====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors- / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional Newsletter) BACK FOR THE FUTURE || ====================================================================== AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga Technologies, GmbH ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 970404 M O R E O N W O R L D O F A M I G A C R O N U S A N D P R O D A D A N N O U N C E M E N T Q U I C K P A K O N G A T E W A Y P H A S E 5 W E L C O M E S G A T E W A Y P H A S E 5 M I N O R D E L A Y A S I M C D F S 3 . 8 A V A I L A B L E Editor's Thoughts and Introduction: First, some comments on our 970401 or April First issue. Just in case anyone still has any doubts, yes, the entire issue was an April Fools' Day hoax. We very much hope we caused a few chuckles - and maybe an embarrassed blush or two once someone realized they'd been "hoodwinked". The Amiga community could use a little lightheartedness now and then - we've certainly had enough of the other kind of feelings. Everything in this issue is real, even though one or two items have a newsdate of April 1 and the term "Geek Gadgets" may make some readers suspicious. We have a long posting to update readers about the upcoming World of Amiga show in London. It sounds like a good one. We are especially interested in the new Amiga to be shown - not an AT/QuickPak product, apparently?? If any of our British readers who attend would like to share their impressions of the show with us, we'd appreciate it. ProDAD and Cronus announce a development package that will allow software to run under both pOS and Amiga OS. That should be of interest to programmers in the audience. Both QuickPak and phase 5 have made statements of welcome to the new owners of the Amiga. We were very pleased to see this, as it shows a coming together of important players in the Amiga market after what had been a long and sometimes bitter bidding session. It seems business sense is prevailing, and that's very good. We thought we'd run phase 5's announcement of a slight delay in mailings in case any of our readers are waiting on them. Finally, there's an announcement of an upgrade to one of the Amiga's top CD file systems. All in all a quiet set of stories compared to some of the excitement of recent days. Maybe we're getting back to a semblance of normalcy? We can only hope. We hope you enjoy this non-April Fools issue. Brad Webb, Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- E-MAIL TO THE E-DITOR Dear Brad, A good April fool edition. It sucked me in right to the end. I thought, the Trammiel, Ali and Gould Alliance sounded a bit bizarre though. The Cheese ball logo, is just the thing some market drone would dream up. I suspect Dale Larson may not be amused by all the calls and email he will get by those who did not read the last paragraph. A pity we cannot get 8 meg CHIP RAM upgrades from Dale, it would be poetic justice. Dale Roethig The Editor responds: I'm glad you enjoyed it. When I was writing the Cheese Ball story, I realized it was almost too believable. There's a comment there on modern advertising, I suppose. There were clues in each story, and of course the disclaimer at the end of the newsletter. Some folks got so excited, they never got that far. I was assured by Colin Thompson, author of the 8 Meg Chip RAM story, that Dale Larson was in on the hoax. If Colin was kidding me, I just want to say that, Mr. Larson, SIR, Colin made me do it! (Any chance he'll believe me?) Brad --- I just wanted to send you a quick note to tell you how much I appreciate the Amiga Update. I have been a regular reader and will continue to be. You are doing a GREAT service to the Amiga computer. Thank you again! Sincerely, Joe Tracy, Editor in Chief NewTekniques The Editor responds: It's very rewarding when a respected professional in the field appreciates what you're doing. We don't claim greatness, but "Amiga Update" is a chance to give something back to an Amiga community which has been very good to us. We trust the readers will help keep us on track. Thanks for your comments. Brad --- I got really excited about the secret stash of chips. WOW! I just slid over the name of the law firm and really didn't connect anything until I got to Erin Blarney. That slowed me down, I backed up and then realized the whole thing was a magnificent hoax. You rat! Dorothy The Editor responds: Just to keep the old ego in line, we have this appraisal of your editor. It's probably more accurate than any other you've read here. But we did have a lot of fun! (I've known Dorothy for some years and I'm sure she meant "rat" in the nicest way possible. Hmmm.) Brad ---------------------------------------------------------------------- M O R E O N W O R L D O F A M I G A The World Of Amiga Show Is Back Again PRESS RELEASE Following its spectacular success last year, The World Of Amiga exhibition is coming back. The two-day show will be held at the Novotel Exhibition Centre in Hammersmith, London, on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th May. All the latest developments in Amiga technology will be on display, with major hardware and software launches anticipated