European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 09, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 b the stars and stripes Money matters tuesday february 1993 today s rates following arc fixed rates a which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use Gorman Mark 1.61 British Pound. 1.48 dutch Guilder 1.82 greek drachma. 215.6300 note the rates above apply within Tho Host country. Figures arc expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following arc Interbank rate that fluctuate and should by regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies italian lira 1,526.49 turkish lira. 9,001.50 Spanish peseta 117.09 portuguese escudo 148.94 austrian Schilling 11.61 saudi rial 3.7495 Bahrain Dinar 0.37675 Kuwait Dinar 0.30875 norwegian Krone 6.98 danish Krone 6.315 British Pound 1.4380 German Mark 1.6555 Swiss franc 1.5305 French franc 5.591 dutch Guilder .1.8615 belgian franc 34.08 Canadian Dollar 1.2641 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $328.25 an ounce. Silver quote $3.68 an ounce. Companies join forces to develop Small electronic communicators Chicago show spotlights new american cars Chicago up Domestic Auto makers pulled out the stops saturday with new products hoping to lure Bumersback into big three showrooms with a show of performance and safety. Nearly a million people were expected to visit Mccormick place for the 85th an Nual Chicago Auto show which runs through sunday. More than 1,000 vehicles arc on Dis play from antique classics to an experimental family sized hybrid electric car. The All aluminium Volvo Etc concept car uses Nickel cadmium batteries that reportedly can be recharged 1,500 time before replacement. Much closer to production is the Aurora which will go into production in Spring 1994 As a 1995 Oldsmobile Model. The futuristic Aurora Aero tech re search vehicle broke two world Speed endurance records 6,200 Miles and15,500 held by Mercedes Benz using a production version of the 4.0 liter 32-valve Aurora is engine. Twenty one Drivers drove the Aero tech the 15,500distance equal to 31 consecutive indy 500s on a track 24 hours a Day freight Days. Despite recent reports of Oldsmobile imminent demise division spokesman John Hock said Olds sales increased 5percent in the 1992 Market year with sales of the flagship Cutlass supreme up29 percent. Aurora will sell for $32,000 to $33,000under the same Haggle free pricing policy As pm s Saturn division. Also on the cutting Edge of technology is the 1993 Mercedes 600sl, which Fea Tures a six liter 48-valve, v-12 fuel injected engine orthopaedic front and rear seats and a $119,500 sticker Price. Cars on display Range from a 12-Cylin-Der, Ferrari 512tk for $195,600 to a$6,799 1.5-liter Hyundai Excel. However the korean Industrial giant is showing the hcd-11 concept sports car and unveiling the suns Coupe turbocharged convertible which will go on Sale in 1995. Mountain View Calif. A Dick Tracy would be proud. Led by a tiny Silicon Valley firm the world s leading electronics and communications companies plan an unprecedented Alliance to develop standards an common technology for so called per Sonal communicators. Apple computer inc., Sony corp., Motorola inc., Matsushita electric Industrial co. Ltd., Philips consumer electronics co. And american Telephone & Tele graph corp. Have joined As equity part ners in general magic which has worked in secrecy for two years to develop the technology. Personal communicators arc hand held devices the size of a portable radio or smaller that Are linked via wire or a wire less network. They allow users to communicate by voice fax electronic mail and other ways. A handful of companies such As Appleang a group including at to separately announced plans Over the last year to build the High tech products calling them the next wave in communications. But until now there were no Industry standards to smooth their mass introduction. The standards will allow communication Between users of All personal communicators regardless of manufacturer. No single company can create an Industry and we re trying to create an Indus try said Marc Porat general magic president and chief executive officer. Porat was involved in Apple s advanced technology group until the computer giant spun off general magic As an Independent company in 1990. Since then its engineers have not talked publicly about their work. Sony and Motorola joined general magic As Active partners in 1991 Matsu Shita Parent of the Panasonic electronics giant joined last month its presence i viewed As recognition that a worldwide Standard is needed. At to which also has stakes in Mcca cellular communications inc., the coun try s largest cellular phone company and to inc., which has made Small hand held communicator will build a communications network for the devices through its easy link services unit. The net work will be based on Gen eral magic s software and programming language called Tel script which will be installed in All manufacturers communicators. Sony Motorola and Philips Are developing personal communicators that incorporate Tel script and Gen eral magic s operating sys tem called magic Cap. In addition Apple i working