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Amiga Update (1998-09-22)
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ ||
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors-
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional Newsletter)
KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING ||
======================================================================
AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Gateway, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
980922
F L E E C Y T A L K S A B O U T A M I G A I N C .
D E T A I L S O F A M I C O N
M C C F L E A M A R K E T
W O R L D O F A M I G A ' 9 9
G E N E S I S T O W E R H A W K C L O N E
H A A G E & P A R T N E R L I C E N S E A M I G A N A M E
N E W B R I T I S H Q U A R T E R L Y L A U N C H E D
I O B L I X F R O M S O F T W A R E H U T
N E W C O N T R O L T O W E R F O R F L Y E R S
1 S T 4 X R / W C D D R I V E S U P P O R T S A M I G A
W A S T E D D R E A M S I S N O W !
F I N A L O F F I C E T O D E B U T
B O I N G B A B Y N O T I C E !
W I N A N A 4 0 0 0 F R O M C U C U G . . .
. . . O R A S P E C I A L A 1 0 0 0
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
This has been a most strange month so far. There's not been a great
deal of news to bring your way, even though we're pretty sure there
are some interesting things in the works from Amiga Inc. In the
meantime, there are still a number of things going on elsewhere in the
Amiga community, and we have some interesting items for you today as a
result.
We begin with a number of informative quotes from Amiga
Incorporated's Strategic Projects Manager, Fleecy Moss. These were
taken from posts Fleecy made to Amiga newsgroups in recent weeks. We
think you'll find much food for thought there.
We also have an item on new software from Vulcan, lest you think
they've only bad news to report, based on our last issue. Also, a very
interesting item from a new company called SoftPartners. For now,
there offering is only of interest to US Amigans, but we hope that
will change.
We hope you enjoy this issue!
Brad Webb,
Editor
----------------------------------------------------------------------
F L E E C Y T A L K S A B O U T A M I G A I N C .
{This story is composed of sections of posts to Amiga newsgroups by
Amiga Incorporated's Fleecy Moss. The compilation was presented to
Fleecy for his review before we included it in this issue. Brad.}
On The Plan
-----------
Amiga Inc has listened to users, developers, retailers and everyone
else. We took it all on board, we spoke to Motorola, we spoke to
Intel, we spoke to tens of big companies, OEMs, sw houses, retail
chains and the like.....and then we made our decision. That is now the
Amiga.
I am not pretending we've {not} had our share of disappointments,
pull-outs, and politics interfering with this. If we had just closed
our eyes then yes, we probably could have produced a new OS and a new
HW platform, and all on its own, lost amongst the rest of the industry
it may have added another 3 or 4 years to the Amiga, perhaps got us
100,000 users and there it would have sat.
But we don't think just 100,000 users should jealously covet the
Amiga - we think there is a whole world out there, full of ppl
oppressed by Windows and full of ppl too scared to buy computers due
to cost and complexity. We see huge markets in which developers can
make potloads of money. That is what we want, and that is where we are
going....and to do that, we need partners. So we talk, and we plan and
we move as fast as the slowest member of the coalition.
On Progress to Date
-------------------
Jumping up and down, shouting and wishing for an acorn to be an oak
does not make it an oak. Only time and care does.
Remember as well that GW2K bought Amiga when? 17 months ago. As has
already been announced they bought it for the patents. It took 3 to 4
months of mail bombardment, ICOA contact and back channelling before
they actually realised that perhaps they had something. Then our
champion, Rick Snyder left and we were pushed to the back burner for a
good few months until Jim Collas emerged. That takes us to Christmas.
Allan, me and Bill were brought on board properly about a month before
WoA.
Since we came on board we have taken the various plans presented to
GW2K, distilled a master plan out of them, talked to partners, SW
developers, created a HW and SW strategy path and begun work on them.
I don't think that's bad. Of course it's not fast enough...but it
never is.
{A poster suggested "convergence is crap", that is, convergence of
many electronic devices such as computing, TV, audio, etc., and
received this response:}
Well, whatever research you have on this matter, please pass it on to
us, and Sony, and NEC, and IBM, and Sega, and VMLabs, Emerson, Apple,
Nokia, Panasonic, Mahushita, Motorola, Fujitsu, Hitachi and just about
every other electronics company. We are obviously getting us from the
wrong shoeshine....
