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Text File  |  1993-04-05  |  71KB  |  1,580 lines
  1. 072010303050000144002006006010000
  2. 11
  3. 2Page #1
  4. F0110000001
  5. 9[..◆.◆..◆.◆◆◆◆.◆◆...◆..◆.◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆.]0110
  6. üFalcon030-theMachineofthefuture?Ç
  7. bymanydifferentpeople
  8.  
  9. éThefollowingarticlesoriginallyweregatheredonasinglefileand
  10. storedon"AtariBot"-arobotthatamongotherthingskeptinformation
  11. abouttheFalcon030andtheAmiga4000foranyonetoread.Thisisthe
  12. fileaboutFalcon030,somewhatslicedintoshorterfiles,sothateven
  13. peoplewithnottoomuchmemorywillbeabletoreadit,anditshouldbe
  14. quickertofindyourwaythrougheacharticle.Anyway,here'stheheader
  15. fromCep,theonewhocompiledthestuff...Ç
  16.  
  17. =========================================================================
  18. AtariFalcon030DocumentHistoryLastUpdate:26September1992
  19. =========================================================================
  20. Containsearlypre-release/releasedocumentswhichhavebeenposted
  21. aroundtheplaced.Thisisagrowingdocument.Ifyouhavemore
  22. informationontheFalcon(especiallytechnicalstufflikehardware
  23. registers;-)pleaseemailme.
  24.  
  25. Notethatsomeoftheearlyreportsarefalse.Thesehavemainlybeen
  26. leftthereforentertainmentvalue;^)
  27.  
  28. Compiledby:AndrewKing[u882453@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au],IRCnick:Cep
  29. =========================================================================
  30.  
  31. 9[..◆.◆..◆.◆◆◆◆.◆◆...◆..◆.◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆.]0110
  32. From:vjrao@owlnet.rice.edu(VinayJulapalliRao)
  33. Subject:FalconResolutions
  34. Date:Tue,25Aug199201:00:08GMT
  35.  
  36. ResolutionsavailableontheAtariFalcon030
  37. (c)1992AtariCorp.WrittenbyJohnTownsend
  38. =========================================================================
  39. Thisdocumentmaybere-printedagainandagainaslongastheAtari
  40. copyrightremainsintact.
  41. =========================================================================
  42.  
  43. Acoupleofnotes:Unlikepreviousmachines,therearejusttoomany
  44. resolutionstogiveeachresolutionaname.Therefore,Iwilldomybest
  45. todescribewhattheresolutionisandwhichmonitoritison.
  46.  
  47. -NOTE:TVandaColorMonitorarethesame..byColorMonitor,Iam
  48. talkingaboutthestandardSC1224.ByVGA,ImeanastandardVGA
  49. Monitor.
  50.  
  51. 40columnmodes("column"meansthenumberofxpixelsdividedby8)
  52. ---------------
  53. 4color,normal,TV:320x200,4colors,2planes
  54. 16color,normal,TV:320x200,16colors,4planes
  55. 256color,normal,TV:320x200,256colors,8planes
  56. Truecolor,normal,TV:320x200,truecolor
  57. 4color,interlace,TV:320x400,4colors,2planes
  58. 16color,interlace,TV:320x400,16colors,4planes
  59. 256color,interlace,TV:320x400,256colors,8planes
  60. Truecolor,interlace,TV:320x400,truecolor
  61.  
  62. 4color,normal,VGA:320x480,4colors,2planes
  63. 16color,normal,VGA:320x480,16colors,4planes
  64. 256color,normal,VGA:320x480,256colors,8planes
  65. Truecolor,normal,VGA:320x480,truecolor
  66. 4color,line-doubling,VGA:320x240,4colors,2planes
  67. Ç16color,line-doubling,VGA:320x240,16colors,4planes
  68. 256color,line-doubling,VGA:320x240,256colors,8planes
  69. Truecolor,line-doubling,VGA:320x240,truecolor
  70.  
  71. 80columnmodes
  72. ---------------
  73. 2color,normal,TV:640x200,2colors,1plane
  74. 4color,normal,TV:640x200,4colors,2planes
  75. 16color,normal,TV:640x200,16colors,4planes
  76. 256color,normal,TV:640x200,256colors,8planes
  77. Truecolor,normal,TV:640x200,truecolor
  78. 4color,interlace,TV:640x400,4colors,2planes
  79. 16color,interlace,TV:640x400,16colors,4planes
  80. 256color,interlace,TV:640x400,256colors,8planes
  81. Truecolor,interlace,TV:640x400,truecolor
  82.  
  83. 2color,normal,VGA:640x480,2colors,1plane
  84. 4color,normal,VGA:640x480,4colors,2planes
  85. 16color,normal,VGA:640x480,16colors,4planes
  86. 256color,normal,VGA:640x480,256colors,8planes
  87. 4color,line-doubling,VGA:640x240,4colors,2planes
  88. 16color,line-doubling,VGA:640x240,16colors,4planes
  89. 256color,line-doubling,VGA:640x240,256colors,8planes
  90.  
  91. andlastly..therearecompabilitymodesforSTLow,STMedium,andST
  92. HighonbothVGAmonitorsandSC1224monitors.(Onacolormonitor,ST
  93. Highisachievedbyusingtheinterlacemode).
  94.  
  95. Also,theSTMonochromemonitor(theSM124)willworkwithFalcon030as
  96. well.However,itonlysupportsoneresolution:STHighResolution.
  97.  
  98. AllmodesonaTVcanbeoverscanned.ThismeansmultiplyingtheXandY
  99. resolutionby1.2.Forexample,modeswith320pixelsofhorizontal
  100. resolution(Xres)willbecome384pixelsacross,andmodeswith640
  101. pixelswillbecome768across.OverscanningisdoneintheXandY
  102. resolution.Youcan'tdothemindependently.SpecialNote:OnaVGA
  103. monitor,overscanis"faked"..sincethevideohardwaredoesn'thavethe
  104. capabilitytodooverscanonaVGAmonitor,wemadeitsothatifa
  105. overscanmodeissetonaVGAmonitor,youstillseethenormalsize
  106. screen,butthescreenisawindowontothebiggeroverscannedimage.
  107. Makesense?Wedidthisforcompatibility.Thiswayifagamethathasan
  108. overscannedstaruppicturecanusethesamepiconboththeVGAmonitor
  109. andtheTVmonitor.Prettycool,eh?<grin>
  110.  
  111. BTW..OverscancanNOTbesetfromthedesktop.TheAESandDesktopwill
  112. workjustfinewithit,butbecauseyoucan'tseethepartsofthe
  113. screen,wethoughtthatthatoptionshouldn'tbeavailablefromthe
  114. desktop.Wedon'twanttoconfusepeople.However,Overscancanbeset
  115. usinganewXBIOScall(Vsetmode())..soitisstillavailable.
  116.  
  117. IhopeIhaven'tmadeanymistakes.Itriple-checkedthisdocumentin
  118. searchoferrorsandIcouldn'tfindany.Ifyoudofindsome,sendme
  119. EmailonGEnie(toTOWNS)orCIS(70007,1135)andletmeknow.
  120.  
  121. --JohnTownsend,AtariCorp.
  122.  
  123. PS.Anyonewouldwouldliketoreprintthismessage,pleasedoso!The
  124. smallerthenumberoftimesIhavetotypethatmessage,themoremy
  125. fingerswiththankyou!;-)
  126.  
  127. ÇAfterlookingatthisonemoretime..onepointtoclearup:By
  128. sayingSC1224ColorMonitor,ImeananyColorMonitorthatAtari
  129. havemanufacturedfortheST/Mega/STE/MegaSTEcomputers.Clearas
  130. mud?;-)
  131. =========================================================================
  132. Date:Fri,24Jul199214:36:14GMT
  133.  
  134. Hardware:
  135.    16MHzMC68030
  136.    32MHzMotorola56001DSP-chip
  137.    1,4or16MegaByte(Nosimms...)
  138.  
  139. Externalconnectors:
  140.    parallelport
  141.    serialport
  142.    SCSIII-port
  143.    Videoout/Genlock
  144.    stereoheadphones-out
  145.    stereomike-in
  146.    DSP/Digitalaudiointerface
  147.    RF-Modulator(TV)
  148.    LAN-port
  149.  