from the leading UK and German developers and manufacturers. Admission prices are £8 for adults and £6 for children. "After last year's smashing success which saw the re-birth of confidence in the future of Amiga technology, The World Of Amiga 1997 is set to further enhance the machines' resurgence," said Peter Brameld, head of show organiser PBA Events. "With even more hardware and software developments this year than last, there are lots more reasons for Amiga users to come along to this unique showcase." The Big Names Sign Up For The Big Show The top guns in Amiga computing are lining up to take part in The World Of Amiga - promising to make the show the biggest and best event of its kind for years. The exhibition line-up already includes: Active Software Blittersoft Digita International Epic Marketing Golden Image Guildhall Leisure Services Hi Soft Systems HiQ Ltd ICPUG Nova Design - USA PD Soft Power Computing Sadness Software Scala UK Siren Software SNAP Computer Supplies Wizard Developments "The impressive commitment to this year's show from Amiga hardware and software producers is very gratifying - although it was not entirely unexpected, given the tremendous success of The World of Amiga 1996," said Peter Brameld, head of show organiser PBA Events. "Companies that didn't exhibit at last year's show were kicking themselves afterwards for missing a golden opportunity. They're obviously determined not to make the same mistake twice!" The Yanks Are Coming! The Yanks Are Coming! Renowned producers of image processing software for the Amiga, Nova Design have announced they will be attending The World Of Amiga show in May. The Americans will be bringing along the latest version of their top rated image processing and special effects software ImageFX. They will also be showing their exciting video demo reel that demonstrates the use of ImageFX from broadcast video and film sequences and custom sequences, including many using Nova's forthcoming Aladdin 4D package. "Nova Design remains excited about the future possibilities of the Amiga market," said spokesman Kermit Woodall. "While some companies have chosen to abandon the format, we continue to provide new and innovative software to Amiga users worldwide." Closer to home, ICPUG, Epic Multimedia, Digita International, and Guildhall Leisure have been talking about their participation in The World Of Amiga. The familiar faces from ICPUG will again be running their free technical advice centre at the show. "We'll have a number of Amigas on the stand and out team of experts will be ready to help visitors with their technical queries," says ICPUG's Janet Bickerstaff. "Dave Pocock, formerly technical support manager at Commodore's Maidenhead office, hopes to be giving the benefit of his experience on our stand for one day of the show. Back issues of the ICPUG Journal will be available and we will also be accepting part year memberships." An exciting new addition to the Epic Multimedia stable which will be revealed at the show is the Epic Interactive Encyclopedia of the Paranormal - featuring hundreds of detailed articles with film clips, samples, animation and still photos covering everything from UFOs to sea creatures, spoon-bending, ghosts, aliens and much more that is weird and exotic. There'll also be an opportunity to view the Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 97. This latest version has new features including enhanced speech, Inter-ACT, zoom into text, zoom into pictures and animations, national anthems, Euro-pedia. There are over 16,000 subjects, 4,000 colour and mono images, 200 sound clips, 200 film clips, three search engines and over a million words - plus the ability to create your own articles, and export any text or images. Digita International are offering all their products at special show prices, with even more discount for existing users who bring along proof of purchase. Award-winning new versions of Digita software on offer - with a choice of CDRom or floppy disk - are Wordworth 6, Wordworth 6 Office, Personal Paint 7, and Turbo-Calc 4. ClipartCombo, a special bundle containing all of Digita's popular clip range, will also be on sale. "We love these shows and meeting Amiga users," says Guildhall Leisure's George Bray. "Plus we feel a very strong sense of affinity with The World Of Amiga show - it's a great chance for the Amiga community to get together and portray our unity to the computing world. "At Guildhall Leisure we've always had the Amiga at heart. We have continued to support the machine to the hilt and recently have increased our commitment by acquiring the Microprose and Electronic Arts back catalogues." Products which Guildhall will be bringing to The World Of Amiga include: Microprose's Grand Prix, UFO: Enemy Unknown, Fields of Glory, Starlord, F117A, Dog Fight, Impossible Mission, B17, F19, Railroad Tycoon, F15II, Colonization, Theme Park, Road Rash, Desert Strike, PGA Golf, Fifa Soccer and Wing Commander. There will also be a batch of new Guildhall releases including Minskies:The Abduction, Euroleague Manager, Basket Island, World of Golf, and Gun Fury. Plus a catalogue of more than 100 games, educational and business software titles. New