16 1.25b4, Newtnews 139

    (13 May 97), Newtnews 140 (20 May 97), Newtnews 141 (27 May

    97), Newton Package Installer 1.1, Package Organizer V1.0,

    PassKeep 1.2, Power Recorder 1.2, Pt100 0.982, Puzzle,

    Scorepad 3.01 Demo, Silk 2.0, Simplemail 1.0, Slurpee 2.0,

    The Odyssey (Newton Book), Tom Sawyer Abroad (Newton Book),

    Tom Sawyer Detective (Newton Book), Unitmath, WriteHere 2.0

    Beta 9 and xWordBuddy.



Check out: <http://www.compulink.co.uk/~stormont/newton/weekly.htm> for

more information.



You can also check out Ian's "introduction to the data storage

programming topics associated with soup handling" by following the links

at: <http://www.compulink.co.uk/~stormont/Welcome.htm>.



** NEW MULTI-FUNCTION UTILITY **



Stand Alone <http://www.standalone.com> has a new shareware utility they

are calling "Sound Sleep" that offers the ability to turn on your Newton

by tapping on the screen, and the creation of making new sound notes

using the Power Button on the MessagePad 2000.  You can check out a

30-day demo on their WWW site listed above.



** EMATE SPECIFIC SITE **



Onar Vikingstad <onar@sn.no> reports that "The Ultimate eMate site"

is now on the WWW at: <http://home.sn.no/~onar/emate/>.



** NEW STUFF FROM FOUNDATION SYSTEMS **



Foundation Systems <http://www.tow.com> has released a host of new

software recently to their WWW site.  On the freeware side of things

check out:



    - Area Code v1.1: allows you to change area codes,

      like switching from 619 area code to the new 760

      area code

    - DragNDrop Names v1.0: a utility for creating

      names from the NotePad



On the shareware side of things, there are new versions of the following

available:



    - WriteHere 2.0, Beta 9 (5/27/97): enables

      handwriting recognition anywhere on your Newton

    - Corrector+: improves accuracy of handwriting

      recognition

    - nHTML Pre-Release 1.0 Alpha 2 (6/4/97): HTML

      creation utility

    - Backlight Plus v1.3: provides additional and

      more flexible controls for your Newton's backlight



Adam Tow <atow@tow.com> has also begun a new initiative called NewtonID

that should make it easier for Newton developers and Newton users (with

support for Newton 2.0 and Newton 1.x) to handle software registration

issues.  This new software is called NewtonID and you can get the latest

version via the Foundation Systems WWW pages.  Adam is extremely open

to suggestions and comments, so please contact him with any issues you

might have.





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

$ 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

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



** NEW BETA VERSION OF POPULAR TELNET SOLUTION POSTED **



Scrawl Software <help@scrawlsoft.com> has posted a new public beta of

PT100 -- their telnet and dial-up VT100 client for the Newton. There are

several new features (more keyboards, drag-n-drop, floating input areas),

and bug fixes.  For more information check out:

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



** UPDATED NEWTON HALL OF FAME SITE **



Douglas Luckie <luckie@pilot.msu.edu> reports that The Michigan State

Newton Users Group (MSNUG) has updated their Newton Hall of Fame site

located at: <http://pilot.msu.edu/~luckie/hallofame.htm>.



** INDEPENDENT MP2K REVIEW POSTED **



Geoffrey Klingsporn <g-klingsporn@uchicago.edu> has completed and posted

his review of the MP2K for The History and Macintosh Society (HMS) to the

following URL: <http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/hmac/mp2000.html>.



** MAPPING PACKAGE UPDATED TO SUPPORT MP2K FEATURES **



Elvin Slavik <elvin@ozemail.com.au> reports the release of MapPad -- a

new digital map and GPS solution that works Newton 2.x devices including

the new MessagePad 2000.  This new version of MapPad supports grey scale,

has better 100 dpi resolutions, and improved speed.  You can download a

demo from: <http://www.ria.com.au/mp/>.



** NEW NEWTON FREEWARE  **



Starlight Computer Wizardry has released a new freeware 'StopWatch'

utility for the MessagePad 2000 (software was only tested on a MP2K). You

can check it out at: <http://www3.gamewood.net/scw/>.



Deep Focus Designs has released TheWholeText for Newton 2.x -- a freeware

extension that works in your Notes application to select all the text in

an active note.  You can download the software from the World Wide Web

at: <http://www.deepfocus.com/>.



** LATEST NEWTON GAME NEWS **



Robert Bruce <rbruce@tactile.com> reports the release of xWordBuddy for

the Newton on 20May97.  This crossword player ships with 4 xWordPuzzles

and includes the ability to import .puz (Across Lite format puzzles) from

desktop systems.   The software will retail for US$25 and you can get a

demo via: <http://rainbow.rmi.net/~rbruce/tactile/xWordBuddy.html>.



Sanjay Vakil <info@scrawlsoft.com> reports the posting of sample

greyscale screenshots of the upcoming new version of Mahjongg designed

for the eMate 300 and MessagePad 2000 to: <http://www.scrawlsoft.com>.