  150. CartidgeROMport
  151.    Joysticks
  152.    MIDI-In
  153.    MIDI-Out
  154.  
  155. ST-joystick/mouseports
  156.  
  157. Intern
  158.    DRAMexpansionboard
  159.    Internalbusexpansion-slot
  160.    InternalIDEharddisk-connection
  161.    Internaldiskdrive
  162.  
  163. Resolutions:
  164.    ModeResolutionBitplnscolorspallette
  165.    STLow-res320x2004164096
  166.    STMed-res640x200244096
  167.    STHigh-res640x400124096
  168.    640x4808256262.144
  169.    truecolor320x2001532768--
  170.    VGA/VIDEOx:320or6401,4,2,16,(overscanselect)
  171.    y:200or4008256262.144
  172.  
  173. TheDSPcandoa1024pointcomplexFastfouriertransformin2.07
  174. milliseconds.TheTTwithcoprocessorneeds145milliseconds.
  175.  
  176. SincetheDMAporthasbeenremovedyoucan'tusetheSLM804and604
  177.  
  178. TheIDEconnectorallowsyoutoconnectacheaperIDE-harddisk.
  179.  
  180. P.S.Igotallthisinformationfromamagazinecalled"ataristnieuws"
  181. edition50/51.There'slotsmoreinfointhearticle(especially
  182. abouttheDSP).I'mnotgonnatypeallthatstuffthough:)
  183.  
  184. JanKort
  185. kort@fwi.uva.nl
  186. =========================================================================
  187. ÇFrom:JJL101@psuvm.psu.edu(J.J.Lehett)
  188. Subject:AAFalconOverviewandContents
  189. Date:2Aug9203:24:43GMT
  190.  
  191. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  192. ///ATARIADVANTAGEMAGAZINE///
  193. ///Contents--June/July1992///
  194. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  195.  
  196. FALCON'030REVEALED!--Thenextgenerationofhomecomputeris
  197. """"""""""""""""""""onthewayandtheFalcon'030leadsthe
  198. packwithpowerandfeatures.
  199. FALCON'030ataGLANCE:
  200. *Motorola68030Microprocessorrunningat16MHz,
  201. multi-taskingcapable
  202. *Motorola68881or6888216MHzFloatingpointcoprocessor
  203. *MotorolaDSP56001DigitalSignalProcessor(DSP)
  204. *1to16MBofmemoryand512KBofROM
  205. *16bitBLiTTERGraphicscoprocessorrunningat16MHz
  206. *EnhancedBroadcastTVqualityVideo
  207. --"TrueColor"320x200resolution,32,768colorsor640x480
  208. resolution,256colorsfroma264,144colorpalette
  209. --VGAorVideo320or640by200or400resolution,2,16,or
  210. 256colorsfroma262,144colorpalette
  211. --StandardSTevideomodeswitha4096colorpalette
  212. --RFmodulatorandVGAmonitorconnections
  213. --Overscansupport
  214. --Genlockandmulti-mediacapable
  215. --Graphicsoverlayandvideotiling
  216. --Enhancedhighspeed16MHzBlittergraphicsco-processor
  217. --STehorizontalscrolling
  218. *"CDquality"stereosound
  219. --Stereo16bitAnalogtoDigitalinputs
  220. --Stereo16bitDigitaltoAnalogoutputs
  221. --EightchannelstereoDMAsoundenginewith16bitPCMdigital
  222. record/playbackwithupto50KHzsamplerates
  223. --Stereo8bitSTecompatiblePCMsound
  224. --STcompatible3channelPSGsound
  225. --MultiplexertoconnectCodec,DSPandDMAsoundengine
  226. --Stereomicrophoneinputsandheadphoneoutputsconnectedtoa
  227. 16bitstereocodec
  228. --DSPdigitalaudioconnector,upto1MHzdatatransferrate
  229. --Built-inmonophonicspeaker
  230. *1.44MBfloppydrive
  231. *Built-inIDE21/2"harddriveinterface(driveoptional)
  232. *SCSIIIperipheralinterface(harddrive,tapedrive,etc.)
  233. *MegaSTe/TTcompatiblelocalareanetwork(LAN)interface
  234. *Enhancedmodem/RS232port
  235. *STandSTecompatiblejoystick/controllerports
  236. *Built-in"processordirect"expansionconnectors
  237. *OnboardrealtimeclockandbatterybackedupRAM
  238. *MIDIinputandoutput
  239. *Parallelprinterport
  240. *Enhancedkeyboardcontrollerallows300DPImice
  241. =========================================================================
  242. 9[..◆.◆..◆.◆◆◆◆.◆◆...◆..◆.◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆.]0110
  243. Subject:Falcon030isthere..
  244. Date:18Aug9213:34:04GMT
  245.  
  246. MadefortheRealWorld:APersonalMediaSystem
  247. ------------------------------------------------
  248. Ç
  249. Mostcomputermanufacturersseemtothinkthattherealworldisblack&
  250. white,ordrawnfromalimitedpaletteofcolors.Thatsoundsarenothing
  251. morethanlo-finoises.Andthattherealworldconsistsofpeoplewho
  252. don'tcareaboutcost,compatibilityofnewmachineswitholdersoftware,
  253. or"improved"operatingsystemsthatcauseproblemsinsteadofsolvethem
  254. (andwhoneverneedtoworkonmorethanonetaskatatime).
  255.  
  256. AtAtari,weknowbetter.Atari'sworldincludesavisoninwhich
  257. advancedtechnologymeetscost-effectiveproductiontocreatenotjusta
  258. greatcomputer,butagreatpersonalmediasystem.WebuilttheAtari
  259. Falcon030asapersonalmediasystemfortherealworld-aworldwith
  260. vibrantcolors,crystal-clearsound,andpeoplewhowantacomputerto
  261. maketheirliveseasier,notharder.Ourpersonalmediasystemallows
  262. manipulationofvideo,audio,text,animationandtelecommunications-
  263. easilyandaffordablyonaqualityhomesystem.Atari'spersonalmedia
  264. systemforconsumersiswasmultimediasystemsshouldbeforbusiness⑨
  265. people.
  266.  
  267. TheAtariFalcon030isa"musicalinstrument".A"specialF/Xoptical
  268. bench"forvideo.Abetter-than-CD-quality"digitalrecorder".An
  269. elctroniccanvaswithmorethanaquartermillionpossiblecolors.A
  270. graphicsworkstation.Ananimationstudio.Amultimediaproduction
  271. center.Anunflagginghelpmatearoundthehouse.Anexperiencethat
  272. you'veneverexperiencedbefore.
  273.  
  274. Simplystated,theAtariFalcon030isthefirstsystemthatmakes
  275. personalmediapossible.Here'swhy.
  276.  
  277. ProvenTechnology,ProvenSoftware
  278. ----------------------------------
  279.  
  280. TheAtariFalcon030'sheartisaMotorola68030processor(thesame
  281. blazinglyfastchipusedincomputersothercompaniessellforthousends
  282. more).It'steamedwitha32MHzMotorola56001DigitalSignalProcessing
  283. andaspecialAtaricustomchipsetthatdeliversstate-of-the-artaudio
  284. qualityformusic,speech,orspecialeffects.Withmostcomputers,this
  285. kindofextraordinaryaudiocapabilityisanexpensivead-on(ifit's
  286. availableatall).Butinapersonalmediasystem,wedesigninquality
  287. audiofrombeginning.TheAtariFalcon030deliversaudiopowerwithout
  288. theprice.
  289.  
  290. Forvideo,theAtariFalcon030doesn'tjustofferSuperVGAgraphics,but
  291. alsotruecolor16-bitmode(upto640x480resolutionandupto65,536
  292. on-screencolors).Itacceptsexternalvideosyncforhigh-quality
  293. genlock,and-thankstoauniqueoverlaymode-makestitlingand
  294. specialeffectsabreeze.Graphicsarefast,too,becauseofadedicated,
  295. high-speedgraphicscoprocessorchip.Unlikecomputersthatrequire
  296. costly(andsometimestemperamental)optionalhardwaretodopro-level
  297. video,theAtariFalcon030alreadyincludeswhatyouneed.
  298.  
  299. Thislevelofintegrationandperformanceiswhatyou'dexpectfroma
  300. companythathasbeenmakingpersonaltechnologyproductssince1985.