Amiga Set For Unveiling At Show A brand new Amiga - the first for several years - will make its debut at The World Of Amiga show in May. Called the Power Amiga 7000, it is being launched not by a hardware developer as you might expect but by Direct Software. "This is something the whole Amiga world has been waiting for," says Direct Software's Shaun Flowers. "Everyone who comes to the show will want to see it in action. "Not only is this a new Amiga, it's the most powerful ever - with 22 Megabytes of RAM - and it will outblast any PC under £3,000. "When VIScorp took over they promised they would bring out a new Amiga, but it never happened - now we've actually gone and done it. "The machine is up and running right now. We'll be demonstrating it at the show and we'll be taking orders for it at that time." As well as the new machine, Direct Software will be bringing with them more than 400 Amiga software titles. Gasteiner Throws Its Weight Behind The World Of Amiga Putting an end to confusion about the number of Amiga shows planned for this year, it has been officially announced that there is to be only one - The World Of Amiga - and not two, as some reports had suggested. Gasteiner boss Vas Shah has confirmed that he will not be staging an Amiga event in March - instead he is giving his total support to The World Of Amiga in May. In a joint statement, Peter Brameld, head of show organisers PBA Events, and Vas Shah said: "The World Of Amiga will be considerably strengthened as a result of the decision to combine the expertise of our two organisations. "We'll be working together very closely to ensure that the show is an even greater success. "Gasteiner bring with them not only their commitment to Amiga technology but also their experience in the exhibitions field. Added to the proven skills of those at PBA Events, it means that this year's The World Of Amiga becomes even more of an event not to be missed." More New Products On The Way For The Big Amiga Showcase Power Computing will be launching their impressive new game The Big Red Adventure - a stunning graphical adventure game for the A1200/A4000 which comes in CD format. Power Computing's new 12-speed SCSI CD ROM player will also be available at the show, along with a full range of accelerators, Ram expansions, floppy and hard disk drives, mono and colour scanners, and CD ROMs. Plus the GVP range of products including IO extenders, DSS8 sound sampler, Genlock, GVP Ram and hard cards. The 68060 board for the A4000 desktop will also be available. Anyone who spends £50 or more on the Power Computing stand will get 50% of their ticket price refunded, and anyone spending over £100 will get a full ticket refund! SAdENESS Software are promoting their new Amiga CD ROM titles - Hidden Truth, AGA Experience Vol 3 and an upgrade to Women of the Web. Plus other Amiga software such as Capital Punishment and Worms:Directors Cut, and productivity software like Art Effect, Secal, Ibrowse and AWeb. All this including special offers on both days. From Gasteiner Technologies will come "the cheapest in the world" fax modems, hard drives, memory and CD ROMs - and for nostalgia lovers, genuine Commodore mouse mats! The name PIOS will be familiar to ardent Amiga fans who have been eagerly following the new computer manufacturer's progress in the development stages. Now PIOS has become the latest addition to the growing list of exhibitors at The World Of Amiga - and they're ready to unveil their impressive new hardware. Making its first public appearance in the UK is the transAm, described by PIOS as "the home computer of the future, the Amiga of the next generation, faster than the Amiga world knew before". The machine runs under more than one operating system. It offers BeOS and Linux with real multitasking, multithreading and object orientation. And there's more! After transAm comes Maxxtrem - a fast PowerPC designed again around the modular concept which offers, as well as BeOS and Linux, MacOS included. The common denominator is the CHRP (Common Hardware Reference Platform) compliant board designed by ex-Amiga hardware guru Dave Haynie. Learn more about this exciting new hardware at The World Of Amiga by talking to the PIOS team which includes John Smith and Dr Peter Kittel. The World Of Amiga takes place at the Novotel Exhibition Centre, Hammersmith, London, on Saturday 17th May 10am-5pm and Sunday 18th May 10am-4pm. Adults £8, children £6. Advance booking credit card Hotline 01369 707766. