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Atari Bulletin Board - 1989 October
Atari Bulletin Board / October '89 / Atari Interface Magazine
by Bill and Pattie Rayl
There is a bit of news this month from Atari headquarters. Atari President
San Tramiel held an online conference on GEnie and lots of press releases
appeared after The Dusseldorf Messe at the end of August.
In this issue, [of A.I.M. Magazine] there is a report, complete with product
pictures, on the Dusseldorf show from special correspondents Christian
Strasheim and Michael Schutz of ST Vision.
SAM TRAMIEL CONFERENCE
----------------------
In the online conference held on August 30, Sam Tramiel talked about the new
STE and TT, both of which were officially announced to the public at the Duss-
eldorf show.
"The 1040 STE has a palette of 4096 colors, hardware fine screen scrolling
and supprt for light guns, paddles and extra controllers. Also, Genlock is
supported without the need for internal modification," Sam Tramiel stated.
"The sound in the STE and TT are 8bit stereo PCM. The number of channels
depends on the software.
"The TT has six built in graphics modes: 640x480 16 colors, and 320x480 256
colors, both using the 4096 color palette, as well as a very high 1280x960
monochrome resolution. The TT has three chips for serial IO. Two 68901's, and
an SCC, which can go much faster than the 68901. As well, in the VME slot, we
will have future video boards which will knock your sock off.
"We plan to ship the TT in 4th quarter, 1989." Tramiel continued, "We will
be shipping Stacy by October, in the US also, pending FCC bureaucracy.
"We will advertise in the appropriate magazines as we have all along. We are
actively looking for a new US sales team and plan to launch the Portfolio with
direct response big advertising in mid-September and to use this machine to
attract dealers for the ST line as well."
Tramiel also indicated the STE would be available in the US by the end of
October.
THE ATARI MAKETPLACE
---------------------
Sam went on to talk about the US and European markets. "There were 35,000
attendees at the three day Atari Fair. There were 145 third party software and
hardware suppliers there as well. It was one hell of a show. The next chall-
enge is to get the US market up to the same level of support.
"As most of you know, we had a tremendous DRAM shortage in the years of 1987
and 1988. We made a tactical decision to support Europe and keep our market
there strong. Very sorry to our loyal US supporters, but it was a necessity.
Now the DRAM situation has reversed. Does anyone out there want DRAM?"
"But seriously, it's now time to re-enter the US," Sam added, "At the Dusse-
ldorf fair, we saw a lot of serious software, particularly graphics software.
This runs on all ST products today. There is no question that in the persomal
computer market, games are very important. The better they are on your machine
, games are very important. The better they are on your machine, the more you
sell. But for reasons I mentioned before, we have not really launched in the
US, but plan to start in mid-September. As our distribution increases, so will
our advertising.
ATW AFTERTHOUGHT
----------------
"Regarding the ATW, we have shipped the first 300 machines to Europe and plan
to bring this machine into the US some time before the end of the year. I also
think it is a great product, but we must focus on getting the ST going in the
US, and if we do too many things at one time, we will not succeed," Sam con-
cluded.
While he was in conference, he told conference attendees that he just heard
news from overseas that Atari France burnt to the ground, with no one injured.
The building next to Atari France's offices was reportedly to blame for the
fire.
(RAINBOW) TOS 1.4
-----------------
Atari released TOS 1.4 (also called Rainbow TOS), and you should be able to
purchase the 6-chip ROM sets at your local Atari dealer.
Prices may vary, but Atari has set the retail price on the set at $99, not
including installation. If you don't know who your nearest dealer with TOS 1.4
is, you can call Atari Customer Service at (408)645-2367.
Atari Corp. recently modified their "trade-in" policy, increasing prices
accross the board. In the past, a standard 520ST CPU that had ceased to funct-
ion could be traded in for only $95. With the new pricing, replacing that dead
ST will now cost $300.
ATARI STOCK WATCH
-----------------
Atari Stock is on the rise! As we write this, Atari's stock was at 11-3/4,
Atari's stock has been the most active stock on the American Stock Exchange
for the month of September, and has risen in price by 40 percent.
In fact, on the 12th and 13th of September, more than a million shares of
Atari stock changed hands. Most stock-watchers attribute this rise to the
market's interest in the Atari Portfolio.
