European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 24, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes computers tuesday May 24,1994 Microsoft corp. Has unveiled its Tiger software that uses Small instead of Large computers to deliver movies two Way shopping and other products for advanced communications networks in addition Compaq computer corp. And Intel corp. Said they Are working on so called Quot Media server computers that use the software. The announcements put the spotlight on a debate in the computing world about whether futuristic products like movies on demand or two Way video conferencing need mainframe and supercomputers or can happen on. Smaller less expensive machines. Including personal computers. A Oracle corp. Has developed Media server software that runs on supercomputers. It countered Microsoft s announcement with news that its software would be available for use in machines created by Hewlett Packard co. While the Oracle software is being implemented in several tests of advanced networks Tiger is still being refined in Microsoft slabs. Microsoft and Tele communications inc. Plan to test Tiger in a two Way to trial involving Microsoft employees later this year. A broader Public test will occur in Seattle and Denver next year. Microsoft says Tiger which is based on Microsoft a windows it advanced server operating system will allow tens of thousands of people to Access videos and other a continuous Media files and let them perform such Var like functions As pause reverse or fast Forward. A a a a a a a. Apple computer inc. Cut prices on desktop and portable computers for business by up to 27 percent. In addition the company formally introduced new models in its Power Book line of notebook computers. The six new machines Are based on the Power pc microprocessor a Chip Apple co developed with ism corp. And Motorola inc a a / a the new machines Range in Cost from about $2,200 to $5,500 depending on the size of the memory hard drive and Type of screen. They weigh just Over 7 pounds. The Power pc Power books arc also notable because they incorporate a new kind of cursor pointing device. Rather than using a Ball or Pointer stick in the keyboard a person moves the cursor by running their Finger Over a rectangular surface below the space bar. Apple said it Cut the prices of macintosh quadra 660av and 950 models up to 20 percent. Both Are equipped with sound and video features and Are part of apples Premium line aimed at businesses. The company also Cut prices of existing Power Book models. For instance a Power Book mob with a 80 megabyte hard drive was Cut 12 percent from $1,429 to $1,259. A Power Book 165 with a 160 megabyte hard drive and Modem was Cut 27 percent from $2,339 to $1,699. Apple said it also Cut the prices of some accessories such As monitors and Toner cartridges for printers. A a a a. Sony corp. Of America said that it had launched a new division to Market computer hardware and software in the United states. Sony computer entertainment of America will focus on the company a new cd based Home video game system the playstation and will be responsible for third party video game software licensing. The playstation incorporates advanced graphics and sound into a computer system creating Multi dimensional images and full notion video. It is scheduled to be released in Japan by the end of 1994 and in the United states in 1995. From Ware reports getting the latest Newson line services software Iet users become journalists by Michael j. Himowitz Baltimore Sun one of the problems with the so called information Highway is that there a so much information there a far More than any human can filter or absorb. This is one reason Why despite much hand wringing in my Corner of the world a computer or desktop Gizmo will never replace your daily newspaper. Not that software and hardware makers wont try. In fact a new product called journalist from Ped software which ties into the Prodigy information service is a Well conceived ambitious and innovative Effort to produce a daily. Electronic newspaper tailored to your tastes and interests. Journalist hides a sophisticated combination of desktop publishing communications and data base management software behind a Point and Click interface that will Reward you Day after Day a if you re willing to put the Effort into do signing just the kind of newspaper you want. Traditional newspapers have Long served As vehicles to filter and organize the information available on the data highways of the world and present it in a format that the average Reader can understand and absorb. Besides gathering news themselves newspapers have tapped into information networks for years a largely through wire services that dump thousands of stories and zillions of bytes of financial data into their computer systems every Day. Because newsprint is expensive and readers time is limited newspapers can offer Only a fraction of this information. So editors choose the news they present very carefully trying to provide a mix of stories that Are important interesting and entertaining. But the something for everyone approach May not satisfy those who want deeper daily coverage of specific subjects. A. The growth of personal computing and popularity of Prodigy Compuserve America online Dow Jones and other electronic information services have