F1 Licenceware Catalogue 1996 August/F1cat.adf/extras/latest/latest

Text File | 1996-08-01 | 23.0 KB | 352 lines

@2VIScorp Proceeds with Amiga Acquisition
---------------------------------------
@6Bensheim 22/07/96
@4 On Thursday, the 18th of July, 1996 the final
contract of purchase was signed between the bankruptcy trustee solicitor
Bernhard Hembach and the president and CEO of VISCorp, William Buck, with
approval of the 'pool of banks' for the entire remaining inventory and
intellectual property.

Until 18th of August 1996 VISCorp has time now to establish the necessary
companies to carry on with its current business. In the meantime, the
business will be run with the approval of the bankruptcy trustee Hembach
under the name AMIGA Technologies GmbH i.K.

From the 19th of August, 1996 the business will finally be run under the
name, control and ownership of VISCorp.









@2 Pure Amiga - News from the pure Amiga Internet site
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@4 Next Generation Amiga.....See ya!
The next gen Amiga, codenamed Walker, has been resigned to the scrap heap.
The exact details are a bit scarce, but it seems AT want to concentrate on
getting a new processor up and running before releasing a new machine.
However, several other companies have shown interest in the machine , and
indeed AT haven't ruled the machine out totally. Indeed, at the Tolouse
conference Bill Buck stated it was a good idea, but seemed to indicate they
didn't want to churn out another 680x0 based machine.

@2 VisCorp Conference.
-------------------- @4
A lot of new ideas were
being thrown around at the Tolouse conference. For obvious reasons we
weren't there, but we managed to piece together what we could from others.
They confirmed what was already rumoured - the Walker was going to be
scrapped. However, they also said that the OS was in for a revamp for this
winter. Undoubtedly the best news was the direction the search for a new
chip was taking - having ruled out the EC030@40 for the Walker, they are
now in conversation with DEC regarding their 300mhz Alpha chip. This goes
directly against the current trend towards PowerPC, leaving developers
wondering what to do. The best news has got to be that there is now more
support for the Amiga then at any time during the various buyouts - and the
most shocking revalation was that of Amiga clones. See elsewhere on this
page for more information. Cloning the Miggy Without a doubt the most
interesting thing that has happened in AmigaLand this month was the
announcement by Blizzard manufacturers Phase 5 that they intend to
manufacture Amiga clones. This wouln't be the first, the Draco is quite
Amga-compatible, but the Phase 5 machine would be more of a general
consumer item. As opposed to AT's DEC Alpha thinking, P5 are looking at the
PowerPC chip. In jsut the same was developers converged on @4IBM's PC all
those years ago, eventually turning it (annoyingly) into the best selling
computer, it seems this is the break we could be waiting for. Clones means
competition, and competition intensifies the urge to go faster for less
cash. first indications are of a high quality system, with the basic system
possibly offering a 120mhz 603e chip, 16mb memory, quad speed CD, 1gb HD,
ISDN and networking interfaces, and video capabilities better than the most
expensive of PC cards - MPEG support, 1600x1200 res and 24 bit colour as
standard. But the best news is the price - at around 1500, it will be over
600 cheaper than the now outdated A4000/040 and even better value when
compared to the 060, which crawls by comparison. You can also expect OS3
compatibility, although it will have a native PPC operating system. @4 More
news from Phase 5 - the PowerUP project, bringing PPC chips to current
Amiga models continues. Developers will recieve their versions this summer,
so the sale of them can't be far off. @4 You've just read about Phase 5's
wonderful exploits into the world of Amiga clones - now gasp in shock as
another company sets out to do the same. PIOS Computer AG aims to create a
new Amiga, a sucessor to the current, and now outdated and flakey range.
PIOS want to go down the PowerPC road like Phase 5, and expressed their
interest in making the machine successful in the UK. They also reckoned
that their new "pre-emptive multitasking OS with quasi- real-time behaviour
will be the biggest advantage for PIOS". All this cloning, I need a lie
down! Siamese system Goes on Sale! The celebrated Siamese system from HiQ
has been released. The device, which combines Amiga, PC and Macintosh in
one box has been in development for quite some time, but was demonstrated
at the World of Amiga show recently. For more information see the HiQ Press
Release. Escom go into Liquidation Escom AG, who up until recently owned
the Amiga, has gone into voluntary liquidation. The German parent company
suffered huge losses during the 1995-96 financial year, having to abandon
large amounts of stock. Most Escom shops are closed, or will close soon,
which means the end of their trade-in deal for A1200's. However, good news
in that the sale of Amiga Technologies to VisCorp was completed before
trading stopped, so the Amiga is safe. For now. The phrase "Here we go
again..." seems appropriate. Amiga Convention '96 A Amiga Convention has
been planned in Montreal for August 1996. All the details are in the press
release for your viewing pleasure. Photogenics 2 Photogenics 2 is all ready
for release, and indeed should be out in the shops by the time you read
this. The package, which costs around 100, is being released only on CD-
Rom, after disapointing sales of version 1 on floppy, and includes ARexx
ports, more effects and loaders/savers. For more information contact
Almathera at [e-mail] IBrowse goes Commercial IBrowse,
the popular World Wide Web browser has gone on commercial sale. Written by
Omnipresence, it's being sold by HiSoft for the meagre sum of 29.95UKP. You
can find out more in the HiSoft press release