On Future Models
----------------
{Statements that Amiga Inc. is really planning to market to folks who
don't want a real computer led to this:}
This is a misconception we have been fighting for some time now. The
OS will be fully scalable from STB, DVD player, Game Console through
home computer to workstation and server. Being component based, third
parties merely configure it how they want for their target solution.
The HW is scalable as well, single to multi-processor but in a way
that hasn't really been tried before and which offers its great
price/performance.
Ppl get worried when they see slides with this big sliding scale of
products but with the low-medium end ringed as our primary markets. Of
course they are our primary markets. WebTV, Game players, smart home
networks - the market for those is huge.
But our product will scale - that is our promise. It is up to other
companies to come in and build a solution based upon our products. So
if P5 or Pios want to build an A1200 type device or an iMac type box
or a kick ass harley davidson modelled workstation, then they can.
With USB about to take off, this will blur the line even further.
There are plans for autosensing devices that, if you plug a game
controller into the USB port, it comes up with a games machine
interface and if it detects a keyboard, up pops up your WB.
What is it now?
On Wanting to Preseve the Current User Base
-------------------------------------------
Most definitely, and developers and retailers and the
magazines....everyone who makes up the community. Of course, as ppl
like Randy and Jason have pointed out, where's the evidence. We hope
to have it soon.
On the Operating System
-----------------------
The setback we suffered at WoA is impinging on our timescales. We
should be able to show OS5Dev in Cologne, we should have the machines
ready but it will touch and go if we can get the whole package in a
state that is worthy of shipping in time for Cologne.
The new OS is Amiga OS? What does that mean? I can speak to ten ppl
and they will tell me ten different versions of what Amiga OS is. Our
research, and this includes extensive talks with Carl Sassenrath,
suggest that the time and effort it would take to bring Exec upto the
standards of what today is considered a modern OS is just too long.
Kernal construction is now a well understood technology (at least by
everyone but MS). One of our key partners thus will be a kernal
builder, but we are making sure that this kernal carries with it the
spirit of the AmigaOS and, in fact, many of those we have talked to
turn out to be ex Amiga users.
The OS services layer that goes on top will be pure Amiga, using the
best of the existing Amiga, the best open standards (where these make
sense) and some added magic that opens up the MMC.
The kernal will share much of the design strategies of Exec but will
have more. The APIs will most likely have different names. There will
be OpenGL. It will also be object oriented.
The underlying structure will be similar but the paint will be very
different.
OS5 will have a new kernal which will be provided by a third party.
Around this will be built a brand new OS services layer. Into this OS
layer will be built the best of the existing Amiga OS, the best open
standards and some new stuff. For instance, layers.library is a really
nice functional block. So is datatypes..
The new kernal will not "support" the existing OS. OS3.1 (or any
possible future iterations of it) will run, on the OS5Dev machines at
least, via a HW Classic card. For the OS5Prod machines, backwards
compatibility will be left upto third parties, unless there is such a
demand for it that we do it ourselves.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
D E T A I L S O F A M I C O N
September 21st, 1998
THE 1998 MIDWEST EXPOSITION - October 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, Columbus,
Ohio
Completed Seminar Schedule:
The Amiga Central Ohio Network is pleased to announce the complete
schedule for the seminars available at the Midwest Amiga Exposition.
Pre-register for the seminars on-line using our convienent web form.
Pre-registration means you can reserve your seat for the most popular
seminars and classes. Please refer to the Seminars Page for complete
details.
Your reservation with all your class selections will be listed at the
MAE ticket table during the event. Simply inform the MAE personnel
that you have signed up for a class and pay the required fee, if
applicable, when you purchase your entrance ticket. Reservations will
be required for many classes and are based on a first-come
first-served basis, so don't delay in signing up! Capacity for
attendees to the seminars depends on the room where the seminar is
located, with reservations being taken for the
Expanded Exhibitor Lineup:
We continue to add exhibitors to the huge show floor! More exhibitors
are being added each week! Please refer to the Exhibitors List for a
complete list of who's coming! Any companies or individuals wishing to
rent space and have not done so, please do not delay any further!
Space is VERY limited and going fast!
Grand Prizes Giveaways:
In conjuction with Amiga International, AmiCON is proud to announce
not one, but 2 Amiga 1200's for grand prizes! And don't forget the
very special item donated by Nova Design and RJ Mical: RJ's personal
Amiga 1000, signed by RJ and Carl Sassenrath. Among other items we're
giving away are products from Finale, Nova Design, and others
including lots of the official Amiga BOING! mousepads and Amiga
posters! Each attendee gets a free raffle ticket, just for showing up.