PORTFOLIO AT LOCAL DEALERS
---------------------------
On September 13, 1989, Atari officially announced that the Atari Portfolio
was available worldwide. The IBM PC-compatible "palmtop" computer weighs one
pound, is powered by three "AA" batteries and retails for $399.95. According
to Atari President Sam Tramiel, "Atari Computer has been shipping the Port-
folio to key Eruopean markets for a few months and we can't keep them on the
shelves." The Portfolio was first introduced at the Spring COMDEX last April.
NEW PRODUCTS
------------
"Look Mom, No wires!" Practical Solutions has announced their Cordless Mouse
for the ST. The mouse uses an Infra-red signal, allowing you to use the device
up to five feet away from the receiver. The cordless Mouse comes with a full
one year warranty, and though the mouse is due for release on October 20,
Practical Solutions reports demand has been overwhelming. The Practical Solut-
ions mouse retails for $129.95 and runs on two AAA batteries. for more inform-
ation, contact Practical Solutions at (602)322-6100.
The Cordless Mouse might be a good addition for the new "Hottest" game on
the ST, Bloodwych from MirrorSoft. You'll find a review of this Dungeon Master-
like game in this issue.[of A.I.M. Magazine]. Bloodwych's popularity is already
assured, after the first shipments of the game into the US from England were
sold out in a matter of days at most dealers!
EMULATORS NOW AVAILABLE
-----------------------
Another product who's popularity has been assured is Avant Garde's PC Ditto
II, the hardware IBM/XT emulator for your ST. The coupons for half-off the
retail price ($299) have been sent to registered owners of PC Ditto I, and most
of the PC Ditto userbase should have received them. The Coupon is only redeem-
able untill the 15th of October. According to Rick Flashman of Gribnif,the $150
coupon price for PC Ditto II is $50 below DEALER cost and a great bargain!
Michtron has recently announced they are marketing the German IBM emulator
know as PC Speed. This upgrade board is similar to Avant Garde's design in that
they both fit over the 68000 CPU chip. However, the PC Speed board requires
soldering to the 68000, while PC Ditto II simply snaps in above the 68000 chip.
PC Speed has a Norton SI Rating of 4, which is faster than PC Ditto II's adver-
tised SI Rating of 3. PC Speed retails for $399.95. For more information, call
MichTron at (313)334-5700.
NEW VERSION OF WORDPERFECT
--------------------------
WordPerfect Corp. has just started shipping their latest version of the word
processor extraordinare. If you have an earlier version of WordPerfect other
than 4.1, you can upgrade for only $17.50 - including shipping and handling.
To send for the upgrade, write WordPerfect Atari Update, 1555 N. Technology
Way, Orem, UT 84057 or call (801)225-5000.
NEW UTILITY PACKAGE
-------------------
Double Click Software has announced the availablity of DC Utilites, a colle-
ction of some very useful and innovative utility programs for the ST. Included
on the disk is a fast ARC extraction Desk Accessory, a self-extracing ARC pro-
gram, a program to turn Desktop.Inf files into executable files, "the fastest
RAM-disk available," and more. DC Utilities retails for $30. For more inform-
ation, call Double Click's support BBS at (713)944-0180.
The long-awaited MasterLink terminal program for the ST from Intersect Soft-
ware is now available. Featuring "total background operation," loadable file
transfer protocols, a built-in script language and much more, MasterLink
(version 1.2) brings new power to ST telecommunications. MasterLink retails
for $49, and owners of InterLink can upgrade for only $23. Contact Intersect
Software, 3949 Sawyer Rd, Sarasota, Fl 34233.
COMMERICAL TO SHAREWARE PACKAGES
--------------------------------
Draper Pascal 2.1 for the Atari 8bit is now Shareware and is available on
the online services (and probably your local User Group!). A 39-page manual
with tutorial is included in this Sharware release.
On the ST side, Aegis Animator has been released into the Shareware market!
If you're looking for a graphic animation package, take a look at Aegis Anima-
tor.
Remember to support the Shareware concept; if you continue to use these pro-
grams, send in your contribution!
ST VISION MAGAZINE
------------------
ST Vision is a German User Group located in Langen, West Germany. Their news-
letter goes to over 5,000 readers and is as professonally done as some US ST
magazines -- possibly more so! you can get the latest European Atari news de-
livered monthly, but you need to read German! Their address is Postfach 1651,
D-6070 Langen, West Germany.
******************************************************************************
A.I.M. October '89
******************************************************************************
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