@2 Oberursel,
@6 This text from the Phase 5 Internet site:
-----------------------------------------
@4 According to the plans of phase 5 digital
products, Oberursel near Frankfurt, Germany, the coming year, 1997, will be
a year of joy for all Amiga enthusiasts. As an expansion of the PowerUp
project, which involves developing PowerPC processor cards for existing
Amiga models, the company has announced that an independent Amiga OS-
compatible computer system will be available in the first six months of
1997, representing a revolution on the computer market.

"We will continue to give our full support to the Amiga idea because as we
were among the first Amiga users we continue to believe in the advantages
and superior concepts of the Amiga", says Wolf Dietrich, Managing Director
of phase 5 digital products. "However, it is high time for a radical leap
forwards in technology that needs to be borne by a vision of a computer for
the next millennium. We have seen too many half-hearted efforts in the last
few years."

In the view of Gerald Carda, Technical Director at phase 5, it is necessary
to take a step towards complete innovation in order to realise such a
vision. "Concepts that build up on the standard components of the PC world
never offer the scope that give a computer system the lead that the Amiga
1000 had over other systems 12 years ago."

In line with this philosophy, the new computer will be based on a highly
integrated Custom Chip design which, as a central functional unit, will
enable the system to achieve a hitherto unknown performance. "We will
demonstrate the possibilities that are inherent in the resolute and single-
minded pursuit of a new development that does not become submerged in the
mainstream of adaptation to the Wintel world and the general tendency
towards economy in the PC mass market which more or less throttles
innovation for the sake of saving one single dollar", continues Gerald
Carda. Despite this, the system now being announced is not intended to
become a dream machine in the high price category. In the words of Wolf
Dietrich: "On the basis of our current price calculation we will be able to
offer unusually good value for money for which our products for the Amiga
market are already renowned. @4 "It is actually true that the extremely
high degree of integration and the realisation of novel concepts will make
it possible to achieve a performance that explodes existing bounds. Based
on the PowerPC as the main processor, the new computer, in addition to the
high performance of the processor, offers hardware support for multimedia
(MPEG) and 3D functions, while even the basic system offers a resolution of
1600x1200 pixels at 24- bit color depth and a refresh rate of 72 Hz. At the
same time special functions for image and video effects have been
implemented in the hardware. In addition there are audio inputs and outputs
in stereo CD quality, a video-compatible and Genlock-capable 24-bit video
output and an FBAS/S-VHS video input. Along with the usual interfaces, the
system is rounded off by a Fast SCSI-II controller, a network interface and
an ISDN interface. With these features a complete system with a 120 MHz 603e
PowerPC, 16 MByte memory, a SCSI hard disk of 1 GB and a quad-speed CD ROM
will be available for a purchase price of around 3,000 DM (1,400 £ or
2,000 US$, respectively) on the basis of the present market prices for the
components. "We hope that in just about one year from now we will even be
able to offer a 150 to 166 MHz 603e-processor at this price", anticipates
Wolf Dietrich. "In terms of performance the processor has no problems in
keeping up with a Pentium processor with an equally fast clock. However,
there is no sign of any comparable graphic performance anywhere the PC
field and the features of our systems will be difficult to match." There
will be a similar system available with a PowerPC 604-e processor and 150
MHz for about 4,000 DM (1,800 £ or 2,700 US$, respectively). Although
@4phase 5 digital products state that the total concept for the system has
already been under development for quite some time and has practically been
concluded, it is not possible to publish a more exact description of the
system features at the present point in time. "At the moment we are
intensively concerned with looking into whether it would be worth applying
for a patent for any of the concepts we have developed and, if so, for
which. So unfortunately we are not able to publish more precise details of
the concept until after this process has been concluded and we have
possibly applied for protection by patent", says Gerald Carda. For this
reason we cannot reckon with any publication of the full system
specifications until the end of June. Not only the hardware concept of
phase 5, but also the software approach comes as a surprise. The new
computer system will be supplied with a completely new operating system
written in Native PowerPC code, but with binary compatibility with Amiga-OS
3.x. Here Gerald Carda has the following comments: "As we are already
developing an Amiga-compatible PowerPC-Exec with an expansion library and a