** NEWTON BATTERY FAQ POSTED **



Eric Damien Berna <damien@thiel.com> recently posted his most excellent

"Newton Battery FAQ" to the USENET newsgroup comp.sys.newton.misc.  Check

it out via your favorite USENET newsgroup search engine (i.e. Hotbot

<http://www.hotbot.com>).  Or you can check out the following URL:

<http://www.thiel.com/damien/newton_battery_FAQ.html>.



** RECENTLY UPDATED SHAREWARE PACKAGES **



Robert Lee <leere@mindspring.com> has posted version 1.2 of passKeep -- a

US$10 shareware utility that helps you manage various online login

information.  You can download a 30-day demo via the following URL:

<http://www.mindspring.com/~leere>.  The software can be ordered via:

<http://www.sineware.com/order.html>.



Hardy Macia <hardy@catamount.com> reports that his company Catamount

Software has released version 1.2 of PowerRecorder -- a voice note

recording extension that enables recording of messages using the MP2K

power switch.  For more information about this US$20 shareware solution

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



** NEWTON CONNECTIVITY TO VCARD & VCALENDAR STANDARDS?!? **



Looking for Newton vCard and vCalendar support?  Then you should take

Steve Weyer's <weyer@kagi.com> recent advice posted to USENET newsgroup

comp.sys.newton.misc to check out the offerings that he is working on

at Gaia <http://www.gaia.com>.  You can learn more about the 'v' formats

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



** TWO VERY GOOD NEWTON ONLINE RESOURCES **



Are you a new Newton user?  Do you know any new Newton users?  If you

answered 'yes' then please check out Marton Carungay's

<martonc@macconnect.com> most excellent and very well done 'Newton

Primer' online resource guide for the Newton community at:

<http://www.macconnect.com/~martonc/newterati/primer.html>.



Bryan Oakley <oakley@healthcare.com> continues to 'churn' new editions to

his "What's right with the Newton" series of articles.  These great

opinion pieces are posted to various USENET newsgroups and are also

posted to: <http://www1.clearlight.com/~oakley/newton/index.html>.  Some

recent topics include: Part IV - Find; Part V - Assist; and Part VI -

Defying Gravity.



** DEVELOPEMENT TOOL UPDATED **



Serg Koren <archimag@netaxs.com> has posted a new version of VisualNewt

05/25/97-1 to his WWW site.  This new version is all bug fixes.

VisualNewt is a 'GUI' programming tool for creating custom Newton

solutions on your Newton.  For more information check out:

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



** NEWTON PROGRAMMING INTRO TO OBJECT DESIGN POSTED **



Jim Bailey <jdb@shore.net> recently posted to the USENET newsgroup

comp.sys.newton.programmer two interesting posts that might be

interesting to those programming Newtons.  Check out "NewtonScript object

design part 1 of 2" and "part 2 of 2" via your favorite search engine

(i.e. HotBot <http://www.hotbot.com>.



** OTHER NEWTON MENTIONS ON THE WWW **



The Apple Business Bulletin <http://enterprise.apple.com> published on

06Jun97 (Issue #34) includes news about the recent decision by Apple to

spin-off the Newton System Group into a subsidiary tentatively called

Newton, Inc.



Apple's Developer News <http://www.devworld.apple.com/> also published on

06Jun97 (Issue #60) suggest that Newton users check out the "Book List

(eBooks) for Newton OS Users" being hosted on the MacCentral WWW pages

at: <http://www.maccentral.com/features/060197_nn.shtml>.



TidBITS#381/26-May-97 had a quick blurb in their MailBITS section

entitled "Apple Spins Out Newton".  Back in issue #379 they had a review

of the MessagePad 2000, and in issue #361 they looked at the eMate 300.



The following Macintosh specific sites have had smattering of Newton

mentions recently --



    - Macintouch: <http://www.macintouch.com>

    - MacCentral: <http://www.maccentral.com>

    - MacInsider: <http://www.macinsider.com>



** MACWAY NEWTON MENTIONS **



Guy Kawasaki's MacWay Evangelist email listserver had several Newton

blurbs recently including:



    - DMP Systems release of their MP2K sound

      recording utility called DSR-1.  For more info

      <http://www.netacc.net/~dmpsyst>.

    - Raymond Kam <raymondk@portal.ca> reports that

      the Jun97 issue of "Computer Paper" has a good

      MessagePad 2000 mention.  You can read the article

      at: <http://www.tcp.ca/1997/9706/9706Edit/editor/editor.html>.

    - Peter Milbur <elite@cadvision.com> (the author

      of the above article) is looking for a Newton

      owner who works or has worked in a hospital

      emergency room as a doctor who would be willing to

      discuss with another doctor the reasons for why a

      Newton is an ideal unit to be used in a hospital

      emergency room environment.

    - Pointer to "The Ultimate eMate" site at:

      <http://home.sn.no/~onar/emate/>

    - AMUG has a host of membership options available,

      including one that should be ideal for Newton

      users.  Check out: <http://www.amug.org> for more

      information.

    - J. Hargis <cchargis@amber.indstate.edu> is

      working on a proposal for using Newtons to build a

      field technician solution.  Any input is

      appreciated.