  301. Yet,astheAtariFalcon030looksforwardtothenewgenerationof
  302. creativityandproductivity,ithasn'tforgottenthepast.Itwillrun
  303. virtuallyallprogramsfortheindustry-standardAtariSt(asEurope's#1
  304. omputerduringthe'80's,avastselectionofpro-levelSTprogramsare
  305. alreadyavailable).Butthat'snotall:there'sstandardMS-DOSfile
  306. compatibility,andawealthofportsforcommunicatingwithexisting
  307. peripherals-aswellasoptionalsoon-to-be-released'386PCemulation,
  308. Çor,Macintoshemulation,andseveralotherexcitingnewtypesof
  309. peripheralsplannedforthefuture.Inshort,Atarihascombinedallof
  310. theingredientsforatruepersonalmediasystemforuseathome-orat
  311. theoffice.
  312.  
  313. ASoundInvestment
  314. ------------------
  315.  
  316. MIDIistheworld-widestandardthatallowstechnologyproductsto
  317. communicatewithtoday'smusicalinstruments,recordingdevices,and
  318. stagelighting.Atarimadethefirstcomputertoofferabuilt-inMIDI
  319. interface,whichforallothercomputersrequiresanextracardor
  320. externalbox.NowAtarihasuppedtheantebyaddingthenextlogical
  321. step:integrated,high-qualitydigitalaudio.Whetheryou'reamusician
  322. inneedofdigitalaudiorecordingorsynthesis,avideoproduction,an
  323. executivewhosavestimewithvoicemailmessages,oraspeechtherapist
  324. rehabillitatingchildren,theAtariFalcon030'sdigitalaudio
  325. capabilitiescanprovidetheanswertoyourneeds.
  326.  
  327. Yeteventhatjustscratchesthesurface.DigitalSignalProcessingcan
  328. producespecialeffectssuchasreverberationorecho,andhookintoyour
  329. homeentertainmentsystemtoprovideoptionslikesynthesizedconcert
  330. hallambience.Professional-qualityspeechcompressionanddecompression,
  331. alsoavailableoutofthebox,areessentialtoolsforthosewhoneedto
  332. fitsoundtopicture.Fordigitalrecording,theAtariFalcon030handels
  333. 8discretetracksatatime,withoutadd-onboardsorissuesof
  334. compatibility.BetweenMIDI,digitalrecording,andmultitasking,the
  335. AtariFalcon030providesthesame-ifnotsuperoirfunctionalityto
  336. digitalrecordingsystemscostingliterallythousandsof$more.
  337.  
  338. AColorfulSight
  339. ----------------
  340.  
  341. Artistscanneverhaveenoughcolors.That'swhytheAtariFalcon030can
  342. displaymorethan65,000colorsfromapaletteof262,144colors,andall
  343. ofthiscan-ifneeded-begenlockedtoprofessionalvideoequipment.
  344. Corporatepresentationstakeanastoundingvibrancy.Newvistasopenup
  345. fortheelectronicartist.Programsbecomemoreintuitive,thankstothe
  346. sophisticateduseofcolor.Andentertainment-well,let'sjustsay
  347. you'veneverseenthiskindofrichnessbeforeonanysystem.Youno
  348. longerhavetosettleforanythinglessthanavirtualrainbowofcolor.
  349.  
  350. TheFunFactor
  351. --------------
  352.  
  353. Thebesttoolsshouldbefuntouse,andtheAtariFalcon030isjust
  354. that.Already,majorsoftwaredevelopersaresoexictedaboutthis
  355. stunningpersonalmediasystemthatthey'vecommittedtoproviding
  356. programsthattakeadvantageoftheAtariFalcon030'sground-breaking
  357. capabilities,we'renotjusttalkingportsfromotherplatforms.You
  358. thinkyou'veseenflightsimulatorsbefore?Justwait.
  359.  
  360. TheAtariFalcon030finallydeliversonthepromiseofatruepersonal
  361. mediasystemsystemforthehome-that'sequallycomfortableadding
  362. surround-soundtoyourVCR,deliveringinteractiveeducation,runninga
  363. homesecuritysystem,orsimplyprovidingentertainmentafteraday's
  364. work.
  365.  
  366. PowerWithoutthePrice
  367. -----------------------
  368. Ç
  369. Atariisdedicatedtobringinghightechnologyintotherealworld,for
  370. realpeople.Wedon'tchargemorethanweneedtojustbecausewecanget
  371. awaywithit.Ouraudienceisnotpinstripeclonesor"blindlemmings",
  372. butthoseeverydayuserswhowantpowerful,efficient,cost-effectiv
  373. tools.
  374.  
  375. TheAtariFalcon030hasbeenyearsinthemaking.Itmarriesthebusiness
  376. experiencewe'vegainedwiththeMegaandTTline,themusicaledgethat
  377. theSTserieshasalwayshad,andtheincrediblecolorandspeedthat
  378. remainthehallmarkofourvideogametechnology.Fromthesethree
  379. apparentlydivergentsources,we'vecraftedaplatformthat'sreadyfor
  380. yourmostchallengingcreativtasks-wherecolorandsoundblend
  381. seamlesslyintoasystemthatcantrulybeanykindofpersonal,creative
  382. toolyouwant.
  383.  
  384. =========================================================================
  385. Subject:FirstReportfromDusseldorf!!!!!
  386. Date:Sat,22Aug199221:10:25GMT
  388. GEnie/Z*NETNEWSREPORT
  390. FIRSTREPORTFROMDUSSELDORF
  391. ----------------------------
  393. NathanPotechinofDMCPublishing,Inc.,filedthisfirstreportofthe
  394. hugeAtarishowinGermany.Theinformationcameviatelephonefromthe
  395. flooroftheAtariMesse("Fair")inDusseldorf,Germany,andwas
  396. transcribedbyJohnNagyoftheZ*NetNewsServiceatNathan'srequest,
  397. andhasbeenuploadedbyZ*NettoGEnie.Thisnewsreleasemaybe
  398. reprinted,excerpted,orre-postedonanyothertelecommunicationservice
  399. ONLYwiththisnoticeintact.TheAtariRoundtablesonGEnieare
  400. *official*informationservicesofAtariCorporation.
  401.  
  402. ------------------------------------------
  403. ATARIATATARIMESSE-THENEWWAVEBEGINS
  404. ------------------------------------------
  405. Everyyear,AtariholdsahugetradeshowinDusseldorf,Germany.
  406. Spanningroughlyfourfootballfieldsoffloorspace,theshowthisyear
  407. issimilarinsizeandattendancetolastyear'sevent.
  408.  
  409. TheannouncementoftheFalcon030tothelargestAtarishowintheworld
  410. wasthefirstorderofbusiness.AccordingtoNathanPotechin,"there
  411. areFalconsallovertheflooroftheshow,inalmosteverybooth."
  412. Clearly,thenearly-accurateprofileofthecomingmachineofferedby
  413. mostoftheAtarimediaacrossthelastmonthswasnotmissedbythe
  414. showgoingAtariMesseaudience,andtheexcitementinthecrowdwashigh
  415. astheysawitfirsthand.
  416.  
  417. Manyvendorshadnewapplicationsthatexposethepowerandfeaturesthat
  418. arenewontheFalcon030.DMCPublishing(Calamus)againhadthe
  419. largestboothonthefloor,spanning4,000squarefeetwithabout40
  420. peopleworkinginitalone.OtherlargeboothsincludedTMS,Matrix,3k,
  421. andMaxxon.Manynewproductswereshown,andwewillreportonthemin
  422. detailinalaterrelease.
  423.  
  424. MARKETINGPLANS,PRICEFORFALCONINUSA
  425.  
  426. Thehottestnewsat5:00PMFridayeveninginGermanyafterthecloseof
  427. thefirstdayofAtariMessewastheunveilingnotonlyoftheFalcon,
  428. ÇbutoftheplansthatAtarihastomarketthenewmachineintheUSA.
  429.  
  430. The"base"Falcon030willretailfor$799intheUSAinaonemegabyte
  431. configuration.ThenextoptionupthescalewillbeafourmegabyteRAM
  432. with65megabyteharddriveFalconat$1,399.
  433.  