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- C R O N U S A N D P R O D A D A N N O U N C E M E N T Cronus and proDAD Software provide complete p.OS development environment. Tempe, Arizona (March 26, 1997) - Cronus, a software development and distribution company, and proDAD Software, creator of the p.OS operating system, announced today that they have reached an agreement to distribute a complete set of software tools and a developer version of p.OS that will allow developers to begin porting their software to the new p.OS operating system. The upcoming Geek Gadgets Version 2 CD-ROM (Amiga Developers Environment) from Cronus, due for release in April 1997, will contain a developers release of p.OS and all necessary tools for p.OS development. Using these tools, it is possible to write programs that run on both p.OS and AmigaOS using the same binary file. A shared library that runs on both operating systems provides applications with all necessary ANSI C and POSIX support, while special startup code allows programs to determine at startup whether they are running on p.OS or AmigaOS and make the appropriate system calls. Using this technique, the development tools themselves run on either operating system with negligible overhead or increased binary size. The p.OS developer release requires an m68020 (or higher) processor, a hard drive, and a minimum of 2 MB of RAM. Applications developed for this portable operating system are source code compatible with p.OS ports to other architectures such as the PowerPC. With a simple recompile, developers of p.OS applications can reach the entire installed base of p.OS users, regardless of the underlying hardware. By porting to p.OS now, developers will be able to take advantage of easy migration to future p.OS releases on other architectures and enjoy the benefits of hardware independence (and a brighter market). Geek Gadgets and the Geek Gadgets logo are trademarks of Cronus. p.OS and the p.OS logo are trademarks of proDAD Software. ABOUT CRONUS Cronus 1840 East Warner Road Suite 105-265 Tempe, AZ 85284 USA Phone: 602-491-0442 FAX: 602-491-0048 Email: info@ninemoons.com WWW: http://www.ninemoons.com ftp: ftp://ftp.ninemoons.com Cronus was founded by Fred Fish, author of the famous "Fish Disks" for Amiga, the "Fish" series of CD-ROMs, the "Amiga Developers Environment", and other Amiga software products. Fred Fish has been involved in the distribution of software for the Amiga since 1985. ABOUT PRODAD proDAD Software Feldelestr. 24 D-78194 Immendingen Germany Phone: ++49-7462/91134 FAX: ++49-7462/7435 Email: adver@prodad.de WWW: http://www.prodad.de proDAD Software was founded 1990 and is the leading producer of video software for the Amiga. The p.OS project was started in 1995 to produce a portable operating system for proDAD Software and other innovative Amiga developers, while providing an easy migration path from AmigaOS and retaining all the expected features and advantages such as full preemptive multitasking and responsive user interfaces. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Q U I C K P A K O N G A T E W A Y QuikPak Welcomes Gateway 2000 to the Amiga Community Once again it seems that the Amiga Community is subjected to another sharp turn on the rollercoaster that is the future of the Amiga. The recent announcement by Gateway 2000 that its bid to purchase the assets of Amiga Technologies has been successful is truly a surprise. Yet, it is a surprise that holds much promise. Gateway 2000 is a tremendous success story - continually scoring top marks in customer satisfaction surveys based on service, support, and product reliability. Gateway 2000 is a leader in its market, and brings to the Amiga Community a wealth of resources and knowledge. While we are understandably dissappointed that our own bid was unsuccessful, we at QuikPak remain as committed as ever to the future of the Amiga. We have devoted a large portion of our energies to developing the Amiga market and supporting the community, and we have no intention of abandoning our position now. The Gateway 2000 purchase may represent an excellent opportunity to breathe new life into the Amiga platform. We've maintained all along that we believe in the future of the Amiga, and stand by our statements. Thank you once again for your continuing support, and we look forward to bringing you new information as it becomes available. We look forward to working with you, the user, and all our other partners in making the Amiga's future as bright as possible. And, we look forward to the opportunity of working with the newest player in the Amiga field, Gateway 2000. Sincerely, Dan Robinson Director of Business Development QuikPak Dave Ziembicki C.E.O. QuikPak ---------------------------------------------------------------------- P H A S E 5 W E L C O M E S G A T E W A Y A statement about Gateway 2000 as the new owner of Amiga Technologies Oberursel, April 3, 1997: phase 5 digital products, a leading vendor of CPU Acceleration and Graphic Expansion products for Amiga computers, today welcomes Gateway 2000 as the new owner of Amiga Technologies. "We appreciate the fact that with Gateway 2000 a new owner is going to take over Amiga Technologies, who can provide a strong base for a future development of the Amiga and the Amiga market" says Wolf Dietrich, General Manager of phase 5. "We hope that Gateway 2000 will be interested in the future of the Amiga itself as an alternative computer system. With their economical strength and market position, Gateway 2000 can start the creation of new products with a vision for the future, not being limited by short-term economical constraints. Insofar, we believe that there are big chances for the Amiga future if Gateway 2000 understands the heart and soul of the Amiga and it's users." With it's leading position in development and integration of next generation, PowerPC-based processor