COLE'S NEWSWIRE, Dec. 23, 1998

Dec. 23, 1998
Vol. 4, No. 51

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the last COLE'S NEWSWIRE of 1998. The next issue will be delivered Jan. 6, 1999. Happy holidays!

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.

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ADOBE SYSTEMS INC.
The MacWEEK web site has reported that Adobe, the San Jose-based maker of desktop publishing tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator, is planning to formally introduce its K2 family of products at Seybold Seminars Boston in March.

The announcement, MacWEEK said, will follow a campaign to sell K2 into shops now using the page layout program Quark XPress from Quark Inc. of Denver. The campaign will feature a price for K2 below the XPress upgrade price of $298, the web site said. Selling points for Mac users include extensive use of AppleScript.

Adobe is on the World-Wide Web at http://www.adobe.com/.

AUTOLOGIC INFORMATION INTERNATIONAL INC.
Autologic, a supplier of imaging devices and workflow tools based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., has announced improved financial results for its fourth quarter of 1998 and the full year as well.

In the fourth quarter, revenues increased from $24.3 million to $24.7 million, with net income also rising, from $914,000 in 1997 to $1.1 million this year. Earnings per share rose from 16 cents to 19 cents.

For the full year, earnings per share rose from 28 cents to 43 cents, on revenues of $87.6 million, up from $84.6 million in 1997. Net income increased substantially, rising from $1.4 million to $2.5 million.

Debt-free Autologic attributed the gains to increased sales, lower operating expenses and improved margins. Sales were up 3.5 percent, with improved U.S. sales offsetting declines overseas.

Autologic is on the World-Wide Web at http://www.autoiii.com/.

FREEDOM SYSTEM INTEGRATORS
FSI, a publishing systems supplier based in Wichita, Kan., has announced five recent sales:

-- EUREKA (Calif.) TIMES-STANDARD (22k, evening): Class2Web installed.

-- EMPORIA (Kan.) GAZETTE (9k, evening): hardware upgraded, scanner and printer installed.

-- HAYS (Kan.) DAILY NEWS (12k, evening): server upgraded.

-- NEWS DEMOCRAT & LEADER, Russellville, Ky. (6k, semi-weekly): Freedom Edit editorial and pagination system, ADvance Sales for Windows 98 and ADvance Pro Set classified pagination installed

-- LAWTON (Okla.) CONSTITUTION (24k, morning): METS editorial system upgraded.

Freedom System Integrators is on the Web at http://www.fsi-ipa.net/.

HARLEQUIN INC.
Harlequin, a developer and supplier of output software based in Cambridge, Mass., has announced the signing of a new OEM, Taiwan-based Akron Technology Corp., which manufactures computer-to-plate equipment.

Akron will integrate Harlequin's RIP management system, ScriptWorks, into two product lines -- the five-item Plater line of automatic digital platesetters and the Eclipse line of tools for retrofitting step-and-repeat imagesetters to accommodate CTP plates.

Akron plans to use the next generation of ScriptWorks, version 5, when released by Harlequin. The new iteration will include support for PostScript Level 3.

Akron is on the Web at http://www.akron.com.tw/. Harlequin is at http://www.harlequin.com/.

HARRIS PUBLISHING SYSTEMS CORP.
Harris, a publishing systems supplier based in Melbourne, Fla., has announced the recent sale of its AdPower advertising solution to EL MERCURIO (150k, morning) of Santiago, Chile, which already uses the Harris NewsMaker editorial system to produce its pages.

The 80-seat AdPower installation will provide classified pagination tools as well as the ability to channel ad content to print or the Internet. The order was one of 11 filled by Harris in November; the others were add-on orders for newspapers in the United States and Canada.

Harris is on the Web at http://www.harris.com/hpsc.

INTERACTIVE DIGITAL INTELLIGENCE GROUP INC.
IDIG, a provider of computer-related instructional materials based in San Rafael, Calif., has announced the release of the second video in its series about Adobe Photoshop, the imagehandling software made by Adobe Systems Inc. of San Jose.

The $59.95 video, "Welcome to Photoshop 5.0 [Part Two]," runs two hours, exploring features and enhancements in 5.0. The tape is part of a series, "Photoshop Inside & Out," which addresses such things as layers, optimum image scanning, pre-press and image restoration.

IDIG is on the Web at http://www.idignet.com/.

SCITEX CORP.
Scitex, an Israeli manufacturer of imaging systems with U.S. offices in Bedford, Mass., has introduced the EverSmart Supreme flatbed scanner.

The Supreme features a new electro-optical system which can scan at up to 5600 dots per inch and uses the Scitex XY Stitch technology with a CCD input device for high resolution results. More than 2500 EverSmart scanners have been sold since they were introduced in June 1997.

Scitex is on the Web at http://www.scitex.com/.

SYMBOL TECHNOLOGIES INC.
Symbol, a supplier of bar code readers based in Holtsville, N.Y., has announced a partnership with Minneapolis-based Jump Technologies to refine Symbol's CyberPen bar code reader as a device to help newspaper readers find material on the Web.

The two companies will work with the ROCHESTER (Minn.) POST-BULLETIN (41k, evening) to improve links between newspaper readers and their interests on the Web. The newspaper will publish bar codes with some articles; using a scanning wand, a reader will scan those codes, dump the accumulated codes into a PC and let the computer call up web sites listed in the bar codes.

The system can hold up to 100 codes. Codes are read by a pen developed by the A.T. Cross Co. of Lincoln, R.I., then are extracted from the pen through a cradle attached to the PC, the CyberWell. The JumpCode system reads the data and instructs a standard web browser to move to the first site.

Jump Technologies is on the Web at http://www.jumptech.com/. Symbol is at http://www.symbol.com/.

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

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