  434. SamTramieltolddealersanddevelopersatanafternoonmeetingthatthe
  435. USlaunchwillbeginimmediatelywithregionalmarketingbuildups.
  436. IndividualregionsoftheUSAwillbetargeted,oneatatime,withmajor
  437. "dogandponyshows"tobothwooandeducatecomputerdealers."Serious"
  438. co-opadvertisingmoneywillbeofferedtodealerswhojoinintheroll-
  439. out.Onceenoughregionsareservedbyanoperatingdealernetwork,
  440. Atariwilllaunchanationaladvertisingcampaign.
  441.  
  442. IndustryobserverssuggestthatthisplanwillmakethemostofAtari's
  443. cashandproductionresources.Byservingasmallbutgrowingdealer
  444. networkwithproduct,on-boardFalcondealerscanbemoreassuredof
  445. deliveryofproductduringthebuild-outstagesoftheplan.Dealers
  446. willhelpandbehelpedinpromotionalcosts,enablingAtaritomakea
  447. biggersplashinsmallerpondswithlessoftheirownmoney,andallowing
  448. Atari'sresourcestogotowardsincreasingproductionofFalcon
  449. computers.Asproductionandsalesincrease,sowillrevenueswithwhich
  450. toattacknewregions.Meanwhile,Falconspecificsoftwarewillmature
  451. andpresentasolidbaseforthelaternationalmarketingefforts.
  453. MoredetailsfromGermanywillbecominglaterintheweekend.Lookfor
  454. morespecialreportsonGEnie,aserviceofGEnieandtheZ*NetNews
  455. Service.
  456. =========================================================================
  457. 9[..◆.◆..◆.◆◆◆◆.◆◆...◆..◆.◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆.]0110
  458. Subject:OfficialFalconSpecs
  459. Date:24Aug9218:15:00GMT
  460.  
  461. Hello,
  462.  
  463. i'vebeenonlasSundayinDuesseldorf"AtariMesse"andherearethe
  464. officialSpecificationoftheFalcon030:
  465.  
  466. -680030CPU16MHZ(withcache)
  467. -optionalFPU68881/6888216MHZ
  468. -RAM1,4,14MB
  469. -ROM512KB
  470. -BLITTER16MHZ
  471.  
  472. Video:
  473. -VGA640x480x256collors(from262.144)
  474. 320x480x65.356
  475. 320x480x32.768withoverlay-Bit
  476. -RGB/TV768x480x256from262.144,interleaced
  477. 768x480x65.536,interleaced
  478. 768x480x32.768,interleacedwithoverlayBit
  479. -allST-modi
  480. -Hardware-overscanoption
  481. -Hardwarescrolling
  482.  
  483. CoprocessorSubsystems:
  484. -DSP5600132MHZ32Kx24BitSRAm.0Waitstates
  485. -Blitter,16MHZ,kompatibeltoST-Blitter
  486.  
  487. Ports:
  488. -Paralel
  489. Ç-RS-232/Modem
  490. -Midiin
  491. -Midiout/through
  492. -Cartridge-Port
  493. -SCSIII(50Pinconnector)withSCSI-DMA
  494. -LAN(compatibletoMEGASTEandTT)
  495. -mouse
  496.  
  497. Sound:
  498. -16BitD/AA/Dconverter
  499. -Stereoinputandoutput
  500. -8channels16Bitrecordingandreplay(max.50KHzsamplingfrequenz)
  501. -3channelPSCsound(ST)
  502. -connectorforDigitalaudioandDSP
  503.  
  504. Joystick:
  505. -2xSTEcompatible
  506. -2xstandard
  507.  
  508. Floppy:
  509. -1,44MByte
  510.  
  511. Harddisk
  512. -internoptionalIDE-busHarddisk(2,5")
  513.  
  514. allso
  515. -realtime(??)clockwithbattery
  516. -expansionbuswithallimportantthingsCPU,bus-control,Interrupt...
  517. -RAM-Bus
  518.  
  519. Bye____
  520. /homasL.
  521.  
  522. P.S.SorryforanymistackesintheText
  523. E-mail:_________________________________
  524. ______/(MausNet)ThomasLeonhaeuser@F\______
  525. ///(UseNet)Thomas_Leonhaeuser@F.maus.de\\\
  526. |||(Z-Netz)Thomas_Leonhaeuser%f@ZERMAUS.ZER|||
  527. \\\Mailbox:MausFrankfurtamMain(germany)//
  528. =========================================================================
  529. From:darling@cellar.org(ThomasDarling)
  530. Subject:Re:Falcon/DSPquestions
  531. Date:31Aug9200:40:28GMT
  532.  
  533. u882453@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au(AndrewKing)writes:
  534.  
  535. >Couldsomeonepleaseanswerthesequestions:
  536. >
  537. >1.WhatistheDMA(?)bandwidthbetweenDSPexternalRAMandmain
  538. >memory,
  539. >2.Doesthe68030havetohaltwhilethisoccurs?
  540.  
  541. 1)Notsure.2)Heckno.
  543. >3.Canthe16-bit8channelsoundhaveindependentfrequencyandvolume
  544. >control(liketheAmiga)forEACHchannel.
  545.  
  546. 3)Youbet.Thisthingisdesignedformultitrackdigitalrecording.
  547. Eachchannelwillhaveindependentvolume,panning,etc.Ofcourse,the
  548. sampleratewillprobablysufferasyougoformoreandmorefull-
  549. Çfrequencyoutput.Asinglestereopairwillbecapableof50KHzplayback,
  550. butwhenyoudo8-channelmixing,youmight(IrepeatMIGHT)belimited
  551. to25KHz/channelorthelike.Idon'tknowallthedetailsontheDSP.
  552. =========================================================================
  553. Newsgroups:comp.sys.atari.st
  554. From:piet@cs.ruu.nl(PietvanOostrum)
  555. Subject:Re:TheREALFalconspecswanted!
  556. Date:Tue,1Sep199212:02:11GMT
  557.  
  558. IfoundthisfileonthelocalATARICompany'sBBS:(originalinDutch)
  559.  
  560. ThisarticleiswrittenbyWilfredKilwinger(SupportManager)forAtari
  561. Briefing,thenewsletterbyAtari(Benelux)B.V.fortheAtariuser
  562. groups.Itwasspecificallystatedthatitcouldbereproduced.Ihave
  563. translateditinEnglishwiththeassumptionthatanEnglishtranslation
  564. wouldbeconsideredthesameastheoriginal.
  565.  
  566. Theoriginalalsocontainedadescriptionofallthefeaturesofthe
  567. FalconwhichhavebeenreproducedhereazillionoftimessoIdidnot
  568. includethese.
  569. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  570. Ataricustomchips
  571.  
  572. VIDEL
  573.  
  574. TheVIDELtakescareofthevideofunctionsofthesystemincluding
  575. overscan,overlaymodeandtruecolorgraphics
  576.  
  577. COMBEL
  578.  
  579. TheCOMBEListhesystemmanageroftheAtariFalcon030.Thischip
  580. controlsallsystemfunctions.AlsotheBLITTERisbuiltininthischip.
  581.  
  582. SDMA
  583.  
  584. TheSDMAistheSoundDMAandcontrolsthesoundpart.Wehavebuiltina
  585. uniquematrixswitchfunctioninthischip(moredetailsinthesecond
  586. part)
  587.  
  588. KEYBOARDPROCESSOR
  589.  
  590. Thekeyboardprocessorhasbeenimprovedandisnowalsosuitablefor
  591. highresolutionmice.
  592.  
  593. BesidestheabovecustomchipstheAtariFalcon030hasanumberof
  594. standardchipsliketheMotorola68030and56001DSP.Anotherimportant
  595. chipistheCODECinwhichthe16bitADandDAconvertersarelocated.
  596.  
  597. Videomodi
  598.  
  599. AsyoucanseeinthesurveyofOperatingSystemcallsthevideohardware
  600. iscompletesotwarecontrollable.Thefollowingcombinationscana.o.be
  601. chosen:
  602.  
  603.    ModeResolutionBitplanesColorsPalette
  604.  
  605.    STLOW320x2004164096
  606.    STMED640x200244096
  607.    STHIGH640x400124096
  608.  
  609. Ç   TrueColor640x4808256262144
  610.    320x20015bpp32768N/A
  611.  
