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Amiga Update (1996-03-07)
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/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Amiga Update -News and Rumors
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ ||(A Very Ocassional Newsletter)
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga Technolgies, GmbH
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960307
A M I G A A T C E B I T
D E T A I L S O N P O W E R - P C U P G R A D E S
Just two articles this time, but they're very interesting. The first is
a press release direct for Amiga Technologies about plans for exhibiting at
the Cebit Computer show. There's some information about new models included
in that story as well.
The second story is a description of the Phase 5 Power-PC upgrade program,
which has just become available in English.
Enjoy!
Brad
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A M I G A T E C H N O L O G I E S G m b H W I T H
E S C O M A T T H E C E B I T .
Amiga Surfer, new AMIGA Prototype, Information about the Power-PC Project
For the first time in over two years, AMIGA computers will be presented again
officially by the manufacturer at the largest computer fair in the world: The
Cebit. From 14th to 20th of March, AMIGA Technologies GmbH will be represented
on the ESCOM booth in hall 11 with new products. AMIGA computers will also be
seen on the Microvitec and Motorola booths.
The AMIGA-Surfer, a complete Internet computer with software, modem, connection
and free hours is now available at a price of 1199 DM. The Surfer can be
connected to a TV-set or to a standard VGA monitor. The solution is based on
the AMIGA 1200 with a 260 MB harddrive, 2 MB of RAM and a 14.400 bps modem.
Thanks to its resource-saving features, the highly optimized AMIGA-OS makes
cost-effective solutions like the Surfer possible. Also the excellent
multitasking abilities of its OS makes the AMIGA the ideal multimedia and
Internet machine.
A prototype of the new AMIGA will be shown for the first time worldwide at the
CEBIT fair in Hannover, Germany. AMIGA Technologies GmbH will hereby expand the
AMIGA product line for the advanced home user and the semi-professional market.
Modularity, futuristic design and expansion capability are the main edges of
the new product.
The motherboard features two SIMM sockets, on which the memory can be increased
up to 128 MB. The main processor used will be the 680EC30 / 40 MHz. This
combination allows a product at a tight price with a good computing power. With
the available flexible expansion bus, turbo cards with processors like the
68060 or the PowerPC will be easily installable.
This expansion bus can also be used with graphic-cards, multi-serial cards,
MPEG cards etc. The modular concept makes the addition of further slots
possible, so that the user can define how many expansion slots he will have in
his machine. This way, the basic machine can be turned into a tower. This
design concept will be the base of the coming AMIGA-Generation.
The new AMIGA will be shipped with a revisited version 3.2 of the AMIGA-OS. New
features and many enhancements will give the system more power and flexibility.
The Power-PC project is also moving forward. Thanks to the close cooperation
with Motorola and Phase 5, the porting of the AMIGA-OS will be achieved within
the announced schedule. The first Power AMIGA will be available early in 1997,
as planned. Until then, it is also foreseeable that Phase 5 will release the
first Power PC cards for existing AMIGAs. The development of the OS is led by
former top-AMIGA-engineers.
Info: Gilles Bourdin - AMIGA Technologies - Berliner Ring 89 - D-64625 BENSHEIM
Tel +49 6252 709 195 - Fax +49 6252 709 520 email gbo@amiga.de
-HTTP://www.amiga.de
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S O M E D E T A I L O N T H E P H A S E 5
P O W E R - P C P L A N
The press release translated below actually dates to last October. It has just
now been posted to the Net in an English version.
I have included the poster's notice just as he wrote it, in the first
paragraph. This could be a hoax but it does sound legitimate, especially in
light of what we've seen since and the information in the AT announcement above.
Brad
A few days ago orgin showed me the grabs of a press
release from Phase 5 digital products that was in german. I have no clue if it
is legit but the facts seem right and so does the style of the document. I have
translated it into english for the rest of the world, any translation errors
are not my responsibility (I am neither German nor English) so if you want to
be sure about what you read better take a crash course in german and read these
four pages ( 1, 2, 3, 4). That were found on the Moccamachines homepage.
Anyway, they are nice to read, good for morale, so have a look if you want.
