What the Japanese are Reading (11/94)

by Seiji Sakai and Naoki Tokuda

ASCII (October 1994)

The main theme of the October issue of ASCII is "Go Out with a PDA." The magazine introduces PDAs (personal digital assistants) currently on the market and some that will be released soon (such as the HP200LX, Zoomer, and Simon). PDA users offer their advice on how to make best use of PDAs and comment on what they want and need in a PDA. NewtonMail (a service not pet available in Japan) is described in one article, and Magic (lap is introduced as a paradigm to the next generation of communication interface.

Another major theme of the issue is "Selecting Office Software Packages." This section reviews business software such as Microsoft Office 4.2 Standard, Lotus Office R3J, and Ichitaro Office for Windows. It also includes a forecast of the trends of office computing in the future.

The "New Mode Impression" section reviews several new NEC PC-9821 series: Xa/C9W (Pentium; 90 MHz), Xp/C8W (L>X4; 100 MHz), Ce2 model T2 (with built-in TV tuner), NS (a TFT color notebook), and h7e2 and Nd (lowpriced color notebooks). Other products reviewed are the Latitude XP 4100CD (a lithium-ion battery notebook; Dell), JDS90PIN (90-MHz Pentium; Preside), Amity SV (a pen-input computer; Mitsubishi Electric), and the Macintosh LC630. The "Products Showcase" section reviews such software as MyTalk Fax for Windows, Starfax for Windows, Miracle, KPT Bryce, GF version 1.3, AfterDark 3.0, Mapuppu for Windows, and Time Driver Vincent. There are special reports covering SIG GRAPH '94 and Networld+Interop 94 Tokyo. -- NT DOS/V Magazine (September 1994) The main theme of the September issue of the DOS/V magazine is "Making the Most Powerful Machine: How to Tune-Up Your PC." The magazine offers an overview of computer modification, including CPU and motherboard replacement.

Part 1 describes a way to increase the CPU clock speed (although it warns that this will decrease the CPU life). An easy and safer upgrade is replacing a 486DX2 with a 486DX4 (if your machine is equipped with a P24T upgrade socket). Two examples of CPU replacement are described in detail: upgrading a Fujitsu FMV 466D by replacing its original i486DX2 CPU with an i486DX4 CPU, and upgrading a clone ISA machine by replacing a 33-MHz i486DX with a 66-MHz Am486DX2. Benchmark test results are reported for both machines.

One problem with upgrading a system's CPU is increased generation of heat. According to one article, a 33MHz 486DX consumes 4.5 W of power while a 66-MHz 486DX2 uses 6 W; about 90% of the power consumption is converted to heat. Some possible cooling systems, including a heat sink using a Peltier device, are described.

Part 2 of this theme introduces several motherboards and explains how to select a motherboard based on CPU, chip set, and bus system. The magazine also provides the editors' selections for motherboards, hard disk drives and their interfaces, and tools and utilities.

Another section of the magazine is a continuation of last month's special theme, "Mastering OS/2, Part 2."

Regular software reviews cover such programs as Gore 1 JW2 (rela tional database software; JustSystem), Microsoft PowerPoint 4.0, Fine Artist 1.0 (a painting tool; Microsoft), Norton Desktop 3.05, Peejireiauta 2 (a page layout program; Creo),,4dmiral WinAdvisor (Admiral Systems), and Mapuppu ja Windows map-drawing program; AI Software). One program that might be of special interest to non-Japanese is GiriKanri, a database program useful for maintaining proper giri (Japanese-style human relationships), by Dual System.

The "Multimedia World" section introduces CD-ROPVI Today Volume 2, and the "Hardware Review" section looks at the TM 150 (an IC-cardtype radio modem; Nippon City Media), CardBox Win (a namecard reader and bundled OCR software; Seiko Epson), Pana Printer KXPNSOOW, and the Bullion II PC-card drive.