  612. Thelastmodeasksforsomeexplanation.Herethereisnocolorpalette
  613. but15bitsperpixeltodescribethepixelitself.Theformatis
  614. RRRRRGGGGGXBBBBB.VDIsupportsthismodethusprogramsthathavenotbeen
  615. writtenforthismodespecificallycanuseitnevertheless.Xisthe
  616. overlaybitandcanbeusedforvideotitlingandspecialeffects.
  617.  
  618.    320x20016bpp65N/A
  619.  
  620. Thismodeiscalledtheslideshowmode,isnotsupportedbytheVDI,you
  621. areonyouown.Xisanextragreenbit.
  622.  
  623.  
  624. TrueColorin640x480isnotpossiblebecauseofthebandwidthofVGA
  625. monitors.
  626.  
  627.    ModeResolutionBitplanesColorsPalette
  628.  
  629.    VGA320of6401,4,82,16,256262144(Overscan
  630.    Video200of400
  631.  
  632. WithVideowemeantheAtariSC-monitors,theTVmodulatorand/orthe
  633. compositevideooutput.
  634.  
  635. Allmodescanbegegenlocked.Withadaptorsweconvertthe15-polevideo
  636. bustotheestandardAtariorVGAconnections.
  637.  
  638. |----|
  639. --
  640. /\
  641. /\
  642. /\
  643. ||
  644. -|--------|-
  645.  
  646.  
  647. Matrixcoupling
  648.  
  649. Tomakethesystemperformanceintheaudiopartasgoodaspossible
  650. Ataridesignedaminiature'telephoneexchange'thatcaneasilyconnect
  651. thesourcedevicestothereceivingdevices.Alsoitispossibletomake
  652. morethanoneconnectionatatime.
  653.  
  654.  
  655. Sourcedevices
  656.  
  657. EXTINPUT---*-------*------*------*
  658. CHANNEL||||
  659. ||||
  660. DSP---*-------*------*------*
  661. TRANSMIT||||
  662. ||||
  663. ADC---*-------*------*------*
  664. ||||
  665. ||||
  666. DMA---*-------*------*------*
  667. PLAYBACK||||
  668. DMADACDSPEXTOUTPUT
  669. ÇRECORDRECEIVECHANNEL
  670.  
  671. ReceivingDevices
  672.  
  673.  
  674. Portsandninterfacing
  675.  
  676. DSPCONNECTOR(DB26Female)
  677.  
  678. PinSignalPinSignal
  679.  
  680. 1GP014GND
  681. 2GP115SRD
  682. 3GP216GND
  683. 4P_DATA17+12V
  684. 5P_CLK18GND
  685. 6P_SYNC19R_DATA
  686. 7n/c20R_CLK
  687. 8GND21R_SYNC
  688. 9+12V22EXT_INT
  689. 10GND23STD
  690. 11SC024SCK
  691. 12SC125GND
  692. 13SC226EXCLK
  693.  
  694.  
  695. SCSICONNECTOR(flat50pinsSCSIIIFemale)
  696.  
  697. PinSignalPinSignal
  698.  
  699. 1-10GND37NotConnected
  700. 11+5V38+5V
  701. 12-14NotConnected39NotConnected
  702. 15-25GND40GND
  703. 26SCSI041ATN
  704. 27SCSI142GND
  705. 28SCSI243BSY
  706. 29SCSI344ACK
  707. 30SCSI445RST
  708. 31SCSI546MSG
  709. 32SCSI647SEL
  710. 33SCSI748C/D
  711. 34Parity49REQ
  712. 35-36GND50I/O
  713.  
  714.  
  715. SERIALPORT(DB9MALE)
  716.  
  717. PinSignal
  718.  
  719. 1CarrierDetect5GND
  720. 2Receive6Datasetready
  721. 3Transmit7RequesttoSend
  722. 4DataTerminalReady8CleartoSend
  723. 9RingIndicator
  724.  
  725. PARALLELPORT(DB25Female)
  726.  
  727. Theparallelporthasextrasignaltoeasetheconnectionofscanners.
  728.  
  729. ÇPinSignal
  730.  
  731. 1Strobe8Data6
  732. 2Data09Data7
  733. 3Data110Acknowledge
  734. 4Data211Busy
  735. 5Data312-16NotConnected
  736. 6Data417Select
  737. 7Data518-25GND
  738.  
  739.  
  740. MONITORCONNECTOR(DB19Male)
  741.  
  742. PinSignalPinSignal
  743.  
  744. 1Red11GND
  745. 2Green12CompositeSync/Video
  746. 3Blue13HorizontalSync
  747. 4Mono/Overlay14VerticalSync
  748. 5GND15ExternalClockInput
  749. 6RedGND16ExternalSYNCEnable
  750. 7GreenGND17+12V
  751. 8BlueGND18M1
  752. 9Audioout19M0
  753. 10GND
  754.  
  755.  
  756. SCCLAN-portCONNECTOR(8-pinMiniDINFemaleRS-422)
  757.  
  758. PinSignal
  759.  
  760. 1HandshakeOutput(DTRRS423)5-ReceivedData
  761. 2HandshakeInputorExternalClock6+TransmittedData
  762. 3-TransmitData7General-purposeInput
  763. 4GND8+Receive
  764.  
  765.  
  766. ENHANCEDJOYSTICK(DB15Male)
  767.  
  768. PortAPortB
  769.  
  770. PinSignalPinSignal
  771.  
  772. 1UP01UP1
  773. 2DOWN02DOWN1
  774. 3LT03LT1
  775. 4RT04RT1
  776. 5PAD0Y5PAD1Y
  777. 6FIRE0/LIGHTGUN6FIRE1
  778. 7VCC(+5VDC)7VCC
  779. 8NotConnected8NotConnected
  780. 9GND9GND
  781. 10FIRE210FIRE3
  782. 11UP211UP3
  783. 12DOWN212DOWN3
  784. 13LT213LT3
  785. 14RT214RT3
  786. 15PAD0X15PAD1X
  787.  
  788.  
  789. ÇMIDIPORT(DIN5Female)
  790.  
  791. MIDIOUTMIDIIN
  792.  
  793. PinSignalPinSignal
  794.  
  795. 1ThruTransmit1NotConnected
  796. 2GND2NotConnected
  797. 3ThruLoopReturn3NotConnected
  798. 4OutTransmit4InReceive
  799. 5OutLoopReturn5InLoopReturn
  800.  
  801.  
  802. NewOperatingSystemcalls
  803.  
  804. Thisinformationisnotcomplete,maybesubjecttochangeandis
  805. certainlynotmeantasdocumentationforprogrammers
  806.  
  807. DSP-calls
  808.  
  809. Dsp_DoBlock(a,b,c,d)(void)xbios(500,a,b,c,d)
  810. Dsp_BlkHandShake(a,b,c,d)(void)xbios(501,a,b,c,d)
  811. Dsp_BlkUnpacked(a,b,c,d)(void)xbios(502,a,b,c,d)
  812. Dsp_InStream(a,b,c,d)(void)xbios(503,a,b,c,d)
  813. Dsp_OutStream(a,b,c,d)(void)xbios(504,a,b,c,d)
  814. Dsp_IOStream(a,b,c,d,e,f)(void)xbios(505,a,b,c,d,e,f)
  815. Dsp_RemoveInterrupts(a)(void)xbios(506,a)
  816. Dsp_GetWordSize()(int)xbios(507)
  817. Dsp_Lock()(int)xbios(508)
  818. Dsp_Unlock()(void)xbios(509)
  819. Dsp_Available(a,b)(void)xbios(510,a,b)
  820. Dsp_Reserve(a,b)(int)xbios(511,a,b)
  821. Dsp_LoadProg(a,b,c)(int)xbios(512,a,b,c)
  822. Dsp_ExecProg(a,b,c)(void)xbios(513,a,b,c)
  823. Dsp_ExecBoot(a,b,c)(void)xbios(514,a,b,c)
  824. Dsp_LodToBinary(a,b)(long)xbios(515,a,b)
  825. Dsp_TriggerHC(a)(void)xbios(516,a)
  826. Dsp_RequestUniqueAbility()(int)xbios(517)
  827. Dsp_GetProgAbility()(int)xbios(518)
  828. Dsp_FlushSubroutines()(void)xbios(519)
  829. Dsp_LoadSubroutine(a,b,c)(int)xbios(520,a,b,c)
  830. Dsp_InqSubrAbility(a)(int)xbios(521,a)
  831. Dsp_RunSubroutine(a)(int)xbios(522,a)
  832. Dsp_Hf0(a)(int)xbios(523,a)
  833. Dsp_Hf1(a)(int)xbios(524,a)
  834. Dsp_Hf2()(int)xbios(525)
  835. Dsp_Hf3()(int)xbios(526)
  836. Dsp_BlkWords(a,b,c,d)(void)xbios(527,a,b,c,d)
  837. Dsp_BlkBytes(a,b,c,d)(void)xbios(528,a,b,c,d)
  838. Dsp_HStat()(char)xbios(529)
  839. Dsp_SetVectors(a,b)(void)xbios(530,a,b)
  841. Devolledigebeschrijvingvanbovenstaandefunctie'sstaatinde
  842. Falcon030DevelopersDocumentation.
  843.  
