COLE'S NEWSWIRE, Sept. 3, 1997

Sept. 3, 1997
Vol. 3, No. 36

The NEWSWIRE is a weekly distribution of information about the sales and installations of publishing technology and the latest news on new products developed by suppliers to the industry.

To get removed from this list, send e-mail to: macjordomo@colegroup.com with the words UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSWIRE as the first line of the text. These missives are archived on the World-Wide Web at http://colegroup.com/NW/.

To submit material for consideration, please deliver electronically to news@colegroup.com.

APPLE COMPUTER INC.
Apple, a hardware and software supplier based in Cupertino, Calif., has announced it is buying Mac clone maker Power Computing for $100 million. The acquisition will eliminate a competitor, one that has cut into Apple's sales, and will give the company experience in selling machines directly to the public.

Power Computing will cease selling clones before 1998, as Apple is taking back the license that allows Power Computer to sell machines that run the Mac OS. Power Computing is a $400 million business based in Round Rock, Texas. It was the first to be licensed by Apple to make clones, in late 1994, but the two have been in a dispute over how much money Power Computing would pay Apple to manufacture clones.

Apple will use stock to make the purchase. Power Computing will remain a brand name independent of Apple, but its future is not clear.

Apple did not explain what will happen to the licenses held by two other clone makers, Umax and Motorola.

Apple may be visited on the World-Wide Web at http://www.apple.com/.

DUPONT
DuPont, a newspaper products supplier based in Wilmington, Del., has introduced DuPont ZP, a computer-to-plate zero-processing thermal plate. It was developed in association with Gerber Systems Corp. of South Windsor, Conn., a manufacturer of CTP output devices.

The plate uses a coating technology employed in producing DuPont Silverlith SDB CTP plates. The layer of silver metal last applied to the plate is ablated by the thermal head's laser, and recovered for recycling. The ablation step reveals a water-receptive layer below. The ZP plate's run length can exceed one million impressions, DuPont said.

The ZP plate, approved for use on internal drum devices using YAG thermal lasers, such as Gerber's Crescent 42T, will be available in the United States shortly.

DuPont is on the Web at http://www.dupont.com/print/.

HARRIS PUBLISHING SYSTEMS CORP.
Harris, a pre-press systems supplier based in Melbourne, Fla., has announced that Oklahoma Publishing Co., which publishes the DAILY OKLAHOMAN (212k, morning) of Oklahoma City, has bought pagination, editorial and classified solutions from Harris.

Included are Harris' XP-21 Server software with Replication, Harris NewsMaker pagination software, a NewsMaker editorial system including 115 editorial workstations and NewsMaker wire server software, XP-Link software, a MetroCASH (classified advertising) system and C-PAG (classified pagination) software. Harris is on the Web at http://www.harris.com/hpsc/.

HOWTEK INC.
Howtek, a manufacturer of flatbed and drum scanners based in Hudson, N.H., has announced it has signed an agreement with IKON Office Solutions Inc., making IKON an authorized dealer of the Howtek Scanmaster line.

More than 900 IKON offices will be able to market the Howtek Scanmaster 7500, 6500, 4500 and 2500 drum and flatbed scanners. IKON is a $4 billion company with operations in North America and Europe. It markets copiers and printing systems, computer networking and digital document services

IKON is on the Web at http://www.ikon.com/.

LEXIS-NEXIS
Dayton, Ohio-based Lexis-Nexis has introduced PoliticalPro, a Windows-based database of pending federal and state bills and regulations, the Congressional Record, voting records, political profiles, campaign finance records, political and legislative news, and regional news.

More than 35 sources are cited in PoliticalPro, including Federal Election Commission campaign finance records, congressional testimony, the COOK POLITICAL REPORT, text of state legislation and its status, as well as text and tracking of federal legislation.

For a demonstration of PoliticalPro, surf to http://www.lexis-nexis.com/polpro/.

MARKZWARE SOFTWARE
Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont Proofing has announced that its new 2.5x speed enhanced PreView SE dye sublimation proofer now includes FlightCheck pre-flight output-verification software from Markzware Software of Santa Ana, Calif.

FlightCheck checks files from such desktop publishing programs as Quark XPress, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Illustrator, Multi-Ad Creator, Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Freehand. FlightCheck alerts a user to one or more of over 150 potential output problems, as well as assembling into a single folder all files related to outputting the job.

PreView SE also includes DuPont ColorNet color technology, which provides built-in color controls not found on any other desktop proofer. The proofer is precalibrated to match the industry-standard DuPont WaterProof film proofing system.

DuPont may be visited on the Web at http://www.dupont.com/print/. Markzware is at http://www.markzware.com/.

NEWSINC.
Knight-Ridder may have roiled labor difficulties with the acquisition of the MONTEREY COUNTY HERALD in California through a swap with E.W. Scripps Co., NEWSINC., the newsletter of the business of the newspaper business, reports in its Sept. 1 issue. The cover story explores the COUNTY HERALD transaction, and others that involve so-called "clustering" of newspaper properties by media groups.

The issue also looks at a proposed change in pricing rules posed at the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the quick response to a new web-based search engine from Junglee Corp., how going on-line has affected many departments at the STAR TRIBUNE of Minneapolis, and why web sites go dark (it's not always money).

In addition, NEWSINC. introduces its second New(s) Media columnist, Chris Feola, director of the Media Center at the American Press Institute in Reston, Va.

For more about the Sept. 1 issue of NEWSINC., visit The Cole Group on the Web at http://colegroup.com/.

SEYBOLD SAN FRANCISCO
Five tracks will be offered attendees at this year's Seybold San Francisco conference and trade show, sponsored by the Seybold Organization, an information provider based in Foster City, Calif. The conference will be held Sept. 29-Oct. 3 at the Moscone Center.

The more than 40,000 print, web and Internet publishing professionals expected to attend will choose among these and other sessions:

-- Print and pre-press, with talks about pre-press workflow and digital ad delivery.

-- Media-independent publishing, featuring a session on developing editorial systems for print and on-line media.

-- Web/Internet publishing, which will examine "the nurturing process" of building an audience, with attention to community publishing techniques.

-- Roadmaps, a series of talks that will include a progress report on computer-to-plate technology.

-- Best practices, a group of presentations about digital color production and web site management.

For more information, visit Seybold at http://www.seyboldseminars.com/.

SYSTEM INTEGRATORS INC.
Sacramento-based SII, a major supplier of pre-press publishing systems, has announced it will begin shipping its Year 2000 Solution upgrade package to its customers. Software roll-outs began in August, with the upgrade installation taking "one to two weekends," the company said.

While the software is free to customers who hold service contracts with SII, installation by SII is fee-based. More than 70 sites have commissioned SII to do the installation and testing.

SII is on the Web at http://www.sii.com/.

--30--

COLE'S NEWSWIRE is compiled by Pete Wetmore and distributed by The Cole Group, publishers of THE COLE PAPERS, COLE'S GUIDE TO PUBLISHING SYSTEMS and consultants to newspapers and magazines worldwide. To receive more information about The Cole Group, send e-mail to: info@colegroup.com.

Copyright (c) 1997, The Cole Group. All Rights Reserved. This transmission may not be copied, archived or retransmitted without the express written permission of The Cole Group. If you are not a subscriber to COLE'S NEWSWIRE, you have received this transmission illegally.

The Cole Group, 2590 Greenwich, Suite 9, San Francisco USA 94123-3333. V: (415) 673-2424; F: (415) 673-2449; I: info@colegroup.com.