Addditional raffle tickets for the Show Floor Times:
The show floor will be open for sales on Saturday from 9:00am until
5:00pm. Sunday, the floor will be open from 10:00am until 4:00pm. The
Keynote speech from RJ Mical will be delivered from the show floor on
Saturday at 9:30am. Be sure to be bright and early, don't miss out!
Friday Night Developers Party:
Free for Exhibitors and Amiga Developers. And if you think we left
the rest of you out, think again! A $5.00 cover charge will get you in
if you come early! Limited space available so be early and you'll get
to hang out with the Amiga Elite!
Jillians' Saturday Party:
Jillians is the site for our special Saturday party to be held for
you, the Midwest Amiga Expo attendee! All are welcome to participate!
No cover charges on this one! AmiCON has rented an area just for
attendees with big screen TV's (with what else playing, but... Amiga
Videos!), free pool tables and much more! Jillians features an
Electronic Simulation Game Grea, with a full Sports Simulator, and a
Rush Multiplayer Racing Simulator. Relax in the Cigar Lounge or enjoy
the Hibachi Grill for you and 75
Additional Hotels:
In case you haven't heard, the Hyatt Regency is sold out the weekend
of the show! Additional hotels in the area are as follows:
Crown Plaza (614) 461-4100 or (800) 338-4462 (Across a skywalk to the
Hyatt Regency) Adams Mark (614) 228-5050 or (800) 444-ADAM (2326)
Hyatt on Capital Square (The "other Hyatt") (614) 228-1234 or (800)
233-1234 Weston Hotel (614) 228-3800 or (800) WESTIN-1(937-8461)
Courtyard by Marriot (614) 228-3200 or (800) MARRIOT (627-7468)
Holiday Inn at City Center (614) 221-3281 or (800) HOLIDAY (465-4329)
Each hotel is within 5 to 15 minutes of the event and most have
shuttle access. Please verify beforehand with the hotel as to its
exact location to the Hyatt Regency and the method of transportation
available to get to our show.
About the 1998 Midwest Amiga Exposition:
The 1998 Midwest Amiga Exposition is being held at the world-class
Hyatt Regency hotel at The Greater Columbus Convention Center, on
October 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Tickets for the event are $8.00 for a
single day pass and $12.00 for a two day pass.
Please visit the Midwest Amiga Exposition web site for further
information. Contact Dave Pearce - dpearce@amicon.org or Ronn Black -
rblack@amicon.org for any additional information or special requests.
Exhibitors please call (614)751-0232 for information.
We look forward to a successful and exciting event!
Sincerely,
David Pearce, dpearce@amicon.org Ronn Black, rblack@amicon.org MAE
Coordinators
The Amiga Central Ohio Network
P.O. Box 18311
Columbus Ohio 43218
----------------------------------------------------------------------
M C C F L E A M A R K E T
27 August, 1998
Date: October 10, 1998
Time: 12:00 to 4:00pm
Location:
The Brookside Convention Center
1244 Brookside Drive
Hurst, Texas
Admission: Free
In March two of our board members attended the Gateway '98 Amiga Show
in St.
Louis. They met with Steve Folberg, president of the Central Texas
Amiga Computing Society, CTACS, of Austin. They discussed the
possibility of holding an Amiga show for the benefit of all Texas and
regional Amiga users. Since the MCCC has held an annual fall show for
the past twelve years, it was decided that our club would have the
Flea Market Extravaganza and invite other regional Amiga user groups
to attend the show. This would hopefully be a starting point for a
larger regional show.
DIRECTIONS & PARKING
The Brookside Convention Center is located at 1244 Brookside Drive in
Hurst. To get to the Convention Center get to Highway 183/121 and take
the Precinct Line Road exit and drive south on Precinct Line Road.