cards into existing Amiga systems phase 5 digital products since end of 1995 has undertaken pioneering steps, the results of which the company is ready to share with Gateway 2000 and Amiga International. "Once again, we are open for a technological cooperation which could result in nearly immediate availability of powerful and inexpensive new technology for the Amiga" comments Wolf Dietrich. "A year ago, we had already started such a cooperation, before Amiga Technologies cancelled all development on their side. We have continued with the project that we had initiated, and today we are just weeks ago from the release of a new, sensational product generation. We will contact Amiga International in the near future, to discuss the opportunities for technological exchange, and if it is wanted, we are ready for an extensive cooperation both on the hardware and the software sector." phase 5 digital products is a technologically leading vendor of CPU Acceleration and Graphic Expansion products for the Amiga computers. Since end of 1995, the company has sold some 60,000 add-on products in a value of some DM 25 million to Amiga users all over the world. With it's continuing development efforts phase 5 digital products is pioneering innovative projects such as the PowerPC-based PowerUp Processor Cards for Amiga systems (see the Cyberstorm PPC and the Blizzard 603e Power Board press release) and the development of the custom-chip based A\BOX Computer System, which is following the Amiga vision on a technological level that is prepared for the next decade. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- P H A S E 5 M I N O R D E L A Y Information about the short delay of the PowerUp upgrade mailing Oberursel, April 3, 1997: Due to Easter vacation, the PowerUp upgrade mailing to owners of a phase 5 digital products 68040 or 68060 accelerator is slightly delayed, as the information and ordering material still must be translated to English and be printed. The mailing will now follow in the second week of April. We apologize for this delay and kindly ask all our customers, who are waiting for this information, for their understanding. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A S I M C D F S 3 . 8 A V A I L A B L E TITLE AsimCDFS VERSION v3.8 COMPANY Asimware Innovations Inc. 600 Upper Wellington St., Unit D Hamilton, Ontario Canada L9A 3P9 Phone: (905)578-4916 Fax: (905)578-3966 EMail: info@asimware.com WWW: http://www.asimware.com ftp: ftp://ftp.asimware.com AsimCDFS v3.8 Maintenance Release --------------------------------- We would like to announce the availability of AsimCDFS v3.8, which was released as of April 1st, 1997. This is a maintenance update for the AsimCDFS v3 package. The update highlights include: - support for new CD-ROM drives, including the Pioneer 12x, Nakamichi 4.8, Toshiba XM-3801, Toshiba XM-5701 and the Philips CDD2600. - support for the Corel Stock Photo Library #3 - updated language catalogs; - German localization of the installation procedure. Registered users can obtain this release via our BBS, WWW or ftp site. - ftp: ftp://ftp.asimware.com - WWW: http://www.asimware.com - BBS: (905)332-9207 You will need your AsimCDFS serial number to obtain access. About AsimCDFS v3... -------------------- The AsimCDFS software package is a CD-ROM control system which allows the user to read most CD-ROM discs with an Amiga computer and a suitable SCSI or ATAPI CD-ROM drive. AsimCDFS is equipped with the following advanced features: - access to ISO 9660, High Sierra, Rock Ridge and Macintosh HFS CD-ROM formats; - FishMarket, a CD-ROM disc containing the public domain Fred Fish collection; - AsimTunes, an audio librarian/controller providing advanced librarian and playback features; - support for direct digitizing from standard audio CDs and playing audio via the Amiga hardware; - CDTV and CD32 emulation modules, complete with autobooting from CD-ROM discs; - integrated support for Kodak and Corel PhotoCD discs. Colour WorkBench icons are created for easy identification. Support for resolutions from 192x128 up to 3072x2048; - support for both SCSI and ATAPI CD-ROM drives; - preferences editor for all AsimCDFS settings; and, - full ARexx command set available for all programs. Asimware Innovations Inc. is an Amiga software development house specializing in CD-ROM and CD-Recordable technologies. Our current product line includes AsimCDFS, MasterISO, Texture Heaven 1 & 2, Audio Thunder and PhotoCD Manager. Asimware Innovations Inc. April 1st, 1997 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Amiga Update on the net: some issues available at: http://www.sharbor.com/amiga/news/ (in html format) http://www.amigacom.com (in ASCII text) Australian Mirror Site: http://www.comcen.com.au/~paulm/index.html All back issues available (in ASCII text) at: http://www.globaldialog.com/AdventureCentral/AU.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1997 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified. ====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Brad Webb/AmigaUpdate /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ || ======================================================================