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

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



** OTHER SITES WORTHY OF A BROWSE **



    - Telephone Charging Fees: <http://www.teleworth.com>

    - How to cable your own network: <http://www.rs232.com>

    - Yashica [digital camera]: <http://www.yashica.com>

    - Wayfarer's Incisa [Internet Push]: <http://www.wayfarer.com>

    - Axis Communications [Thin Clients]: <http://www.axis.com>

    - Wireless LAN Interoperability Forum: <http://www.wlif.com>

    - Keyence's The Engager GS III [Remote Control Helicopter]:

      <http://www.keyence.co.jp/hobby/hobbye.html>

    - Network Security Digest [May97]: <http://www.sans.org/may.html>

    - Web Novice: <http://www.webnovice.com>

    - The Gadget Guru: <http://www.gadgetguru.com>





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

   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 GROUP SPIN OFF COVERAGE **



David Morgenstern covers the news of the Newton System Group (NSG)

getting spun out of Apple into an independent subsidiary on page 1 of

MacWeek published on 26May97.  The article notes that there are currently

about 170 employees in the NSG, and some layoffs could occur, along with

some hiring.



Mac-The-Knife has some rumors about the future plans of Newton, Inc. on

page 62 of MacWeek published on 26May97.  Expect a 'business' eMate by

mid-Summer97 that is "slate-colored and rounder" than the eMate 300, and

an upgraded eMate line running StrongArm processors by Jan98.



Dan Briody covers the news of Newton, Inc. in an article entitled "Apple

spins off Newton division, will keep it close" on page 36 of InfoWorld

published on 02Jun97.  Initial funding for Newton, Inc. will come from

Apple, the new company will support the MP2K line, and Apple will

continue to have 'exclusive rights' for the eMate product line.



PC Week published on 26May97 included a short blurb about the news on

page 3 in their "News Digest" column.



Don Crabb focused on the 'Apple to spin-off the Newton division' news in

his 27May97 edition "New Product Gossip of the Day". Don was not

impressed with the news that Newton, Inc. will not be able to sell the

eMate in other markets since this 'hot' product will continue to be an

Apple Education Division product.  For more information check out

TipWorld at: <http://www.tipworld.com> or send email to:

<tips@tipworld.com>.



** ENTERPRISE ANALYSIS OF HANDHELDS **



Tom Davey has an indepth look at the state of enterprise usage of

handheld and kiosk devices in a 'Remote Access' trend article entitled

"When Portable Isn't Enough: The hassles of toting a notebook computer

are amply apparent to business travelers.  Airport kiosks and plugged-in

hotels may soon make it possible for these users to leave their PCs at

the office" on page 46 of Information Week published on 26May97.  The

focus of this article is really on kiosks being deployed around the

world for business travellers -- some corporation specific, others are

generic.  The Newton is mentioned first as an 'industry joke' but then

gets 'upgraded' by now offering "decent handwriting recognition and

messaging capabilities."  Other handhelds mention: PalmPilot (with

picture) and HP 320LX Windows CE device.



** MACWORLD PANS THE MP2K **



It was so nice of Apple to advertise their MP2K on page 39 of MacWorld

published on Jul97, but then they probably didn't know that Cameron

Crotty was going to pan the MP2K concept in a review on page 69.  Cameron

has a pretty good review of the current MP2K offerings, but then in the

end says that Apple has "priced it out of the realm of sanity."  The

overall rating was a 3 out of 5 stars (or a 5.0 rating out of 10.0).  The

article has been posted to the MacWorld World Wide Web pages at:

<http://www.macworld.com/pages/july.97/Reviews.3757.html>



[EDITOR: In the end I think that if a potential Newton purchaser read the

article, they'd be pretty confused about some of the conflicting info in

this article -- ie. "robust software" vs. "unbelievably expensive."  I'd

hope that this confusion would cause the reader to double check Cameron's

opinions for others.]



** SEVERAL OTHER NEWTON MENTIONS **



Marty Cortinas has an article entitled "ClockWork in sync with Newton,

Mac" on page 26 of MacWeek published on 02Jun97.  This new scheduling

package is being developed by Century Software <http://www.centsoft.com>,

should be out in Jul97, and should cost in the US$40 range.



Tom Peck <TomPeck@compuserve.com> reports that the Jul95 edition of

NetGuide has a MP2K vs. 5 Windows CE device review in an article entitled

"Handheld PCs Reach Out to the Internet" on page 115.  Tom also notes

that the 08Jun97 edition of the Houston Chronicle (in the Business

section) has a great MP2K review in the Dr. Mac column written by Bob

LeVitus.  You can check out this article on the WWW at:

<http://www.chron.com/cgi-bin/auth/story/content/chronicle/atchron/97/today/drma

c.html>.



John Williamson had a Newton mention in an article entitled "Electronic

pennies, New trials may get Internet surfers to pay" in the "One Final

Word" section of Global Telephony published on 01Jun97.  The mention was

in reference to a recent demo of Mondex card using a MessagePad 2000.



Yael Li-Ron has a pretty good write-up of the MessagePad 2000 published

in the Jun97 edition of BOSTON COMPUTER CURRENTS magazine.  You can check

it out at: <http://www.currents/net/magazine/national/national.html>.