After approximately 0.3 miles turn left (east), on Bedford Euless
Road. Drive 0.4 miles to Brookside Drive. The Convention Center is on
the southeast corner. There is plenty of parking space, and parking is
free.
o Amiga Computer Flea Market
Hardware and Software for Amiga computers, from members and
non-members, will be for sale. The flea market will be open to members
for a fee of 5% on items sold. A fee of 10% will be charged to
non-members on items sold. Arrangements MUST BE MADE IN ADVANCE. Items
will NOT be accepted on the day of the show. There will be no
exceptions. Cash and checks accepted from members. Cash only accepted
from non-members. Prices will be reduced at 3:00 pm.
o Door Prizes
Drawings will be held throughout the day. You must be present to win.
o MCCC Amiga Library
The entire MCCC library of Amiga computer disks, over 2,000 disks,
will be available.
o Special Membership Offer
13 months for the price of 12. This offer is good for new or renewed
memberships.
o Classes
Classes and times to be determined.
o Amiga Computer Raffle
Due to the unavailability of 4000T's, the raffle has been cancelled.
o Amiga Computer Dealers
Commodore Country of Burleson has confirmed that they will attend the
show. On Video of Carrollton has agreed to attend the year's show.
o Amiga Gurus
Amigas will be set up so you can ask the clubs resident 'gurus' for
help and advice.
For further information please check our web site:
p[7]http://www.startext.net/np/agm/p[0]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
W O R L D O F A M I G A ' 9 9
12 Sep 1998 PRESS RELEASE: World Of Amiga Show 1999 Announced!
It has now been confirmed that there will be a UK World Of Amiga show
in 1999! Work is well underway on the 1999 show, although the date and
venue has yet to be confirmed. There is already a great deal of
excitement for the show which will play a major part in the
rejuvenation of the Amiga during 1999. As Peter Brameld, Organiser of
the World Of Amiga show stated, "We MUST take the Amiga into the
Millenium".
Linking in with this, and following the untimely closure of CU Amiga,
the official web site of the World Of Amiga show has found a new home
and is fully operational NOW! The site is being operated and managed
for World of Amiga by Infinite Frontiers, publishers of the new Amiga
fanzine, Amiga Energy.
For more information on the show, contact Peter Brameld at
p.brameld@ukonline.co.uk
To visit the web site, point your browser at
www.infinitefrontiers.mcmail.com
We at Infinite Frontiers would like to hear your comments and
suggestions about the information YOU want to see on the World Of
Amiga web site. If it is possible, we'll do everything we can to
provide all the information YOU want to know. E-mail us at
infinite.frontiers@mcmail.com
We'll be updating the site as news breaks so bookmark the page and we
hope to hear from you soon. We'll see you all at the World Of Amiga
1999!!
Colin Gunn and Simon Plumbe
Co-ordinators, Infinite Frontiers
----------------------------------------------------------------------
G E N E S I S T O W E R H A W K C L O N E
Toronto, Sept. 1, 1998
Randomize, Inc. Announces the Genesis Towerhawk Zorro Based Amiga
with Speed and Flexibilty
The completely expandable Amiga from Genesis. We introduce to you the
Genesis Towerhawk. Giving you a Zorro Based Amiga with speed and
flexibilty!
o AmigaOS 3.1 with preemptive multitasking
o Motorola 68060 50 Mhz
o 32 MB RAM optionally expandable to 128 MB
o 5 Zorro II slots
o Optionally upgradeable to Zorro III
o 4.3 GB IDE harddisk
o 32x IDE CD-Rom
o High Density Floppy Disk Drive
o PC format and Mac (with Optional CrossMac) compatible
o Compatible with any Standard PC-type Multisync Montior with
included MultiVision Flicker Fixer
o Windows95 Keyboard Compatible
o 104 Windows95 Keyboard Included
o AGA Graphics System included on board
o Video and Genlock capable
o 4-Channel Stereo Sound standard, each 8 Bit DMA
o Interfaces:
1 x serial RS-232c (modem),
1 x parallel (printer),
1 x external floppy drive,
2 x mouse/joystick,
1 x 23 pin video RGB (monitor) output from AGA Chipset,
1 x 15 pin video RGB (monitor) output from MultiVision Flicker Fixer
connected 23 pin (just above),
1 x video composite (TV, video recorder),
1 x RF modulator (TV antenna),
2 x stereo audio
o 250 Watt ATX Power Supply
o Personal Paint 7.1 CD
o Full Version
o To get you working quickly!
o Full Documentation For AmigaOS 3.1, and hardware
o System Price
o $2749.95 CDN, $1899.95 US
o Optional Fast SCSI Controler
o Add to System Price $134.95 CDN, $94.95 US
When 060 is simply not enough and you need real speed with the PPC.
o All the features of the Towerhawk
o Motorola PPC 603e 240 Mhz
o Fast SCSI Controller built-in
o Add to System Price
o $969.95 CDN, $669.95 US
o Optional 4.3 GB SCSI hard disk - Add to System Price - $89.95 CDN,
$64.95 US
o Optional 32x SCSI CD-Rom - Add to System Price - $124.95 CDN,$84.95
US
Add a Mac to your Amiga for complete flexibility!
o All the features of the Alpha
o Microcode's Fusion Mac Emulator
o MacOS 8 pre-installed
o Add to System Price
o $244.95 CDN, $169.95 US
Check out the Genesis line up at The Midwest Amiga Expo Oct 2-4!