Nikkei Personal Computing (Aug. 15, 1994)

The cover story of the August 15 issue of Nikkei Personal Computing is "A Guidebook to the Practical Use of Color Printers" (subtitle: "Bye-bye Flat and Weary Monochrome

Printing". The magazine reports that color ink-jet printer quality has reached 720 dpi at the high-end, and that the street price of some models has dropped below 100,000. The prices of color scanners and graphics software are also falling; this puts color DTP (desktop publishing) within the reach of the average home user. The magazine introduces not only low-priced color printers, but also color scanners, digital cameras, video boards, film scanners, and graphic/DTP software. If you're interested in what color DTP products are available in Japan, find a copy of this issue. It also covers such home DTP projects as tnaking a photo album, a video index, a personalized T-shirt, posters and postcards, etc.

The monthly "Urgent Keport" section covers the beta version of Windows 4.0 (Chicago). It notes that with each upgrade Windows is "getting easier to use, but the similarity to the Mac is conspicious." Also in the issue is an interview with Mr. Kazunori Ukigawa, President of JustSystem Co., Ltd. (famous for its Japanese wordprocessing program Ichitaro). ISec the Corporute Snapshot PdS" in this issue of Computing Japan-Ed. I Ukigawa-san expresses his optimism about the multimedia field and estimates a turnover in 1996 of some 30 billion.

The magazine's "Report" section analyzes NEC's "New 98 MATE" PC, which was introduced to the market in July. It has many functions that are new for NEC: computers, such as plug-andplay capability and a PCI-bus. The regular "First Looks" section covers both hardware (the ThinkPad 230 CS, ProLinea 4/100, PowerBook 150, Philos 45 Color, and Zaurus PI-4000) and software (Adobe Illustrator 4.05 for Windows and ScreenCom RIJ). -- SS

Nikkei Personal Computing (Aug. 29, 1994)

The cover story of the August 29 issue of Nikkei Personal Computing is "Let's Do Multimedia with the 98" (subtitle: "A Step-by-Step Path to Motion Pictures and Sound Data"). The lead article describes the steps to making NEC PC-98 a multimedia machine. It introduces how to select and install sound boards (step 1), CD-ROM drives (step 2), graphic boards (step 3), video-capture boards (step 4), MIDI instruments (step 5), and other multimedia upgrade kits (the extra step).

A second cover story is entitled "A Study of Novell's New Strategy." This article analyzes whether Novell offers a serious challenge to the "office suite" software market. Novell bOllght WordPerfect and Boland International's Vuattro Pro nivision this summer, and has announced its "PerfectOffice 3.0." Set for an October release, "Perfect Office" will enter the market now dominated by Microsoft and Lotus Development products. In Japan, Novell is not a familiar name among PC users, and it does not have a very extensive distribution channel. The bottom line for Novell is that it will face a steep uphill battle in trying to gain a share of the Japanese office suite market.

Another major story in the issue is an interview to Mr. Hisashi Kaneko, President of Nippon Electric Company Ltd. (NEC). He expresses his confidence that the market share of the NEC PC-98 will not be shaken seriously by "invaders" such as DOS/V because the PC-9H has deep roots in the native culture of Japan.

A 1993 software sales ranking in the magazine shows that the Japanese PC software market grew 11% in 1993, to 24 billion. The clear winner in the software market battle was Microsoft, whose sales increased by 57%, to 2.26 billion. Second place ASCII had sales of 1.33 billion, and third place JustSystem's sales increased by 370/0, to 1.31 billion.

The "Report" section analyzes low-priced (less than 100,000 yen) "page printers": the LP-1000 (Epson), KXPN300W (Kyushu Matsushita), and Laser Wind 1040W (Fuji Xerox). The regular "First Looks" section covers 1-2-3 RSJ for Windows (Lotus), the Gore 1 database (JustSystems), PowerPoint 4.0 for Windows (Microsoft), MyTalk Fax for Windows (Interso ft) and WinAdvisor (Admiral Systems). -- SS

Nikkei Personal Computing (Aug. 29, 1994)

A 1993 software sales ranking in the magazine shows that the Japanese PC software market grew 11% in 1993, to 24 billion. The clear winner in the software market battle was Microsoft, whose sales increased by 57'%,, to 2.26 billion. Second place ASCII had sales of 1.33 billion, and third place JustSystem's sales increased by 370/0, to 1.31 billion.