EDP Weekly had a passing Newton mention in an articled entitled "Handheld

Companions Driving Smart Handheld Market" published on 26May97.  The

focus on the article is about a recent report from International Data

Corporation (IDC) that projects future handheld growth in 1997, and that

most of the manufacturing for these devices is going to be completed by

Taiwanese OEMs.  IDC defines this 'IHandheld' market into: PC

companions (Windows CE), personal companions (PalmPilot), and PDAs

(Newton).  Growth in the IHandheld market, will fuel, according to IDC,

growth in 'ISmart' phones (Nokia 9000).  The name of the report is "The

Worldwide Smart Handheld Devices Market Forecast, 1997-2001 (IDC

#B13540)", and can be ordered via: 800.343.4952.



** OTHER ARTICLES OF POTENTIAL INTEREST **



    - "Crunch time for Oracle's NC Unit: Network

       Computer, Inc. has raised expectations regarding

       thin clients since it was formed a year ago.  Can

       it deliver?" by John Cox, Network World, 26May97,

       page 1

    - "Mac Clones Make Gains: Apple losses ground in

       declining market" by Mary Hayes, Information Week,

       page 88

    - "Wyse Readies More Windows Terminals" by Lisa

       Digarlo, PC Week, 26May97, page 55,

       <http://www.wyse.com>

    - "New Wireless Spec Aims To Ease: Narrowband

       Sockets specifications lets developers use common

       APIs for writing wireless apps" by Salvatore

       Collorda, PC Week, 26May97, page 124

    - "Revamping Ricochet: Metricom makes advances in

       its wireless network" by Mark Moore, PC Week,

       26May97, page 145

    - "Power System to Make Notebook-Friendly Skies:

       PC Week Labs looks at how airlines propose to plug

       the battery gap in portable computers" by Michael

       Caton, PC Week, 02Jun97, page 45

    - "Two-way Paging Goes Forward" by Mark Moore, PC

       Week, 02Jun97, page 128

    - "Combining Wireless Markets: Bell Atlantic,

       Nynex awarded WCS licenses" by Mark Moore, PC

       Week, 02Jun97, page 133



** 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>

    - Information Week: <http://www.informationweek.com>





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

  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.

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



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

  Still looking for a great screen protector?  Look at The BARRIER!!

     * Clearly Superior Protection

     * Abrasion, Chemical AND Thermal resistant

     * Indispensable!

  "Why doesn't Apple mount a Barrier on every unit? -- Marco Mailand (.ch)

  For more info: <http://www.roadrunnertracks.com> or call 800-882-8382

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





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 (for any Newton version),

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!



** AUDIO RECORDING ON MP2K **



A couple of weeks back Darrell Ray Elmore <darrell_ray_elmore@cobb.com>

suggested turning off the backlight to remove the whine when recording

audio notes on an MP2K. This prompted Jason Kulas <jkulas@bcbsct.com> to

notify me of an easy alternative: Another thing to do is to go into

Prefs:Recording & change the Recording volume (sensitivity) so that it

doesn't pick up faint noises - this means the backlight no longer causes

problems.



** PUT AWAY FAXES ON MP2K **



Thanks to Mike Barney <readable@aol.com> for this tip: After you receive

a fax, hit the routing button that looks like a name tag. You will see a

PUT AWAY choice if you have a program that will accept Faxes (Avail Works

does). Now you can receive a fax, put it away in Avail Works and add

information to the fax and resend 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!





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

  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)

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



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

  PowerTrans 3.0 - Translator and Vocabulary Trainer - 60,000 Words -

  English, Spanish, German, French and Italian (no storage card required).

   + 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 **



China's Total Access Communications System has awarded Motorola with a

US$50 million contract to expand analog cellular services in the Shandong

province. [inews & Farcast]



Motorola <http://www.mot.com/wdg> has new Series 500 integrated wireless

modems now available for OEMs to integrate into wireless solutions.

[inews & Farcast]



COMSAT Personal Communications is now offering a device that enables

standard encrypted STU-III voice and data communications using a PLANET 1

personal satellite phone. [inews]



** PALMPILOT **



Mark Moore covers the recent good PalmPilot dominance news in the

handheld market in an article entitled "PalmPilot Success Spurs on

Handhelds" on page 56 of PC Week published on 26May97.  Microsoft is

reportedly preping a PalmPilot competitor codenamed "Gryphon" that will

be based on Windows CE, cost under US$300, and will be introduced in

Nov97.



Scott Andress <srandress@earthlink.net> reports the creation of a new

PalmPilot site that will focus on 'future implementations'.  Check it out

at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~srandress/digitalconcepts.htm>.



Steven Shmerler <shmerls@earthlink.net> reports on the USENET newsgroup

comp.sys.palmtops that U.S. Robotics is looking for a Macintosh software

engineer to work on their PalmPilot products.  Check out the details at:

<http://www.usr.com/palm/employ/eng6.html>.