Genesis, a division of Randomize, Inc. R.R. #2 Tottenham Ontario
Canada L0G 1W0
Orders: 1 888 RANDOMIZE (1 888 726-3664)
Technical: (905) 939-8371 Fax: (905) 939-8745 Sales e-mail:
sales@randomize.com Support e-mail: support@randomize.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
H A A G E & P A R T N E R L I C E N S E A M I G A N A M E
Langen/Glashuetten, Germany, August 24, 1998 - Haage & Partner is
licensed by AMIGA International, Inc. to use the name "AmigaWriter"
for their brand new word processor.
"The name AmigaWriter shows our intention to have brilliant software
like this word processor available as standard application software",
said Petro Tyschtschenko, President of AMIGA International, Inc.
"I think Haage & Partner's offer will enable the Amiga to have its
new standard word processor soon. There's also a PowerPC version
available."
Haage & Partner said every customer buying version 1 will also get
version 2 when available next year.
AmigaWriter will be the first word processor developed on Amiga that
uses concepts and technologies of standard text systems from other
platforms. The flexible expandability of a typical Amiga application
will also be used in AmigaWriter and allows to extend the
functionality of it externally. Commercial-, shareware- and
freeware-developers will add new loaders and savers for different text
and image formats and expand AmigaWriter with features being superior
to the standard applications on other platforms.
For further information:
Haage & Partner GmbH Schlossborner Weg 7 61479 Glashuetten, Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 6174-96610 Fax: +49 (0) 6174-966101
URL: p[7]http://www.haage-partner.com/p[0]
eMail: support@haage-partner.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W B R I T I S H Q U A R T E R L Y L A U N C H E D
15 September, 1998
South Essex Amiga Link are about to thrust into your waiting hands a
fantastic quarterly magazine - "Clubbed" (pun intended).
News!
Reviews!
Interviews!
anything with 'ews' in it!
Hints!
Tips!
Tutorials!
Spread over 32 packed A4 pages!
Subscribe NOW!
UK Europe Americas Oceania Asia Rest of World
£8 £10 £12 £13 £12 £13
For 4 issues, including Airmail postage.
Make cheques payable to "South Essex Amiga Link". Sorry, we can't
accept cheques from outside the UK (rip-off banks), so Pounds cash
will have to do (damn!).
Clubbed,
450 High Road,
BENFLEET,
Essex,
SS7 5AQ,
ENGLAND.
Want to Know More?
See a preview at:
p[7]http://seal.amiga.tmp[0] or e-mail {clubbed@williams.demon.co.uk}
GET SUBBED TO CLUBBED !
Thanking you :)
Gary Storm
SEAL
[rusty@thunder.u-net.com]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I O B L I X F R O M S O F T W A R E H U T
17 September, 1998
As many of you know there has not been a high speed zorro II serial
board for Amiga in a long time. The I/O Extender is still not
available but we have imported a new product from RBM in Germany. It
is the IOBlix.
Supplies four serial- and two EPP/ECP-parallel-ports. In addition to
that there are two module ports to install an AHI-compatible
sound-module and a SANAII-compatibel Ethernet- module which are being
developed. Another module for 1.44MB- disc-drives is planned.
The serial highspeed ports provide 64 Byte of FIFO-memory, the
EPP/ECP-parallel-ports have a 16 Byte FIFO which qualifies the IOBlix
for high demands (e.g. mailboxes). Besides the internal FIFO the
IOBlix can be upgraded to up to 8KByte of external FIFO-memory which
can be related to each module.
The parallel-ports support the uni- and bidirectional modes to be
compatible with all printers. Scanner-drivers (in combination with
ScanQuix4) and drivers for backup-devices (such as
ZIP-drives/streamers) areplanned for the EPP/ECP-mode. The IOBlix is
designed as a ZorroII-Slot-card so it is compatible with all
Amiga2/3/4000 and Amiga1200 systems with Zorro-Expansion.
Transfer rate: 460 KBaud, theor. 1.5 MBaud
We are taking preorders. Preorders are advised as the first batch
will be sold out by the time it is in.