  845. VIDEOSETMODE
  846.  
  847. intsetmode(intmodecode);
  848.  
  849. ÇThesetmode(intmodecode)callisusedtoplacetheFalcon/030SHIFTER
  850. intoaspecificmode.Abit-encodedvalue(calleda"modecode")ispassed
  851. tosetmode()tosetthemode.setmode()returnsthepreviousmodethat
  852. wasset.
  853.  
  854. Tohelpmakethebuildingofmodecodevalueseasier,hereisatableof
  855. defines:
  856.  
  857. #defineVERTFLAG0x100
  858. #defineSTMODES0x80
  859. #defineOVERSCAN0x40
  860. #definePAL0x20
  861. #defineVGA0x10
  862. #defineTV0x0
  863.  
  864. #defineCOL800x08
  865. #defineCOL400x0
  866. #defineNUMCOLS7
  867.  
  868. #defineBPS164
  869. #defineBPS83
  870. #defineBPS42
  871. #defineBPS21
  872. #defineBPS10
  873.  
  874. Usingthesedefines,youcanbuildamodecodeforanypossiblemode.For
  875. example:
  876.  
  877. ForTrueColorOverscan:
  878. modecode=OVERSCAN|COL40|BPS16;
  879. 
  880. ForSTMediumCompatibilitymodeonaColorMonitor/TV:
  881. modecode=STMODES|COL80|BPS2;
  882.  
  883. ForSTLowCompatibilitymodeinPALonaColorMonitor/TV:
  884. modecode=STMODES|PAL|COL80|BPS2;
  885.  
  886. For256color,80columnmodeonaVGAmonitor:
  887. modecode=VGA|COL80|BPS8;
  888.  
  889. Ifyouhaveamodecodeandwishtoknowhowmanybitsperpixelithas,
  890. usethefollowing:
  891.  
  892. if(modecode&NUMCOLS)==BPS16)
  893. do_something_cool();/*Youhavetruecolormode*/
  894.  
  895. Thesetmode()callwillreturnthepreviousmodecodeset.Youmustuse
  896. thisvaluetogetbacktowhatevermodeyouwereinbeforeyoumadeyour
  897. setmodecall.
  898.  
  899.  
  900. intmon_type(void)
  901.  
  902. Themon_type()functionwillreturnthekindofmonitorthatiscurrently
  903. inuse.Herearethepossiblereturnvalues:
  904.  
  905. 0=STmonochromemonitor
  906. 1=STcolormonitor
  907. 2=VGAmonitor
  908. 3=Television.
  909. Ç
  910.  
  911. voidext_sync(intflag)
  912.  
  913. Thisfunctionsetsorclearsexternalsync.Ifflagisset,externalsync
  914. isenabled.Ifflagisclear,theninternalsyncisused.
  915.  
  916.  
  917. SOUND-calls
  918.  
  919. locksnd();
  920. Usedasasemiphoretolockthesoundsystem.Fromotherapplications.
  921.  
  922. unlocksnd();
  923. Usedtoreleasethesoundsystemforotherapplicationstouse.
  924.  
  925. soundcmd(mode,data);
  926. Thiscommandisusedtogetorsetthefollowingsoundparameters.Ifa
  927. negativenumberisusedastheinputthenthecurrentsettingus
  928. returned.
  929.  
  930. MODEOPERATIONMEANING
  931.  
  932. OLTATTENSetsthecurrentleftchanneloutput
  933.  
  934. 1RTATTENSetsthecurrentrightchanneloutput
  935.  
  936. 2LTGAINSetsthecurrentleftchannelinputgain.
  937.  
  938. 3RTGAINSetsthecurrentrightchannelinputgain.
  939.  
  940. 4ADDERINSettheoutputofthe16bitsignedadderto
  941. receiveit'sinputfromtheADC,Matrixor
  942. both.
  943.  
  944. 5ADCINPUTSettheinputthetheADC.Theinputcaneither
  945. betheleftandrightchannelofthePSGorthe
  946. leftandrightchannelofthemicrophone.
  947.  
  948. 6SETPRESCALEUsedforcompatability.Thisprescalevalue
  949. isusedwhentheDEVCONNECT()internal
  950. prescalevalueissettozero.
  951.  
  952.  
  953. setbuffer(reg,begaddr,endaddr);
  954. Thisfunctionisusedtosettheplayorrecordbuffers.REGselects
  955. playbackorrecord,whilebegaddrandendaddrarethebuffersbeginning
  956. andendinglocations.
  957.  
  958. (int)reg-(0)Setsplaybackregisters.
  959. -(1)Setsrecordregisters.
  960. (long)begaddr-Setsthebeginningaddressofthebuffer.
  961. (long)endaddr-Setstheendingaddressofthebuffer.
  962.  
  963. setmode(mode);
  964. Thisfunctionisusedtosetrecordorplaybackmode.Themodesareas
  965. follows:
  966.  
  967. MODEOPERATION
  968. (int)08BitStereo
  969. Ç(int)116BitStereo
  970. (int)28BitMono
  971.  
  972. settracks(playtracks,rectracks);
  973. Thisfunctionisusedtosetsthenumberofrecordorplaybacktracks.
  974.  
  975. setmontracks(montrack);
  976. Thisfunctionisusedtosettheoutputoftheinternalspeakertooneof
  977. thefourtrackscurrentlyplaying.Theinternalspeakerisonlycapable
  978. ofoutputingONEtrackatatime.
  979.  
  980. setinterrupt(src_inter,cause);
  981. Thisfunctionisusedtosetwhichinterruptthatwilloccurattheend
  982. ofaframe.Iftheframerepeatbitison,thisinterruptisusedto
  983. allowfordoublebufferingtheplayingorrecordingofsound.Interrupts
  984. cancomefromTimerAortheMFPi7.
  985.  
  986. buffoper(mode);
  987. Thisfunctionisusedtocontroltheoperationoftheplayorrecord
  988. buffersinthesoundsystem.Theinputtothisfunctionisabitmap.If
  989. modeissett0-1thenthecurrentstatusofthebufferoperationbitsis
  990. returned.
  991.  
  992. NOTE:Thesoundsystemcontainsa32byteFIFO.Whentransferringdata
  993. totherecordbuffer,softwareMUSTchecktoseeiftherecordenable
  994. (RE)bitwasclearedbythehardware.Ifthebitwasclearedthenthe
  995. FIFOisflushed,ifnotthensoftwaremustflushtheFIFObyclearingthe
  996. recordenable(RE)bit.
  997.  
  998. dsptristate(dspxmit,dsprec);
  999. ThisfunctionisusedtotristatetheDSPfromthedatamatrix.
  1000.  
  1001. gpio(mode,data);
  1002. ThisisusedtocommunicateovertheGeneralPurposeI/OontheDSP
  1003. connector.Onlytheloworderthreebitsareused.Therestarereserved.
  1004. Thiscall,dependingonthemode,canbeusedtosetthedirectionofthe
  1005. I/Obits,readthebits,orwritethebits.
  1006.  
  1007. devconnect(src,dst,srcclk,prescale,protocol);
  1008. Thisfunctionisusedtoattachasourcedevicetoanyofthedestination
  1009. devicesinthematrix.Givenasourcedevice,thiscallwillattachthat
  1010. onesourcedevicetooneorallofthedestinationdevices.Thiscall
  1011. alsosetsupthesourceclockandprescaler,protocolandprotocolsource
  1012. ifused.