Some PalmPilot links of potential interest:



    - yahtChallenge 1.6:

      <http://home.pacific.net.sg/~kokmun/pilotpgm.htm>

    - Tiny Basic for PalmPilot v0.77b:

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

    - PalmPilot TV Freak Files:

      <http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/2355>

    - HI-RIZER's Voyager PalmPilot Case:

      <http://www.hi-rizer.com>

    - PilotGear H.Q.: <http://www.pilotgear.com>

    - Pikoban 1.5:

      <http://home.pacific.net.sg/~kokmun/pilotpgm.htm>

    - SwitchHack 1.0: <http://www.icms.com.au/pilot/>

    - PalmPilot Licensing Information:

      <http://www.usr.com/palm/5021.html>

    - Scott Ludwig's PocketChess 1.0

      <URL:http://www.eskimo.com/~scottlu/pilot/>

    - USR Pilot Reviews Page:

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

    - CASLsoft's BAR CHARTS: <http://www.caslsoft.com>



** WINDOWS CE **



Arnold Kim <arn@visi.net> reports that Microsoft, is according to the

article URL listed below, busy working on a wallet-sized handheld device.

For more information check out the article posted to TechWeb using this

URL: <http://www.techweb.com/wire/news/may/0512gryphon.html.body?>.



Andy Barnhart has a detailed article entitled "In the Palm of Your Hand:

The Microsoft Windows CE operating system offers the promise of extending

familiar corporate enterprise solutions down to the handheld personal

computer level" starting on page 38 of Software Development magazine

published on Jul97.  Andy keeps an updated list of Windows CE programming

links at: <http://www.ciinc.com/andy>.



Aaron Goldberg's "Digital Watch" column in PC Week (02Jun97) on page 72

is entitled "A Prescription for the Reluctant Notebook User" focuses on

the features outlined by the Libretto and how it compares against

Microsoft's Windows CE offerings.  The article also mentions the

PalmPilot.  Aaron feels that the Libretto is probably ideal for most

"executives" who don't want to learn something 'new' or have limiting

features to just do: email, presentations, and manage their schedule.



TipWorld <http://www.tipworld.com> reported on 06Jun97 that Metrowerks

has plans to be a major Windows CE development environment vendor.  The

first product will support the NEC VR Series microprocessor, and in the

future will support all processors used by multiple vendors.  Pricing

will start in the US$699 range.



Entertainment pack for Windows CE from Microsoft has links made available

at John Smith's <jtsmith@mindspring.com> World Wide Web site at:

<http://www.mindspring.com/~jtsmith>.  A Beta version of Video Poker for

Windows CE has also been posted to: <ftp://cranbury.njcc.com>.



Hitachi's new line of Windows CE HPCs will be bundled with Advanced

Recognition Technologies' <http://www.artcomp.com> handwriting

recognition engines called "smARTscribble."  In related news, Hitachi

also announced a new agreement that will enable out-of-the-box wireless

access for their HPC systems using Socket's wireless PC Cards and GTE

wireless access services. [inews & Farcast]



** PSION **



Did you know that Psion is putting the finishing touches on their next

generation of Psion devices (tentatively called Psion 5)?   Neither did

NewtNews until recently.  If you have more information please send

details to: <newtnews@pobox.com>.



Some Psion links of potential interest:



    - TVSched version 1.00B:

      <http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Way/4798/tvsched.html>

    - Plotuw8 [Plotting]: <http://www.imaginet.fr/~bdupont>

    - Fantasy Cricket Score Tracker v1.30F:

      <http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~nicko/>



** OTHER HANDHELD **



Breadbox Computer Company has announced that Geoworks has chosen BreadBox

to provide European Geoworks developer training classes. [inews]



PC Week's News Digest published in issue 02Jun97 on page 3 has a short

blurb about the recent news that Toshiba is releasing a U.S. version of

their 1.5 pound Windows 95 ultraportable called the "Libretto" in the

near future.  The unit will cost US$2000 and offer 75- or 90-MHz Pentium,

800-MB hard drive; 16-MB of RAM, and a color LCD that offers 640 x 480

pixel resolution.  Libretto is expected to ship in the U.S. by 01Jul97.

[EDITOR: A real Windows CE killer?!?]



Murray Moffatt <murray@ns.planet.gen.nz> has posted two new versions of

Z-Print and Space Mines 50 for Zaurus to the World Wide Web at:

<http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ModelSystems/zaurus.htm>.



Some detailed PDA links of potential interest:



    - The Wireless PDA Digest:

      <http://www.pinkworks.com/wpda.html>

    - PMN Publications' pmnADI:

      <http://www.pmn.co.uk/adi/directory/>



** APPLE & MACINTOSH **



Dayna Communications <http://www.dayna.com> is now offering their DaynaPORT

10-BASE-T PC Adapter for PC and Mac OS for 10BASE-T for US$49.  They also

have a version that supports both 10BASE-T and Coax for US$58.