To order call 1-800-932-6442 or email us. Thank you.
Anthony
Customer Service
Software Hut Inc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W C O N T R O L T O W E R F O R F L Y E R S
Friday, September 11, 1998
Visual Inspirations is proud to announce the long awaited update to
their popular Control Tower software for the Newtek Toaster Flyer. CT
is the perfect front end for Nova Design's ImageFX software and helps
automate Image processing of Flyer Clips.
We have spent the past 6 months working with the folks at OZware to
come up with over 350 new functions for the Flyer. Control Tower is
the first in a long line of new products to take advantage of these
new commands.
Control Tower now has over 300 Macros designed to make Flying just a
little bit easier. For those that have the latest version of ImageFX,
we have added many new macros to use the new hooks they have included.
We have also made good use of tools from ProWave. You can now process
a Flyer Clip in ImageFX and have the audio automatically added back
in, if you own ProWaves software package.
Control Tower has a totally new interface, that opens right on the
Flyer screen itself. Complete with graphics and documents on each
Macro. We have also updated Flyer Menu to handle over 900 functions.
The new version supports Control Tower, OZWares Co-Pilot series, and
ProWaves tools all in one pull down menu on the Flyer screen.
Current Control Tower users should contact Visual Inspirations
direct, for upgrade information. If you are a registered user, you
should recieve news through the mail in the next week.
Control Tower is available through all major Amiga dealers in the US
and Canada. For more information check out our website at:
p[7]http://www.vionline.com/p[0] or direct at:
Visual Inspirations Inc. 809 W. Hollywood Tampa, FL 33604 (813)
935-6410
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 S T 4 X R / W C D D R I V E S U P P O R T S A M I G A
September 14, 1998
The first 4X-rewrite drive in the fast-changing market of CD
write/rewrite/read drives is announced by Yamaha Systems Technology,
Inc. The new CRW4416S (SCSI interface) and the CRW4416E (EIDE
interface) with 4X write, 4X rewrite and 16X read speeds use Yamaha's
sophisticated Write Strategy to create highest quality 4X CD-RW
recording.
The two new drives represent the fastest rewrite speeds of any CD-RW
drive on the market, boasting proprietary Yamaha elements including a
newly designed LSI chip set and optical head, as well as the new Write
Strategy.
Both these new units incorporate all of the features of the earlier
award-winning Yamaha Multifunction CD-RW drives in the same
half-height, 5 1/4 inch space and match their high reliability.
The improved performance makes the CRW4416 drives more powerful
storage devices, not only for faster file backup, but also for faster
random access rewrite. This 4X rewrite data transfer rate is
competitive with other high capacity removable storage devices.
Because of its standard command set, the new drive will be supported
by every major CD-RW software vendor. Media and software will be
available in the market simultaneously with the CRW4416. New Yamaha 4X
CD Rewritable Media
4X-compatible CD rewritable media will be available at the same time
as the Yamaha CRW4416. In addition, Yamaha is preparing to offer a
pre-formatted CD rewritable media solution for customer ease-of-use,
as a result of a recently completed agreement with a major media
manufacturer. That media will also be provided as a part of the Yamaha
CRW4416 kit.
"We are proud to announce another 'first' in the CD recording
market," said Dean Quarnstrom, Sales Manager for the Yamaha CD-RW
product line.
"The first desktop CD recording system was announced in 1988 by
Yamaha; the first 2X speed CD recording system in 1990; and the first
half-height 4X speed CD-R drive in 1993. We will stay at the leading
edge of this market, with new design and technology and with highest
quality products at competitive prices." CRW4416 Features
The CRW4416 write/rewrite speed, using standard CD-R media or CD-RW
media, is 4X normal speed. CD-ROM media can be read at 16X. The new
drives conform to standard Orange Book Part II and Part III.
Disc-At-Once, Session-At-Once, Track-At-Once and Packet Writing are
supported.
The CDs produced by the CD-R function of the drives can be read on
ordinary CD-ROM drives, CDR drives and Multi-Read CD/DVD drives. Media
produced by the CD-RW function of the drives can be read on Multi-Read
CD/DVD drives.