  1013.  
  1014. sndstatus(reset);
  1015. Thisfunctiongetsthecurrentstatusofthecodec.
  1016.  
  1017. buffptr(pointer);
  1018. Thisfunctionreturnsthecurrentpositionoftheplayandrecorddata
  1019. bufferpointers.Thesepointersindicatewherethedataisbeing
  1020. read/writtenwithinthebuffersthemselves.Thisfunctionisalsousedto
  1021. determinehowmuchdatahasbeenwrittentotherecordbuffer.See
  1022. buffoper().
  1023.  
  1024.  
  1025. Theaboveisnotyetcomplete.AtarihasalsoroutinesforJPEGandandio
  1026. conversion.
  1027.  
  1028. =========================================================================
  1029. 9[..◆.◆..◆.◆◆◆◆.◆◆...◆..◆.◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆....◆.]0110
  1030. Ç(C)1992byAtariCorporation,GEnie,andtheAtariRoundtables.Maybe
  1031. reprintedonlywiththisnoticeintact.TheAtariRoundtablesonGEnie
  1032. are*official*informationservicesofAtariCorporation.
  1033. =========================================================================
  1034.  
  1035. THEFALCON030/ATARICORPORATIONREALTIMECONFERENCE
  1036. FEATURINGSAMTRAMIEL,PRESIDENTOFATARICORPORATION
  1037. WEDNESDAY,AUGUST12,1992
  1038.  
  1039.  
  1040. <[Sysop]JEFF.W>OnbehalfoftheAtariSTRoundtable,Iwelcomeallof
  1041. youtotheAtariCorporationRealTimeConferencefeaturingSamTramiel,
  1042. presidentofAtari.
  1043.  
  1044. Beforegettingstarted,somebusinessabouthowanRTCworks.
  1045.  
  1046. WhiletheRTCroomisinListen-Onlymode,youcanonlyaddressourguest
  1047. whenIletyoutalk.
  1048.  
  1049. Togetmyattention,just/RAIseyourhand.Justenterthisfromyour
  1050. keyboard:/rai
  1051.  
  1052. I'llacknowledgeyourraisedhandassoonasIcan,butpleasebe
  1053. patient.I-WILL-letyouknowwhenyourturniscomingup.
  1054.  
  1055. SomeotherRTCcommandsare:
  1056.  
  1057. ?-ListsallRTCcommands.
  1058. /sta-Status(list)ofeveryonein
  1059. theRTCroom.
  1060. /exi-ExittheRTC,butyouremain
  1061. loggedontoGEnie.
  1062. /bye-LogoffofGEniedirectlyfrom
  1063. theRTC.
  1064. /rai-Raiseyourhand.Letsmeknow
  1065. youwishtoaddressourguest.
  1066.  
  1067. Withthatoutoftheway,letusproceed.
  1068.  
  1069. Laterthismonth,AtariwillbeunveilingtheFalcon030totheworldat
  1070. theAtariMesseinDuesseldorfGermany.TheFalconhasgeneratedalot
  1071. ofspeculationandrumorsoveritsfeaturesandabilities,aswellas
  1072. hopesforthefutureofAtariinthecomputerindustry.
  1073.  
  1074. TonightwegetasneakpreviewoftheFalcon.BeforethecrowdsatAtari
  1075. MessegettoogletheFalcon,SamTramielwillgiveusaguidedtourand
  1076. answerourquestions.
  1077.  
  1078. Iknowthatmanyofyouwillhavequestionsyou'llwishtoaskSam,so
  1079. I'lltrytogettoasmanyofyouasIcan.Whenitisyourturn,you'll
  1080. gettoaskonlyonequestionduringthatturn.Butyoucanhaveasmany
  1081. turnsastimeallows.Afteryouaskyourquestion,/RAIyourhandagain
  1082. tobeputbackinline.
  1083.  
  1084. ThepurposeofthisRealtimeConferenceistogetoutfactualinformation
  1085. abouttheFalcon.AnythingelsethatSamispreparedtosharewithus
  1086. willbeicingonthecake.PleaseunderstandifSamcannotanswer
  1087. specificquestionsaboutthingslikemarketing,futureproducts,and
  1088. othernon-Falconrelatedquestionsatthistime.
  1089.  
  1090. ÇSam,thankyouforbeingwithusthisevening.Iunderstandyouhave
  1091. somepreparedtexttouploadtousabouttheFalcon.Youmaybeginthe
  1092. uploadatyourconvenience.
  1093.  
  1094.  
  1095. <STRAMIEL>Goodevening,all.I'mverypleasedtobehereonour
  1096. officialonlineservice,GEnieonceagain.We'reexcitedtobe
  1097. celebratingthe20thanniversaryofAtariCorporationthisyear.We're
  1098. especiallyexcitedbecausethisisatimethatwecanintroduceanother
  1099. milestoneproducttotheworld.
  1100.  
  1101. I'dliketotakethisopportunitytorecognizesomepeoplethathavebeen
  1102. closealliesofAtariCorporation.TheentirestaffoftheAtariRTson
  1103. GEnie,undertheleadershipofDarlahPotechinhavebeenproviding
  1104. stellarsupporttoourcustomersforanumberofyearsnow.I'm
  1105. gratefulforthesupportofDarlah,SandyWilson,JeffWilliamsandthe
  1106. restoftheGEnieRTstaffinsupportingourmutualcustomers.We've
  1107. justsignedanewagreementwithGEnie,thatwillensurethecontinuation
  1108. ofGEniebeingouronlinehome.
  1109.  
  1110. Inaddition,I'mpleasedtowelcomethenewpublishersofAtariExplorer
  1111. Magazine,MikeLindsaytoSunnyvaleaswell.Asmostofyouknow,we've
  1112. broughtExplorerintoourcorporateheadquarters.JohnJainschigghas
  1113. movedontootherchallenges,andMikeLindsayandDarrenMeerarenowat
  1114. thehelmofAtariExplorer.Ouronlinemagazine,AtariExplorerOnline,
  1115. isundertheableleadershipofRonKovacs.Ronisbestknownforhis
  1116. yearsofexperienceasthepublisherofZ*NetOnlineMagazine.
  1117.  
  1118. Tonight,we'repleasedtobeabletofinallyannouncetheAtariFalcon
  1119. 030Computer.Thiscomputerwillbeunveiledtothebuyingpublicatthe
  1120. DuesseldorfAtariMesseinGermanynextweek.TheFalconisamachine
  1121. thatwe'reveryexcitedabout.Wethinkthatitplacesusbackinthe
  1122. forefrontofthe"PowerwithoutthePrice"placeinthemarket.
  1123.  
  1124. Here'sthespecsontheAtariFalcon030:
  1125.  
  1126. CPU:Motorola68030runningat16Mhz
  1127. 32-bitBus
  1128. Optional68881or68882FPU
  1129. RAM:1,4,or14megs
  1130. StandardAtariCartridgePort
  1131. Motorola56001DSPchip
  1132.  
  1133. ExpansionBus:
  1134. Internaldirectprocessorslotfor386SXPCemulation,orother
  1135. coprocessor
  1136.  
  1137. Graphics:
  1138. SuperVGAgraphics:640x480with256colors
  1139. Truecolor16bitmodeallowingadisplayofupto65,536colors
  1140. Acceptsexternalvideosyncsignaltoallowhighqualitygenlocking
  1141. Overlaymodeforeasyvideotitlingandspecialeffects
  1142. OverscanonTV'sandSTColormonitors
  1143. 262,144possiblecolors
  1144. hardware-assistedhorizontalfinescrolling
  1145. BLiTTERgraphicsco-processor
  1146.  
  1147. Soundfeatures:
  1148. Eight16bitaudioDMArecordandplaybackchannels
  1149. Stereo16bitdigitalDMAinput
  1150. ÇStereo16bitDMAaudiooutput
  1151. SDMAsound/DMACoprocessor
  1152.  
  1153. StandardPorts:
  1154. SCSIIIportwithDMA
  1155. HighspeedLocalTalkcompatibleLAN
  1156. ConnectorforanalogRGBcolor(STorVGA)orcompositevideo
  1157. RS232Cserialport
  1158. Bidirectionalparallelport
  1159. MIDIIN/MIDIOUT
  1160. Stereomicrophoneinput,miniaturestereoplug
  1161. Stereoaudioout,miniaturestereoplug
  1162. Twojoystickconnectors
  1163. Twoenhanceddigital/analogcontroller/lightpenconnectors
  1164.  
