MEGTEC Debuts
Sequa Corp. of New York has purchased De
Pere, Wis.-based TEC Systems from W.R. Grace & Co. Terms of the transaction
were not disclosed. TEC, a manufacturer of dryers and environmental-control
equipment for printing, paper and other industrial uses, is being combined with
Materiels Equipements Graphiques, a France-based unit of Sequa that supplies
auxiliary equipment for the web-printing industry. The combined operation,
called MEGTEC Systems, will operate from two regional headquarters: De Pere,
Wis., and Evry, France. MEGTEC made its debut at Print 97, introducing a compact
air-flotation dryer called the Legacy.
New Alliance Binder
Prim Hall Enterprises Inc. of Plattsburgh, N.Y., and Kolbus America of Mahwah, N.J., have collaborated to develop a new high-speed binder, the Alliance. The new binder combines the demographic capabilities of Prim Hall's Gatherer with the computer-assisted, automated setup of Kolbus' Binder. The companies introduced the Alliance at the Print 97 show in Chicago, and the first customer installation is planned for January 1998.
Knight-Ridder Ventures
Knight-Ridder New Media of San Jose, Calif., announced the formation of Knight-Ridder Ventures. The new company will manage venture-capital investments in new media.
Daily News Licenses Web Software
The Daily News of New York has licensed Infocon America's software to produce the entire newspaper electronically. The software, when used in conjunction with an Internet browser and Adobe Acrobat, is designed to permit subscribers to download the full version of the newspaper to their hard drives in the early-morning hours for viewing on-screen at any time. Infocon is based in Newport Beach, Calif.
AP Adds 4-Sight Connectivity
The Associated Press announced that AP AdSEND, its digital-advertising delivery service for U.S. newspapers, is now compatible with 4-Sight's iSDN Manager product. With several Primary Rate ISDN receive units now installed at AP's technology center in Cranbury, N.J., all 4-Sight ISDN users can benefit from the AP AdSEND delivery service without having to purchase additional equipment. Extending the service to the 4-Sight installed base means that as many as 4,000 additional sites in the United States, as well as up to 30,000 sites around the world, can accept AdSEND delivery. The announcement also means that 4-Sight ISDN users now have a choice of sending jobs directly to remote sites, as they do currently, or sending the same files through the AdSEND service to designated newspapers.
Quark and DEC Partner
Digital Equipment Corp. of Merrimack, N.H., and Quark Inc. of Denver announced a partnership in which Quark will port QuarkXPress 4.0 to Digital's Alpha NT workstations. The two companies plan to release the product no later than the first quarter of the 1998 calendar year. A port of the Quark Publishing System to Alpha NT workstations is also planned.
Indramat Introduces Servomotor
The Indramat Division of The
Rexroth Corp. introduced a new line of high-voltage, digital AC servomotors. The
company says the servomotors are designed for demanding applications such as
high-production transfer lines; stand-alone machine tools; converting, printing
and packaging machines, and general factory automation. Available in six frame
sizes, the servomotors offer continuous torque from 24 to 1,080 lb.-in. and
maximum torque from 60 to 2,035 lb.-in., with peak speeds up to 7,000
revolutions per minute. Indramat is located in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
Times Auctions Front Pages
The New York Times will sell two history-making front pages to the highest bidder at a Christie's auction, with all proceeds going to The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. Both the Oct. 15, 1997, front page (the last to be printed in black and white) and the Oct. 16, 1997, front page (the first to be printed in color) will be sold to the highest bidder on Dec. 5. The Times will also auction the printing plates used to produce the front pages. The Neediest Cases Fund, established in 1912 by Adolph S. Ochs, provides support to seven New York City social-service agencies.
Anti-Gates Garments
Hey, Bill, leave some for the rest of us!"
That's the war cry of SPOGGE, The Society for the Prevention of (Bill) Gates
Getting Everything!, a new venture established to give a unified voice to
computer users, independent software developers and others who are concerned
about the growing influence of Microsoft Corp. and Bill Gates. SPOGGE protests
through imprinted T-shirts, mugs, "rodent pads" and window stickers.
The company offers a 10 percent discount to all Microsoft employees and anyone
named Bill Gates. To find out more, surf on over to SPOGGE's Web sites
(http://www.successmp.com/shops/spoggesticker and
http://www.galaxymall.com/retail/spogge).
Photography Books
Indianapolis-based New Riders has released two books designed to aid newspaper photographers and photo editors. Essentials of Digital Photography, written by Akira Kasai and Russell Sparkman, is a workbook and tutorial that explores the intricacies of using digital tools and techniques with photographs. It covers everything from digital-image input and manipulation to image output. Photoshop 4 Artistry, written by Barry Haynes and Wendy Crumpler, is a comprehensive tutorial and reference for creating high-quality images with Adobe Photoshop. It is an in-depth course in digital imaging for intermediate and advanced users. Using hands-on exercises and expert tips and advice, readers will learn a variety of Photoshop tasks. To obtain copies, call New Riders at (800) 428-5331.
TV Guide Online
Advance Internet, a new-media company that launches and operates local World Wide Web sites in conjunction with Advance Publications' Newspaper Group, announced an alliance with TV Guide Online that gives five Advance Internet sites access to TV Guide listings. Users of New Jersey Online (www.nj.com), Oregon Live (www.oregon-live.com), Cleveland Live (www.cleveland.com), Michigan Live (www.mlive.com), Alabama Live (www.al.com) and all future Advance Internet sites will have direct access to TV Guide Online's listings that have been localized to the channels available in their areas. This is the first deal to make TV Guide Online listings available to local, newspaper-affiliated Web sites.
Web Publishing Solution
Advanced Technical Solutions Inc. of Wilmington, Mass., announced that it is joining forces with FutureTense Inc. of Acton, Mass., to provide a Web-publishing system called WebBridge for Atex sites. The WebBridge package, designed for the creation and maintenance of online publications, includes server hardware and software that supports full ATS integration with the Atex database.