Some additional features include:
o Standard software command sets (SCSI-3 MMC, SFF-8020/8080).
o 2MB DRAM data buffer to eliminate buffer underrun.
o RapidLinked(TM) Packet Writing for higher performance data
transfer.
o SCSI models support synchronous data transfer for high-end
duplication.
o Flash ROM for simple downloading of firmware upgrades.
o Packet writing, track-at-once, disc-at-once/session-at-once and
multisession modes.
o Eight standard formats supported including CD-Digital Audio,
CD-ROM,
CD-ROMXA (both Photo and Video CD), CD-I, CD-G (karaoke), CD-Extra
and
Video CD.
o Running Optimum Power Control (ROPC) for maximized media writing
integrity.
o Support of all major platforms including Windows '95, Windows '98,
Windows NT, OS2, UNIX, Sun, Macintosh, Novell, NLS, HP9000, DOS, DEC,
Amiga and AIX.
Price and Availability
Volume shipments of the Yamaha CRW4416S will begin in September,
1998. Volume shipments of the Yamaha CRW4416E will begin in October,
1998. Pricing has not been determined.
Yamaha CD-RW drives are available through distributors: Law Cypress
Distributing Company, Optical Laser, Consan Storage Solutions,
Advanced Optical Distribution, Applied Storage Products and Yamaha of
Canada. A retail version, bundled with software is available through
Yamaha Corporation of America, Consumer Products Division.
Yamaha Systems Technology Inc. was founded to manufacture and market
integrated circuits, board level products and complete systems to OEMs
and Distributors. The product line includes multimedia audio, graphics
and communications products, as well as custom and semicustom ASICs,
and CD Recorder products. p[7]http://www.yamahayst.com.p[0]
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W A S T E D D R E A M S I S N O W !
September 16, 1998
Vulcan Software Announces Wasted Dreams Demo Now Available
WAKE UP! It's finally here!
Vulcan Software's 'Wasted Dreams' Amiga CDRom demo is now available
for download! Brought to you by the incredible Digital Dreams
Entertainment Team.
At last, you can experience a tiny fraction of this awesome Gigantic
Alien Speech Adventure by following the developers links from the
Vulcan website.
p[7]http://WWW.VULCAN.CO.UK/p[0]
The 1 or 2 player demo can be downloaded 'as is' while the demo
speech files can be downloaded separately (if required). The demo will
also be on Aminet in the next few days.
We are hoping to release the full version of Wasted Dreams in the
next few weeks which has over 300Mb of digital speech, 100's of hand
drawn locations and 1,000s of rota scoped characters.
As always, Live Long & Prosper!
....and don't forget to pre-order your copy from all the remaining
Amiga retail outlets around the world! And this time, WE MEAN IT! :)
WASTED DREAMS The Mysterious Alien Adventure
Embark on a gigantic and mysterious alien speech adventure set in a
violent reality, the crew of ExplorerFX2 have been searching for a new
Earth for many years, until now!
After a successful scan, you landed and established settlement on
`Agillera`, a class 4 planet in the Geminorum system. Uninhabited and
environmentally stable you formed the first extensive community with
medical, military and research camps which took 6 months to build.
400 crew members decided to remain on the planet whilst 100 made the
long trip back to Earth to inform them of the amazing find. 3 minutes
after ExplorerFX2 launched from Agillera you fled from the ship in a
shuttle craft just moments before it exploded into a million
fragments.
Through the smoke and flames you crash landed back onto the planet
only to be greeted by a hostile Alien race known as the Gorkies along
with the rest of your crew who were very surprised to see you alive!
What happened? Can you can unravel the mystery!
Any Amiga with 2Mb Memory 68000 CPU, HD, 2x Speed CD 1 or 2 players
100's Hand Drawn Locations 1,000's of Roto-Scoped Character Movements
300Mb of Digital Speech Superb Evolving Plot Line Fast Strategy Action
Intriguing Puzzle Logic Loads Of Characters
Language Support:
English Croatian Danish Dutch Finnish French German Hungarian Italian
Portuguese Portuguese-Brazil Russian Serbian Swedish
OUT VERY SOON! Recommended Retail Price 29.99 UKPounds
Paul Carrington BA(Hons) Vulcan Software Limited
Commercial: p[7]http://www.vulcan.co.uk/p[0] Promotional:
p[7]http://www.vul-soft.demon.co.uk/p[0]
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F I N A L O F F I C E T O D E B U T
September, 1998
SoftPartners is a private company established to serve the software
needs of different Computer Platforms. It does not matter whether if
the softwares are for the Acorn, Amiga, Macintosh, SVR4, or even
Windows. The only requirement is that we like, and use, the softwares
we produce. We aim to provide the said softwares in compilations and
at a significant overall savings to the consumer.