to integrate Gener Al magic technologies into its products. Apple in 1991said it was developing the Newton communicator expected to be released this year. To s machine also Wil include the technology Anat to is Likely to build its own device said Gordon Ridge president of at to easy link services. At to and the manufacturers will build the system and the devices so users can talk to each other Send messages Call up data from in formation vendors order tickets to the opera make reservations read the latest news fax Back and Forth and just Plain talk. Marc Porat of general magic holds a Model of a per Sonal communicator that his company is developing. General magic s vice president for marketing. Officials were reluctant to discuss prices but said the devices Are aimed at the mass Market not just business users. Developers and analysts said they expect prices to resemble today s phone sys general magic and its partners believe Tern. Some services such As local and the Market for such devices and services Short distance Calls Are inexpensive will take years to develop but that they others such As International cellular Calls eventually will become As common As tale Are very costly phones. Gerry Purdy vice president of data the. First products based on general quest inc. In san Jose Calif., said the magic technology Are expected this sum group of companies has the muscle to set Mer Sony and Motorola will get products the Standard because it represents an in to Market first said Joanna Hoffman tire food Chain of wireless  . Companies taking first Steps toward doing business in Vietnam by the new York times almost 18 years after Anve rican Diplo Mats fled Saigon South Vietnam before the advancing communist troops the capitalists Are trickling Back hoping to employ their former enemies and ready the country for a corporate invasion. A Trade delegation of about 30 Ameri can business people arrived in Hanoi on saturday. The group is one of the firs Concrete results of a Bush administration decision in december to permit Ameri can companies to open offices in Viet Nam which is the target of a . Embar go the decision allows companies to obtain licenses from the Treasury depart ment which permits them to open offices and take the first Steps toward doing business in Vietnam. The companies May hire staff and sign contracts that could beaut into effect Only when Washington ends the embargo that was imposed after the War. Licenses have been granted to about15 companies the Treasury department said and about two dozen More Are in the pipeline. With Japan Singapore and South Korea bursting with International corporations elbowing one another for mar Ket share american companies Are looking hungrily at Vietnam As an emerging Market for potentially huge profits. The attraction for corporations is Sim ple the country s 70 million people Are one of the last unexplored consume markets in Asia As Well As a Well educated hard working and extraordinarily inexpensive labor Pool. Taiwan Hong Kong and France have taken the Lead in investing followed by Australia Britain and Japan. Tokyo re opened Broad economic ties in novem Ber leaving the United states As the Only nation  an embargo against Vietnam. While investment is not risk free be cause of Vietnam s deteriorating infrastructure and widespread corruption among officials american companies have been pressing for an end to the embargo. They said they Are at a terrible disadvantage in a nation that opened unto investment in Earnest in 1988. I but some said the game is not  because of a somewhat paradoxical vietnamese admiration for american Sand also because of Vietnam s history. It is Clear that the vietnamese have set aside a Range of projects for Ameri can business not Only to hopefully enjoy beneficial Access to our Market but also because they have very Strong and no positive resonances with respect to centuries of French japanese and chinese co Lonial influence said Donald Alford Weadon jr., a senior partner at Dickstein Shapiro & Morin a washing ton based Law firm that is opening an of fice in Vietnam. Several of the american companies advertising agencies Law firms real estate brokers that have received licenses will not be offering services or products to the vietnamese. Rather they Are positioning them selves to provide help for corporate giants when the embargo ends. That awaits a decision in Washington that Vietnam i cooperating fully in the search for servicemen missing from the Vietnam War. Among the Large american companies thought to be hoping to explore business in Vietnam Are Mobil Chevron Amoco and Exxon Oil companies Northwest an United airlines Citicorp Chase manhat Tan and Bank of America Hewlett pack Ard Compaq computer and Honeywell High tech firms and Bechtel Boeing general motors Caterpillar Pepsico an coca cola. The december decision set telephones ringing off the Hook at Trade organizations with contacts in Vietnam. Since the announcement the flow of Calls seek ing information on questions like who would be a potential partner in Vietnam has tripled said Virginia b. Foo tedi Rector of the .-Vietnam Trade coun cil a Washington group that coordinates information on investment