Apple is now shipping via Claris their Chinese Language Kit 1.2.  The

kit will cost US$140 and you can get more information by calling:

800.950.5382. [inews]



Open Door Networks has a new 'online registry' that documents publicly

accessible AppleShare IP 5.0 file servers on the Internet available at:

<http://www.opendoor.com/asip/>.  In related news, Virginia Systems

<http://www.websonar.com/> has a new document server technology called

"WebSonar Internet" that can be used with AppleShare IP 5.0.  This server

can search 12,000 pages per second, and return document contents in a

found documents HTML page.  You can learn more about AppleShare IP via:

<http://appleshareip.apple.com>. [inews]



Power Computing is now shipping their Mac OS PowerTower Pro 250 which

offers a 250-MHz PowerPC 604e microprocessor.  The standard configuration

lists for just under US$4500, and PowerComputing recently had a special

offer that enabled purchasers of the PowerTower Pro 250 to buy a system

at the above price with a bonus 256-MBs of RAM pre-installed. [inews]



Global Village is now shipping a complete family of 56K modem and

modem/Ethernet PC cards for Mac OS and Windows notebook users. [inews]



Apple is now accepting orders for their Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh

computer.  For more information about this US$7500 system check out the

following URL: <http://twentiethanniversary.apple.com> or call the Apple

Reseller Referral Line at: 800.538.9696 & select Opt-2.  You will also

see this machine, along with Apple's eMate 300, in the upcoming Batman

movie that should be out in the United States soon. [inews]



Apple has a new 'student-savvy' summer sweepstakes contest called "Got It

Yet?', and have announced a new loan program that targets the education

markets. [inews]



Apple Computer recently hosted a Congressional Luncheon for the U.S.

Small Business Administration's 1997 Small Business Advocates of the Year

awards ceremony held in Washington, D.C. [inews]



Beginning in Jul97, Apple WebObject customers will be able to get

certified training programs developed by Apple and their first WebObjects

training partner -- Agiliti. [inews]



Uniprise has some new Power Mac OS and Win95/NT clients that enable

transaction processing with over 11 relational databases that run on IBM

and Unix servers. [inews]



Jon Stevens <jon@clearink.com> reports the creation of a "discussion and

comments listserver about Dantz Development Corporation's Retrospect

Backup software."  To subscribe, send the following in the body of the

message "subscribe retro-talk" to: <requests@latchkey.com>.  You can also

get more information from: <http://www.latchkey.com/retro/>.



Webink <http://www.webink.com> has announced the release of Webink

InterNews Server 1.0 (US$155) -- a Mac OS based Internet/intranet

newsgroup server.



** OTHER **



Verity recently purchased some search and retrieval technology called

"KEYview" from FTP Software, and Verity will purchase outright a company

called 64K, Inc. that was known for developing relational database search

technology. [inews]



Nikkei English News reports that NEC has plans to launch a new class of

Unix servers called the "UP4800/EWS4800 Series" on 23Jun96 that will be

configured with 16-GB of RAM. [inews]



The Object Management Group (OMG) has announced that Silicon Graphics

(SGI) has joined the OMG, and plans to bring object technologies to

distributed computing systems. [inews]



Oracle and CNN are teaming together to offer Internet users access to

personalized news services that will be called 'CNN Interactive.' [inews]





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

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  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

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





Edupage, 02Jun97 thru 08Jun97

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



** INTRANETS AIM AT EMPLOYEE SERVICES **



A survey by Creative Networks predicts the use of corporate intranets

will rise by 110% this year, and Ziff-Davis's Computer Intelligence

research arm estimates that 45% of large companies already have an

intranet installed. While much of the growth initially was fueled by a

desire to provide Net-based purchasing and sales opportunities, companies

now are devising ways to use their intranets to deliver information,

benefits and services to their employees.  High on the list for

intranet/Internet use are health-related services:  IBM has paired with

Allina Health System to provide HMO members with general medical

information, enrollment services and appointment scheduling over the

Internet, and Blue Shield of California offers some of its 1.5-million

subscribers Net-based services through Healtheon Corp., an online

healthcare company started by Jim Clark, who also founded Netscape.  (St.

Petersburg Times 2 Jun 97)



** PGP GRANTED EXPORT LICENSE **



Pretty Good Privacy Inc. has obtained U.S. government approval to export

128-bit encryption technology -- without key-recovery features -- to

foreign subsidiaries and branches of large U.S. companies.  The branches

and subsidiaries are not allowed to re-export, resell or transfer the

encryption software without government authorization.  "As far as we

know, Pretty Good Privacy Inc. is now the only company that has U.S.

government approval to sell strong encryption to the worldwide

subsidiaries and branch offices of such a large number of U.S.

corporations, without having to compromise on the strength of the

encryption or add schemes designed to provide government access to keys,"

says a PGP VP and general counsel. (BNA Daily Report for Executives 2 Jun

97)



** THE ULTIMATE INTERNET NAME FIGHT -- WHO OWNS "INTERNET"? **



In 1990 the word "Internet" was registered with the U.S. Patent and

Trademark Office as a trademark by a Reston, Virginia, company called

Internet, Inc. (now called Honors Technologies Inc.) which runs the

"MOST" automated teller machine network for 450 member banks, savings and

loans, and credit unions.  Recently, Honors Technologies has sent letters

to other companies, warning them that their use of the word "Internet" is

a trademark infringement.  But Don Heath, chief executive of the Internet

Society (also, coincidentally, located in Reston) says:  "We think it's

preposterous that anyone should trademark the word 'Internet.'  Our

objective is the cancellation of the trademark so that it can be used by

anybody."  Honors Technologies maintains it is interested only in

restricting the use of the word by companies in the banking business.