PowerPC CyberGraphX version in the context of the PowerUp developments, it
is the logical consequence that the next step will be the innovative
development of the other components. An operating system that is compatible
with Amiga-OS 3.x makes it possible for the user to continue to use the
existing software that can run under CyberGraphX, while developers who
already give massive support to CyberGraphX will be able to continue to
maintain and develop their products at the present level. In this way we
will be enabling Amiga users to switch to the new system without any
problems." "In addition", continues Gerald Carda, "we will be opening up
ways of making considerable improvements in the internal structure and
extensive additions to the scope of functions". Besides the 24-bit support
@4which has already become a standard due to CyberGraphX, Gerald Carda names
the coming CyberGraphX 3D and multimedia interface as an example. There
will also be an optimisation of the system's performance and a revision and
adaptation of the user interface in line with the functional and optical
state of the art. "For years Amiga-OS has represented the conceptual
realisation of ideas that today are propagated by many to be special
innovations. This means that reprogramming will make it possible to achieve
a really highly powered and modern OS. Of course our system will also be
open for other operating systems or emulations, such as MacOS or an X-
Windows link-up. The discussion concerning so-called new operating systems,
however, was intended more as marketing hype than as a realistic
alternative." The commitment with which phase 5 digital products will force
forward this project is reflected not least in the considerable volume of
investment that has been made in the development. "By the middle of 1997 we
will have invested seven-digit figures in this project", says Wolf
Dietrich. "We have the know-how, the development team, the technical
equipment, the support from third parties (especially Motorola) and the
financial basis for this project. The only thing that we still need is
massive and positive support from the Amiga user basis. With this early
disclosure of our objectives we expect to receive the anticipated response
from the users, for, after all, such a project only makes sense if there is
still a large number of convinced Amiga fans. We therefore appeal to all
Amiga fans to write to us, to send us faxes or to contact us via E-mail
(under the address specially set up for this purpose: Every positive
reaction will strengthen this forward-looking project."<BR> @2 PowerUP
project continues to make progress @4The PowerUp project also continues to
make progress. "The delivery of the developer PowerPC boards will now start
in summer", says Gerald Carda. "Unfortunately, we are a few months behind
in our schedule due to extensive discussions between Motorola, Amiga
Technologies and phase 5. These companies were to agree on a close
cooperation and clarify a number of matters, especially with regard to new
standards specific to the new PowerPC. After the discussion concerning a
takeover by VIScorp started and the wave or redundancies that directly
followed at Amiga Technologies, which led to most of the contact persons
who had been involved in the projects leaving the company, AT abandoned the
present cooperation. For this reason we will waste no further time and will
continue with our project on our own, which was the way in which we started
it. Nor can we wait any longer to see what VIScorp might possibly intend or
not intend." The support for external developers in the PowerUp program is
now complete. More than 250 developers - including practically all noted
commercial software suppliers in the Amiga field - are registered and their
numbers are growing every day. This alone is evidence of the strong support
for the future Amiga-compatible PowerPC platform. As from the second half
of May, the registered users will now be able to order the PowerPC Beta
developer boards from phase 5 which mean the green light for the hot phase
of the world-wide software development. Motorola appreciates the concept of
phase 5 In the realisation of their new, innovative computer system phase 5
will @4be fully supported by Motorola. "We appreciate the powerful and
innovative concept that phase 5 represents and we fully support the efforts
of this company as a partner in our global PowerPC strategy." says John
Letham, European Technical Marketing Manager, Motorola RISC
Microprocessors. "We have had a number of joint meetings now and we are
impressed by the know- how and vision that is the basis of phase 5's
driving force. "Technology demonstrations In close cooperation with
Motorola phase 5 is preparing technology demonstrations, to be shown in due
course, which will demonstrate the impressive capabilities of the next
generation of PowerPC 603e CPUs at significantly increased clock rates.
This programme is already underway and Summer of 1996 will see phase 5
present prototypes of PowerPC boards for Amiga 3000/4000 as well as for the
Apple Macintosh 7500/8500/9500 series. "With the presentation of these new