If you belong to the group of AMIGA-Users that have their eyes set on [PowerUP]
tomorrow, we have good news for you. There is life after the 68000
for the AMIGA.
Ever since it was founded phase 5 digital products has played a leading role in
innovative design of AMIGA products. In 1993 they created the Fastlane Z3, the
first Zorro-III-DMA controller and in 1994 they build the Cyberstorm 060, the
first 68060-board for AMIGA-systems world wide. In 1995 they created the
CyberVision64 with its CyberGraphX-Software, together they defined the new
graphics standard for AMIGA-systems. They were also responsible for the
BLIZZARD-boards for the AMIGA 1200 , this board is currently in its 4th
generation and sets the standard for value and performance. These successes
were possible because of our experienced development team, that has been
working with the AMIGA ever since the arrival of the legendary A1000 some 10
years ago. WIth the PowerUP-Program phase 5 digital products brings all its
knowledge together into one sensational project, one with which in 1996 a new
decisive innovative step is taken into the next 10 years of AMIGA computing.
The PowerPC-RISC-processor will be the new heart of the AMIGA.
-----------------------
Life after the 68000...
The top of the current line of processors used in the AMIGA is the
68060-Processor, it is used in products like the Cyberstorm 060/50, the
Blizzard 1260 or the Blizzard 2060. Although this processor offers very good
performance, it is the best choice for Power-users that want to upgrade their
system at this time, further expansion with this line of processors is not
possible because the 68060 is the last in its series. Even running the
processors at higher clockspeeds will only provide marginal improvement.
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Only Power will help in the long run
They way out of this performance limit is the PowerPC-RISC-Processors that will
form the bridge from the 68k-Processors into the AMIGA future. With its high
performance, good pricetag and innovative capabilities of both Motorola and
IBM, who promote the PowerPC-architecture as an alternative for the common
PC-processor, the PowerPC-processor line brings the solution that will give the
AMIGA a position in the future as one of the most powerfull
desktop-workstations available. Even better; because of the combination of this
new generation of processors and the unique capabilities of the AMIGA the
performace of this computer can bring many different applications into new
heights. The various available and new to come versions of the PowerPC will
bring the right perfermance for the right price for every user. With its fast
RISC architecture and good floating point performance the PowerPC-Processors
are more than ready to take on the most demanding tasks in the fiellds of
Multimedia, 3D, Image processing. Video editing, Rendering and animation.
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Hardware for the next century
As new heart for the AMIGA the PowerBoards from phase 5 digital products will
be available halfway in 1996. Initially two types of PowerPC-processors will be
used. In the lower price range the MP603e-processor with a clockrate of 100 MHz
and upward will be employed. In the proffessional high end boards the
MPC604-processor also at 100 MHz and upwards will be used. For 1996 both
versions will be sold at up to 150 MHz. Apart from these two boards new board
using even more powerfull members of the PowerPC familly, right upto the real
64-Bit MPC620-processor with clockrates of up to 300 MHz, are in development.
In the, not too far, future these will bring new levels of performance to the
AMIGA. Apart from using the PowerPC-processors the Powerboards from phase 5
will be equipped with a variety of new technical developments. 64 Bit wide
memory expansions are as obvious as a fast 64-bit Local bus-system with an
optional PCI-bridge. These will guarantee good high performance expansion
possibilities for the Powerboards.
Powerboards from phase 5 will be available, according to performance, in the
price range from DM1000,- up to DM2000,-. They will be available for the AMIGA
1200, AMIGA 3000 and the AMIGA 4000. They are delivered in the usual phase 5
high quality and compatibility and will be delivered with an extensive system
software package and CyberGraphX 3.0 native.
-----------------------
A program overview
The PowerUP-program from phase 5 digital products has as goal the development
of a complete and trouble free upgrade for existing 68k-based AMIGA-systems
using a PowerPC solution. Apart from developing a powerfull hardware solution
for a variety of AMIGA-systems this also includes the modification of the
operating system for use with the new PowerPC-processors. An experienced team
of system programmers is working on these neccesary modifications, these
include the translation of the Exec- and Multitasking routines into PowerPC
native code. This code will work as basis from which an overlaying 68k-emulator
will run the existing operating system from version 3.0 and upwards. Because of
the native coding of vital exec- and multitasking routines a high over-all
system performance is guarantueed. The other operating system functions will
initially be run in the fully compatible emulation, during the development of
later versions new function-libraries will be optimised in native PowerPC code.