the potential to change that equation by providing users with direct Access to those huge data bases of information. Unfortunately the average person does no to have time to sort through it All. This is Why a program like journalist is compelling. It gathers the information people want and puts it into a format a the daily newspaper a that they understand. The latest version of journalist re ass  hims quires an ism compatible computer running Microsoft windows a subscription to the Prodigy information service prod Igya a windows software and a 9600 baud Modem. Here show it works. Using Basic Page layout software you design a newspaper Section front or a series of Section fronts Laid out in frames for different categories of news. To get started quickly you can choose from a half dozen templates or let journalists design assistant walk you through the process by asking you questions about the kind of news you  Are 24 news categories Iri Clud a ing headline news politics Economy news International business baseball computers science travel and Home. You can also create frames to display the a latest Price quotes of stocks you select performance graphs for the 30 Dow Jones Industrial average securities scores and schedules for your professional sports teams and local regional or National weather forecasts and maps. If you re interested in business news you can set up a Frame that will display stories about specific companies or industries a which makes journalist a particularly Good tool for investors and businessmen. A a. A a you can also select the news a depth for each Frame which tells journalist How Many stories you want in each category and How far Back logo. By desktop publishing standards the layout software is simple but effective enough. The layout extends Only to the first Page of each Section. Additional stories and jumps Are printed across the full Width of succeeding pages. Once everything is set up just Tell the program to fill the newspaper. You can decide to update the entire layout or just specific news frames. Journalist dials Prodigy and downloads your news a at your command or automatically at scheduled times such As while you re getting dressed in the morning. It will automatically print the paper afterwards or let you browse through the information on screen of you re really bored you can watch the stories flow into the Page but even at 9600 baud this can take a while. And printing takes almost As Long. This makes it advisable to keep your electronic paper As tight As possible and use it Only for specific types of news that Arentt available elsewhere or would Benefit from continuous updating. Once your paper is ready you can zoom in on any Frame and read it from the newspaper layout an exercise in eyestrain or zoom in on any category select a Story from a table of contents and display it on a full screen. Once you be done this a few times you la realize that this is the real value of the program a the newspaper layout is just a metaphor that puts information into categories. It would be Nice if you could just get the news you wanted organized in the same Way without jumping through desktop publishing hoops. To its credit journalist worked right out of the Box. I used the design assistant to create a Basic four Section newspaper then dialled Prodigy and watched the newspaper appear on the screen. Later i was Able to Fine tune the layout and eliminate stuff i did no to want. In the end however i had to ask myself a just How Good a journalist is journalist a while its a decent Effort its not very Good. Unlike the editors who put newspapers together journalist does no to make distinctions about the importance of news its accuracy or its source. Nor can it place individual pieces of news into context. Some of Prodigy a stories come from wire services others straight from corporate press releases. The software is available through Prodigy and is now in Many retail stores. For information Contact Ped software corp., 1340 Saratoga Sunnyvale Road suite 203, san Jose Calif. 95129. Apple sends 1 Millionth pc to japanese Market Cupertino up Apple computer inc. Announced it had shipped its 1 Millionth macintosh personal computer to the japanese consumer Market. John Floisand president of Apple Pacific said the company has focused its efforts the last six years on carving out a Niche in the Tough japanese Market. According to statistics provided by the International data corporation Apple has been successful in its efforts grabbing nearly a 14 percent Market share. A this is a tremendous Milestone for Apple a Floisand said. A shipping a million macintosh units into the worlds toughest computer Market indicates that we have what the japanese user wants Superior technology numerous localized applications and an affordable  Apple Japan inc., which introduced o to than Earl it april reported sales of $1,1 billion for the period of March 31,1993 through March 31, i994 which is Japan a traditional fiscal year. The sales total represents a amt growth in excess of 100 percent during this time period. In 1989, Apple set a goal of developing Apple Japan into a 51 billion business by the mid 1990s. Revenues for Apple Japan in 1989 were $1-3 million. Established in 1983, Apple Japan inc. Is one of five subsidiary offices that comprise the Apple Pacific division of Apple computer inc