processors, Motorola as a leading semiconductor manufacturer clearly
illustrates their capabilities demonstrating exactly why the next
generation of PowerPC CPUs will hold the pole position in the
microprocessor performance race". says Wolf Dietrich of phase 5. "Our
computer system, when shipping next year, will also offer these extremely
fast processors, delivering true high-end workstation performance. The
higher speed of the CPUs will also deliver a performance increase to the
upgrade boards for existing Amiga systems." With the presentation of this
PowerPC technology demo on Apple MacIntosh system phase 5 digital products
announces their entry into the MacIntosh @4accelerator market. This new
branch of their operation will make additional use of the PowerPC know-how
that is been build up in the Amiga development, while for both the Amiga
and the MacIntosh PowerPC products an even more attractive pricing can be
realized due to the higher quantity demands of PowerPC processors. @4 In
addition to this project announcement, phase 5 also made some side remarks
on the current state of affairs with regard to Amiga Technologies. "To our
regret we found that Amiga Technologies offers us no sort of outlook or
basis for developing into the future", says Wolf Dietrich. "The first year
of Amiga Technologies was marked by a continued chain of wrong decisions
which have been responsible for the bad situation in which the company now
finds itself. The results must be adequate to the objectives set in the
spring of 1995 and in this respect they are more than disappointing. There
is no getting away from this. In fact the same mistakes were made that were
previously made at Commodore and partly by the same people. For example,
attempts continue to keep technically outdated products on the market at
unrealistic prices, which is particularly true in the case of the A4000T.
Another point is that the marketing concepts are completely outdated, there
is an absence of any kind of futuristic vision and a lack of any
independent development, which is so pronounced that today AT neither has
any 68060 technology to show for itself nor even a sign of any PowerPC
technology. The brief spark of any independent development was extinguished
again by the latest wave of redundancies. In this respect the only thing
that we can just about expect from AT is that they sell off their large
quantities of existing stock. These do give us some cause to hope that the
existing products will be on the market for a while and that, in due
course, they will be offered at more realistic prices. Finally, the only
thing that can be said about the activities of AT is: They should have
asked someone who knows his stuff." In the opinion of phase 5 a takeover of
Amiga Technologies by VIScorp does not awaken hope of any major innovations
or any strengthening of the Amiga system. "So far we @4have heard nothing
from VIScorp that would cause us to assume that anything different is being
planned than the exploitation of the Amiga technology in a settop box. Nor
do we see why this company, which must certainly concentrate all its
efforts on realising its settop projects, should be interested in further
pursuing the primary aim of continuing with the Amiga system. If this had
been the case, it would already have been quite feasible for VIScorp to
initiate such a project as a licensee of the Amiga technology." phase 5
sees this critical opinion confirmed by current events. "The actions of
VIScorp do not convince us that they are serious in continuing with the
Amiga. So far, for example, VIScorp has not directly spoken to the
developers who were the last to support the Amiga. Nor was there any
reaction when we tried to make contact. The VIScorp meeting in Toulouse
that has now been announced lacks any kind of organisation and was called
without there being any recognisable concept behind it. For this reason it
is more than doubtful whether even a sign of any constructive result can be
expected to come out of it, so that in our view it would be a pure waste of
time to attend, as we have repeatedly found in the recent year at ESCOM
meetings. We don't need a repeat of that." Let it be mentioned in passing
that the hope often expressed in the general discussion, i.e. that in
VIScorp Amiga will find itself taken over by a company that will finance
the development of a new generation of Amiga @4products more or less from
the petty cash, is something that Wolf Dietrich considers to be very
optimistic. "For a start we had exactly the same expectations a year ago
when everyone thought that the giant ESCOM would get things moving at Amiga
from a standing position and quickly produce a new generation of Amiga
computers for a more competitive price. Secondly we should first wait and
see whether the figures that have been bandied about in the discussion
concerning VIScorp's takeover of AT have any sort of real fundament."About
phase 5 digital products phase 5 digital products, based in Oberursel near
Frankfurt, are internationally operating manufacturers of hardware and
software products.