-----------------------
CyberGraphX 3.0 Native
In order to deal with a major performance lag right from the beginning, a new
version of the well known CyberGraphX-software is developed for the
PowerUP-project. This package will be available in PowerPC native code and will
be responsible for the graphic control of GFX-cards and also - new in version
3.0 - for the AGA-Chipset of the A1200 and A4000. Because of the high demands
of graphical output of todays multimedia applications on the CPU power of a
computer the PowerPC version of CyberGraphX guarantuee a big rise in
performance using the full capabilities of modern RISC PowerPC-Processors.
Further CyberGraphX will be expanded with a range of new routines for 3D- and
multimedia applications, these will allow for a whole new generation of
applications on the present AMIGA platform. The hardware independent
availability of powerfull 3D-routines and multimedia functions for audio and
video will allow Software producers to easily create programs that will run on
varius hardware configurations. This will have a positive influence on the
popularity of the AMIGA platform and will lead to a Software Boom of unknown
proportions in both the fields of serious applications and games of a new
generation.
------------------------
We are not alone
Right from the start of the PowerUP-project a wide front of Software
developers, for instance Almathera (Photogenics), Maxon Computer, ProDad,
Softwood and many others, have been actively supporting the PowerUP project
through redesigning their applications for the new PowerPC-processors. With the
expected support of more widespread Software developers a large variety of
extremely powerfull applications, right from the start of the market entrance
of the Powerboards, is expected.
Combined with the PowerUP-project phase 5 digital products has taken extensive
measures to support software developers. Evaluation boards will be available
for commercial developers from the beginning of 1996 in order to support the
software development on AMIGA platforms using a PowerPC-processor. Software
tools and development systems are being prepared by phase 5 digital products
and partnerfirms. Commercial developers will get total support from phase 5
digital products. The development of strategically important applications will
also be supported directly by Motorola.
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Investing in new technology
What should AMIGA-users do when they need more performance today, and can not
wait for six to eight months for the market entry of the new
PowerBoard-generation. Phase 5 has thought of these people and offers fitting
upgrade solutions. All customers that have bought a 68k-based processor board
of phase 5 after 01-09-1995 will get, on showing a copy of their bill of
puchase, special upgrade offers when purchasing a PowerPC baser processor board
(*). For owners of high cost 68060-boards an even better trade-in-program is
planned, this will make upgrading to the new Powerboards even easier. This
program will allow people that need more power now to invest their money safely
withouth having to worry about the future. As you can see: we are here to
serve.
(*) The upgrade program will be valid for all registred owners who have
purchased a 68k-Turbocard from the phase 5 series at an autorised dealer or
from phase 5 digital products directly; buyers of second hand processor boards
can not apply to this upgrade program.
-----------------------
All this just dreams of the future?
Yes, but for a future that is very close. This future is allready happening
today, it is supported by huge investments. The PowerUP program will result in
PowerPC-based processor boards for a variety of amiga systems. With the
innovative and powerfull capabilities of phase 5 digital products, in its role
as one of the leading developers in the AMIGA world, you have the assurance
that the latest and best technology will be available for your AMIGA. When you,
as a user, are interested, or if you as a developer want to take the step into
the future of PowerPC, contact us through the available coupon. You will be
presented immedeately with information conserning the PowerUP program.
------------------------
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE TOMORROW?
In der Au 27 61440 Oberursel
Telephone +Germany-(0)6171-583787
Techn.Hotline +Germany-(0)6171-583787
Fax +Germany-(0)6171-583787
Information dated October 1995, any changes concerning price, technology or
supply is possible. Amiga is a trademark of ESCOM AG, PowerPC is a trademark of
the IBM corporation. All other used brands are trademarks of various other
corporations.
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ || Brad Webb - available at:
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || webb@malamute.med.ge.com
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ || Portal -- XJumpdisk
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