PR144/14.11.95 Thousands Get Logged-On at Acorn World '95 Crowds flocked to Wembley during the October half-term to visit Acorn's biggest showcase exhibition, Acorn World '95. Over the three days of the show, around 10,000 people visited the show to surf the information superhighway and to see the latest in interactive multimedia and ground-breaking technology developments from the Acorn Computer Group. Visitors on the first day of the show were able to see Blue Peter's Diane-Louise Jordan testing out the live video conferencing link over the Internet to the Blue Peter stand at CBBC's Big Bash with Coca Cola at the NEC, Birmingham. Throughout the show, children had the chance to see clips and meet characters from the current hit Disney animation Pocahontas, as well as visiting Buena Vista International's MOVIE PLEX on the Internet. Highlights of the show included: A major new version of Sibelius Software's award-winning Sibelius music program range. Version 3 includes a revolutionary 'Flexi-time' super-intelligent, real-time, MIDI input system and standard MIDI file conversion. With a composer's notepad for cutting and pasting ideas into scores, Sibelius 7 also has a host of new publishing features including special facilities for film and commercial music. CineWorks, from Oregan Software, is the first and only package for Acorn computers allowing full screen PAL video editing on the desktop. It is also the first to include features such as chroma keying, path definition, transparency and colour controls. MIMIC, from KITT Engineering - an innovative way of sensing movement in two or three dimensions using a video camera. Only available for the Acorn platform, it drives a wide range of different applications including stunning sound, light and graphic effects. The Acorn VideoPhone, using software-based compression techniques currently being developed by Applied Risc Technologies for the Acorn Computer Group, allows two-way video and audio communication in a low-cost package which is suitable for use in the home, classroom or office. >From Softease, the launch of TextEase Version 2 and Talking TextEase, the latest versions of the highly praised TextEase Word Processor and Desktop Publisher. Version 2 features rotation of text and pictures, editing of rotated text, drag and drop editing, OLE object linking and embedding and JPEG support. With superb speech synthesis, Talking TextEase is the number one talking word processor. Icon Technology's TechWriter Professional has all the features of Icon's TechWriter word processor and more. Ideal for anyone needing to produce technical papers or books, other features include pamphlet printing, auto list numbering, index and contents generation, bookmarks, smart quotes and JPEG support. R-Comp were demonstrating HTML Edit, the only commercial RISC OS based World Wide Web page authoring solution. HTML Edit is a fully featured professional toolkit for web page designers, priced within the reach of the average user. Cited by them as 'the best show ever', Apricote Studios completely sold out of the new version of 'Shares', its shares portfolio management programme, half-way through Acorn World! Priced at under 50 pounds and handling all capital gains tax calculations, the popularity of Shares Version 5.0 was doubly satisfying as all sales were new customers rather than upgrades. Apricote's Prophet 2.0, its business accounting programme, won the Acorn User 'Best Business Software' Award, the prize being presented by David Lee, managing director of the Acorn Computer Group. The new 'SimpleTouch' clip-on touch screen, distributed by Lindis International, turns any normal computer screen into a fully functional touch screen. Ideal for use in schools and homes with young learners or those with learning difficulties, SimpleTouch gives access to a computer quickly, easily and intuitively. "I'm delighted with the success of the show," said David Lee, Managing Director of the Acorn Computer Group plc. "The level of enthusiasm and interest that has been shown this weekend in Acorn's current technologies and future developments has been tremendous. I know that our partners exhibiting alongside us here at Wembley are also extremely pleased and nearly fifty per cent have already signed up for next year's show." Notes to editors: Acorn Computer Group plc, one of the leading groups of high technology innovators and suppliers, comprises three divisions, Acorn Education, Applied Risc Technologies and Online Media. The Group also owns a 43% shareholding of Advanced RISC Machines Ltd (ARM). Acorn Education, established in September 1995, consolidates Acorn's core education business and focuses on supplying leading information technology solutions, including hardware, software, services and peripherals to education. Applied Risc Technologies, established in September 1995, designs and develops advanced technology products based on the ARM microprocessor for new and existing industries, while continuing to develop RISC based computers for Acorn Education. Online Media, established in July 1994, develops innovative and low cost interactive television products with a portfolio of hardware, enabling software and services to meet the requirements of the new mass markets emerging from the information superhighway. The company focuses on cost competitive designs and licenses which exploit emerging world standards, and its first product, an intelligent digital set-top box, is already in production and in use. For further press information, please call: Hilary Swift Sally Mortimore Acorn Education Text 100 Tel: 01223 254287 Tel: 0181 242 4172