The company is entirely owned by its founders, Gerald Carda and Wolf
Dietrich. Since the market launch of its first product line in 1992 this
company, which consists of an experienced team of the first Amiga users and
developers, quickly established itself as one of the leading manufacturers
in the Amiga market. Since 1992 its products have been distinguished many
times, including 20 awards for Product of the Year in Amiga journals. In
1995 phase 5 supplied accessories to the value of some DM 12 million (5.5
million £ or 8 million US$) in the Amiga market alone. Since the
Christmas season of 1995 almost 30,000 hardware products have been
delivered. The product portfolio for Amiga includes accelerator cards, SCSI
controllers and graphics cards. In these fields phase 5 digital products
has repeatedly proved itself to be manufacturer that is a forerunner and an
innovative leader, for instance in bringing out the first Zorro III-DMA-
SCSI controller world-wide, the Fastlane Z3, in producing the first 68030
@4card world-wide with a DMA-SCSI controller for the Amiga 1200, in offering
the first 68060 card world-wide for Amiga systems (the Cyberstorm 060/50
for A4000), in manufacturing the first 64-bit graphics card world-wide with
full system-integrated 24-bit support (the CyberVision64 for A3000/A4000)
or in bringing out the first 68060 card for the A1200 world-wide, the
Blizzard 1260. Along with intensive development activities as a Beta
developer for Motorola in the 68060 and PowerPC field, hardware
developments at phase 5 include pure research work in the field of
multimedia high-performance DSPs and in the latest development department
ASE (advanced silicon engineering) VLSI chip design. An expanding team of
some 20 staff is currently working on these projects at the company's
headquarters in Oberursel on premises covering an area of 960 square
metres. In the adjoining service area, which covers an area of almost 600
square metres, the company, as from August 96, will be producing hardware
products - including the new PowerPC products - in its own, highly modern
manufacturing plant using the most recent manufacturing techniques.