Our initial software release will be the FinalOffice 1.0 for the
Amiga Platform. This software package shall contain Final Writer 97,
Final Calc, Final Data, Final Writer for Windows, and the Holiday
Cliparts and shall be resonably priced at a MSRP, or RRP, of only
$100.00 including shipping to anywhere in the continental United
States. Pre-orders pricing will be announced within the week. The
initial offering shall be the US English version only.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
B O I N G B A B Y N O T I C E !
Fleecy Moss, strategic projects manager for Amiga, Inc., and his wife
Elspeth were blessed with a beautiful baby girl on September 10th at
1:30 a.m.
Evangeline Anne Moss (Evie for short) weighed in at 9 lbs., 6 ozs.,
following the healthy and speedy delivery in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
It can truly be said that Evie is the world's youngest Amigan, with a
proud mom and pop!
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W I N A N A 4 0 0 0 F R O M C U C U G . . .
September 18, 1998 - The Champaign-Urbana Computer Users Group (a
not-for-profit corporation) is raffling off an Amiga 4000, Video
Toaster 4000, and LightWave3D! Proceeds from the raffle directly
benefit CUCUG and its fundraising efforts.
People who buy tickets have a very good chance of actually winning
these fabulous products. As of today, only 125 tickets have been sold.
Since the raffle will officially close on October 4th (regardless of
the number of tickets sold), now is the time to purchase your own
tickets and possibly win an Amiga A4000 and brand new Video Toaster
4000 with LightWave3D.
Raffle tickets are just US$10.00 each. Details about buying tickets
may be obtained from the CUCUG web site at:
p[7]http://www.cucug.org/amiga/raffle.htmlp[0]
Buy as many as you can to increase your chances of being the raffle
winner! You need not be present to win.
CUCUG will be attending AmiCON's 3rd annual Midwest Amiga Exposition,
held in Columbus, Ohio on October 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 1998. Tickets will
be available for purchase via the CUCUG representatives on-hand at the
show. We will be drawing for the winner on October 4th, approximately
1 hour prior to the show's close.
Confirmation of ticket orders will be made via e-mail. There will be
information within the confirmation e-mail on where to mail the amount
due on ticket purchases.
Don't delay--reserve your tickets right now!
For complete rules see p[7]http://www.cucug.org/amiga/raffle.htmlp[0]
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. . . O R A S P E C I A L A 1 0 0 0
September 17, 1998
Unique Amiga Collector's Item to be Given Away
AmiCON and Nova Design, Inc. are rather pleased to announce Nova
Design's donation of a very unique collectors item. This very special
item will be given away at the upcoming Midwest Amiga Exposition as a
door prize.
The Midwest Amiga Exposition is one of the most exciting and fun
Amiga events in the United States. The show takes place over three
days, starting October 2nd and continuing through the 3rd and 4th, and
features seminars, demos, classes, panel discussions, parties, and a
gigantic exhibitors room where you can have hands on demonstrations of
the latest in Amiga software and hardware!
Nova Design, Inc.'s donation is an Amiga 1000 from a favorite period
in the Amiga's history and from a favorite person of that history.
It's not just any Amiga 1000 - yes friends, we're giving away...
R.J. Mical's Amiga 1000!
The machine has been cleaned up a bit to remove the finger prints and
coffee cup rings. Instead of the Amiga checkmark logo, RJ put his
personal favorite, the Boing Ball logo, on both the Amiga case and the
Amiga keyboard. RJ Mical and Carl Sassenrath have, at Nova Design's
request, personally signed the top of the cover in gold ink. What a
bonus!
RJ's Amiga 1000 will be on display for you to view during the show
and will be presented by RJ himself. To whet your appetite a picture
is available to view online until then.
Extra special thanks go out to RJ for letting Nova Design have his
personal Amiga for this.
Sincerely,
David Pearce, dpearce@amicon.org
Ronn Black, rblack@amicon.org
MAE Coordinators
The Amiga Central Ohio Network
P.O. Box 18311
Columbus Ohio 43218
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Amiga Update on the net:
Australian Mirror Site: p[7]http://www.comcen.com.au/~paulm/index.htmlp[0]
All back issues available (in ASCII text) at:
p[7]http://www.globaldialog.com/AdventureCentral/AU/index.htmlp[0]
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Copyright 1998 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ U P D A T E
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_
amigaupdate@globaldialog.com
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