(Washington Post 2 Jun 97)



** EMPLOYEE GOOFING UP, PRODUCTIVITY DOWN **



Informal estimates of "employee goofing" -- surfing the Web for personal

entertainment on company time -- range anywhere from 5% to 40% of the Web

sites accessed during an employee's work hours.  A video production

manager at IBT who wrote his thesis on "goofing" says he estimates that

each employee with access to the Internet loses at least one to two hours

of productivity per week through goofing.  In addition to lost

productivity, workers who surf the Web during work hours also clog up the

network: "Network-based games and online pornography take up a lot of

bandwidth," says a marketing director at a company that makes blocking

software.  "The IS manager is the first one to notice this sort of

activity, because it tends to slow down the network for everyone else."

Industry experts urge companies to formalize Internet usage policies,

both to protect productivity and to avoid liability.  "If you ask most

people what the Internet is, they'll tell you it's a collection of

networks or the next great medium," says one attorney.  "I tell them that

the Internet is a productivity sinkhole and a fount of legal liability

issues.  That's why you need those policies to be in place."

(CommunicationsWeek 3 Jun 97)



** NAME SPECULATORS EYE NEW DOMAINS **



The seven new top-level domain names haven't been introduced yet, but

speculators already are eyeing the new possibilities hungrily, and some

entrepreneurs have established "preregistration" services, offering to

take reservations for $15, with an additional $35 due if they're

successful in securing the deal.  If they fail, they get to keep the $15.

 One of these services claims it's already received 1,800

preregistrations.  "We're already seeing the beginning stages of a rush

to get these new names as more people are finding out about it," says the

operator of a preregistration service.  To date, more than 1 million

Internet addresses have been officially registered through Network

Solutions, 90% of them with the ".com" suffix.  (Wall Street Journal 5

Jun 97)



** HIGH-TECH GROUP RESISTS JAVA STANDARD **



A group of U.S. high-tech companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Apple

Computer and IBM, has voted against making Sun Microsystems' Java

programming language an official technical standard.  The companies

raised questions about how Sun plans to control the Java trademark and

manage the future evolution of the technology.  Sun has applied for

official recognition by the International Standards Organization and the

International Electrotechnical Commission, a process that requires a vote

in 30 member countries.  (Wall Street Journal 6 Jun 97)



** SUPERCOMPUTING ON A SHOESTRING **



One of the fastest computers in the world today wasn't made by Cray or

Intel or any of the other mainstream supercomputer manufacturers -- the

Gravity Pipeline, or GRAPE for short, was constructed by an

astrophysicist and his students at the University of Tokyo who wanted to

study the phenomenon of globular clusters of stars and didn't have the

computing power on hand to do it. GRAPE IV was the first computer to

perform a trillion operations per second and the effort succeeded in

proving the astrophysicist's theory that the cores of the clusters

oscillate.  GRAPE's creators predict the next-generation GRAPE machine

will hit petaflop speed within the next five years and hope to build it

as an international project.  Because GRAPE was built on a very limited

budget with a limited purpose in mind, its creators say similar machines

could be constructed to handle specific problems, circumventing the need

to spend millions of dollars on an all-purpose supercomputer.  (Discover

Jun 97)





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

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INNOVATION, 02Jun97

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



** TRENDS: INFO-TAILORS AND WORK-ON-THE-WEB **



Michael Dertouzos, head of MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science, says

Web-based transactions will focus on delivering customized products and,

most importantly, work:  "Today's insurance broker is basically a

peddler. Tomorrow's will be an info-tailor who will mix, blend and adjust

insurance for minute segments of the market in ways the current broker

couldn't dream of.  He will be compensated by both the buyer and the

seller.  Music will be packaged by info-tailors who know your taste and

will either sell you music by the chunk -- or rent it to you...  All the

Web has now is traditional content.  That's not the way we're going.

Traditional content -- text, images, videos, songs -- is only about 5% of

our economy.  Work is about 60%.  Within the next three to five years

you're going to increasingly see the delivery of human work over the Web.

 You already see it in some form, but almost all of that is e-mail.  The

notion of delivering work over the new medium is something that the

current Web is almost unaware of, but that's where the big gains will

be."  ("The Web and the Workplace," Forbes 2 Jun 97)



** STRATEGIES: DISASSEMBLING THE ASSEMBLY-LINE WAY OF THINKING **



Strategists too often focus on products, markets and processes when they

should really be thinking about services and relationships.  Is that just

playing with words?  No.  "Words matter.  In particular, for insurance

companies, banks, telecommunications firms, and other service providers,

the constant reference to their offerings as products and to themselves

as product leaders yields an assembly-line mindset."  Application of the

term "product" to "everything from lard to landscaping" turns everything

into commodities where it doesn't matter who makes them but only who has

the lowest price.  But competitive advantage eventually comes not from

price but from relationships:  "The inexorable march of competitive

forces drives the advancement of economic offerings over time:

commodities are extracted from the environment to make goods, then

delivered as services, which are scripted to stage experiences, which

then guide those persons or enterprises in a transformation."  Examples

of "stage experiences"? Disney World, Planet Hollywood, Dave & Buster's,

British Air and Virgin Atlantic. An example of "transformation"?  Ask

your personal fitness trainer or your psychiatrist. (And we hope you

haven't selected them because they were the lowest bidders.)  (James H.

Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine II, "Beyond Goods And Services,"  Strategy &

Leadership May/Jun 97)



** INNOVATIONS: STORING ENERGY IN THE UTILITY BANK **



Environmentally conscientious homeowners who install solar panels on

their roofs or wind-driven generators in the back yard can supplant the

energy company's power as long as the sun shines or the wind blows -- but

what then?  Now, some utility companies are allowing customers with their

own power-generating devices to "bank" excess electricity in the power

grid and withdraw it later (after dark or on still days), through

electrical meters that run backward as well as forward.  "Net metering"

allows individuals to get the full retail price for the power they

generate, as long as they "buy" it back during the same billing period --

this appeals to people more than the much smaller credit that homeowners

typically get when they sell excess electricity to a local power company.

 "The biggest thing net-metering does is change the mind-set," says the

director of engineering for Trace Engineering.  "The idea of being able

to spin a utility meter backward really appeals to people."  (Scientific

American 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>.



** BETTER, CHEAPER INTERCONNECT PLUG **



AJ Alfieri-Crispin <aja@pobox.com> thinks that Apple Mac 8/9 Interconnect

plug currently priced by Apple at US$18.95 is totally overpriced.  And he

thinks that a cheaper connector would definitely make money -- because if

priced right, he'd just buy as many as he needed and not worry about

swapping them like he currently has to do.



** CAD DRAWINGS **



Mark Srebnik <MSrebnik@aol.com> is looking for a MessagePad 2000 savvy

solution that would let him make drawings of floorplans (detailed, drawing

to scale) on his MP2K while in the field, and up load the drawings to

a desktop CAD program (like MacCAD).  Mark is looking at a solution called

"MeasureMaster" but is also curious if there is anything else available.



** DATES UTILITY **



William Sheppard <cyclone@netcom.com> would like a Newton utility that

would overwrite the current Dates month view with small text to show

events scheduled instead of the flag symbol.  That way you actually get

some information in the view.  Or you could add a pop-up list that when

you tape on the flag symbol displays the first line of every item on that

day.  This would make it possible to quickly determine when you don't

have something scheduled.





Other Tidbits of Information

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



** PDA UTILITY CONFERENCE COMING SOON **



World Market Strategies/PDA Inc. reports that their 3rd annual "Field

Force Automation" conference is still on schedule for 20-22Aug97 in St.

Louis, MI.  This conference will cover mobile, wireless, and handheld

computing in the gas, electric, cable, and telephone industries.  For

more information call: 415.252.8008, email: <info@wmsltd.com> or check

out: <http://www.pda-expo.com>. [EDITOR: These Handheld & PDA Forums have

been well received by NewtNews readers who have attended in the past.]



** WIRED, JUL97 **



In 1995, the FCC raised US$7.7 billion in wireless PCS auctions.  The

latest offerings for 'new' wireless spectrums in the 2.4-GHz range  by

the FCC in Apr97 only raised US13.6 million -- a 99.24% shortfall of the

expected US$1.8 billion.  For instance -- "licenses in Milwaukee &

Minneapolis went for US$1", and "Columa Wireless walked away with a San

Francisco license for US$6."  [page 41]



Tim Barkow's Fetish (starts on page 59) has some interesting devices

highlighted -- Tiger Electronics' (847.913.8100) has a US$70 'game.com'

device that is a "Game Boy and Newton" melded together; PlayNet

Technologies (212.586.2400) has some Web & game koisks in the works; and

Hitachi's MP-EG1A MPEG movie & digital camera <http://www.mpegcam.net>;



** TWO MORE UPCOMING CONFERENCES **



2nd International Conference on Autonomous Agents (Agents'98) is going to

take place 10-13May98 in Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota.  A host of

tutorials will also be held on 09May98.  For more information about this

conference check out: <http://www.cis.udel.edu/~agents98/>.



The "Red Herring's DVD Industry Briefing" will be held on the second day

at Web Market Hollywood being held 28-29Jul97 at The Loews Santa Monica

Beach Hotel, Santa Monica, California.  To learn more or to register

contact Stefanie Mott by phone at: 415.865.2277 ext. 250 or email:

<smott@herring.com>. You can also check out the following site for more

details: <http://www.herring.com/events/wmh97/home.html>.



** BOOK ON "MOBILE AGENTS: EXPLANATIONS AND EXAMPLES" **



Joe Jurczyk" <jurczyk@apk.net> reports the Jun97 release of the book

"Mobile Agents: Explanations and Examples " by William Cockayne & Michael

Zyda, The book comes in soft cover, includes a CDROM, is 250 pages,

should retail for US$42, and the ISBN is 1884777468.  For more

information check out: <http://www.manning.com/Cockayne/index.html>.





Advertising Notes

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



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 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>



* 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





Administrivia

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



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

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

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accuracy of articles.  NewtNews does not express or imply any

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This edition of NewtNews was written with the help of: celebrating my

29th B-Day at Morton's of Chicago steak house with my wife Christy; the

Dr. Seuss Race for Literacy 8K run; and watching the movie "Phenomenon"

(very good IMHO).



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

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