  1165. DataStorage:
  1166. 1.44Mbytefloppydiskdrive
  1167. OptionalinternalIDEHardDisk
  1168.  
  1169. Systemsoftware:
  1170. Pre-emptiveMultitaskingwithadaptiveprioritzation(MultiTOS)
  1171. Interprocesscommunication
  1172. NewDeskdesktopandeXtensiblecontrolpanel
  1173. Multiplewindowuserinterface;numberofwindowslimitedonlyby
  1174. memoryorsoftwareinuse.
  1175.  
  1176. Weseethiscomputerasexceedingallofthemultimediaexpectationsof
  1177. thecomputerbuyingpublic.Aswellasbeinganexceptionalvalueasa
  1178. homecomputersystem.
  1179.  
  1180. ExtensivetestingwiththeFalconhasalreadybeendoneonexisting
  1181. software.Weareverypleasedwiththehighdegreeofcompatibility.
  1182. Forinstance,PowerNet,aincreasinglypopularLocalTalknetworking
  1183. solutionworksfinewithnomodifications.CalamusSL,PageStream,
  1184. WordFlairII,Cubase3.0,STalker3.0,STeno,Arabesque,andmanyother
  1185. wellwrittenapplicationswillworkperfectly.
  1186.  
  1187. Thatconcludesourremarks,IhopeyouwereallimpressedwithhowfastI
  1188. cantype!
  1189.  
  1190. <[Sysop]JEFF.W>DoyouhaveapricereadytoannouncefortheFalcon?
  1191.  
  1192. <STRAMIEL>No,wewillannouncethepriceattheDuesseldorfAtariMesse,
  1193. Jeff.
  1194.  
  1195. <[ChrisR.]DRAGONWARE>SamThankyouforthePlug:..Whatkindof
  1196. NumberswillbeavalibleintheUSandhowsoon?
  1197.  
  1198. <STRAMIEL>WeareonceagaingoingtoFCCandIrealisticallyexpect
  1199. shipementsintotheUSinmidOctober.
  1200.  
  1201. <[Mike]M.HILL13>Wehaveheardsomedevelopershavefalconsalready.
  1202. Whenwillotherregistereddevelopersbeabletopickoneuptostart
  1203. workonthem.Iunderstandifthisquestionneedstobeansweredin
  1204. email.
  1205.  
  1206. <STRAMIEL>PleasecontactBillRehbockregardingthismatter.Hewillbe
  1207. happytohelpyouwiththismatter.
  1208.  
  1209. <[Bigcat]K.LONERGAN>AreMIDIportsincluded?
  1210. Ç
  1211. <STRAMIEL>YES,MIDIportsareincludedwiththeFalcon.Wefullysupport
  1212. theMIDIstandard.
  1213.  
  1214. <[FASTTECH]J.ALLEN27>HiSam,thanksforvisitingGEnieagain.Three
  1215. questions:
  1216. IstheFalcongoingtostayblack?
  1217. Howareyougoingtomarketit...whatvenues,etc?
  1218. AndisMultitosgoingtobe68040compatiblewhenreleased?
  1219.  
  1220. <STRAMIEL>ColorsandmarketingplanswillbetalkedaboutatDuesseldorf
  1221. andafterthatshow,Jim.Ihavetosavesomethingfornextweek.:)
  1222.    AndMultiTOSwillbe68040compatible!Butsorry,we'renotcommenting
  1223. about68040machines.
  1224.  
  1225. <[ScottJ]S.CORLEY1>Sam,aboutthegraphicscapacityoftheFalcon.
  1226. Whydoesntithave800x600orbetteryet1024x768graphicsasthatisthe
  1227. VGAstandardnow.Also,hastheBLiTTERchipbeenspeduptohandlethe
  1228. extragraphicsbandwidth.
  1229.  
  1230. <STRAMIEL>HiScott.TheBLiTTERChiphasbeenspeduptohandlethe
  1231. extrabandwith.TheBLiTTERisnowrunningat16Mhz.VGAnormallydoesn't
  1232. haveTRUECOLOR,whichtheATARIFALCONDOES,andthismachineisaimed
  1233. athavinggreatcolor,greatsound,andwiththeDSPchip,somewonderful
  1234. newapplicatons.
  1235.  
  1236. <[Advertise!]B.KING8>1)AreyougoingtoAdvertise,ifsohow?2)What
  1237. isthedealwiththeGEServicecontract?3)CanweexpectDesktop(ie.
  1238. Detachablekeyboards)modelsandTowerversions?
  1239.  
  1240. <STRAMIEL>AsIsaidbefore,allmarketingannouncementswillbemadeat
  1241. Duesseldorf.IwillnotcommentonfuturemodelsoftheFalcon.Weare
  1242. talkingtodayaboutamachinewhichwillbeshippingnextweek.
  1243.    Wedon'twanttomakefutureannouncementsandgetintotroublewith
  1244. Vaporware.Andbytheway,forhigherrezrequirements,buyTTs!:)
  1245.  
  1246. <[Sysop]JEFF.W>Rememberfolks...onlyonequestionperturn...We
  1247. havealotoffolkswaitingandnotnearlyenoughtimetoaccomodate
  1248. everybody.Thanks.
  1249.  
  1250. <R.PECORA>HastherecentForbesarticleinfluencedAtari'sfuture
  1251. marketingplans?
  1252.  
  1253. <STRAMIEL>Mynewoffice,whichhasabetterviewthanmyoldone,isso
  1254. farquitesatisfactory.AndRichardMillerisinmyoldoffice.The
  1255. Forbesarticlewasamish-mashandmisconstruedarticlefullofhalf
  1256. truths.WeareanxiouslyawaitingthereleaseoftheAtariFalconto
  1257. bringusbacktotheforefront.Thearticlehasgivenussomelaughs,
  1258. butotherwisehasnotaffectedus.
  1259.  
  1260. <OAWALKER>zEveningSamEveningSam(SBACE)PLEASESHOWfalconat
  1261. GlendfaleforalltheSoCalBoys.
  1262.  
  1263. <STRAMIEL>Wewilltryourbesttoshowit.Therewillbeanumberof
  1264. finedevelopersthere,likeLexicorSoftwareshowingAtariFalcon
  1265. applications.
  1266.  
  1267. <[SteveJ]S.JACOBS6>WouldyoupleasenamesomeofFalcon'sdesigners?
  1268.  
  1269. <STRAMIEL>Youmeanourengineers?
  1270. Ç
  1271. <[SteveJ]S.JACOBS6>Yes.
  1272.  
  1273. <STRAMIEL>TheAtariFalconwastotallydesignedinhouseatAtari,and
  1274. itisnotourpracticetogiveoutindividualsnames.Somanypeople
  1275. are,andwereinvolvedintheproject.Theyallworkedveryhardto
  1276. bringthistoareality!
  1277.  
  1278. <[wantsunix]JM.HAWTHORNE>IstheexpansionbusVME?
  1279.  
  1280. <STRAMIEL>No,itisnotaVMEbus.Itisadirectprocessorslotthat
  1281. givesdevelopersmoreflexibility.
  1282.  
  1283. <[Marc]M.RHODES8>HowdoyouthinktheFalconwillcomparew/the
  1284. industrydominatingIBMplatform?
  1285.  
  1286. <STRAMIEL>Thereisnocomparison!TheAtariFalconisfarsuperiorto
  1287. thePCplatform.Ourchallengeistogetalotofsoftwareforthe
  1288. platform,andalotofpeopletobuyit.
  1289.  
  1290. <[Gary]G.STOLLMAN>Sam,youmentionedIBMemulation...Howclosetotrue
  1291. IBM386speedandpowerwillthisactuallybe...???BythisImeanlike
  1292. a38633SX...??Willthisrequireanaddonunitformorespeed??
  1293.  
  1294. <STRAMIEL>HiGary.BillRehbockassuresmethataPCBoardwillbe
  1295. shownatDuesseldorf.Wewillgiveyouspecsaftertheshow.
  1296.  
  1297. <[Sysop]JEFF.W>Anycommentsaboutperformance?
  1298.  
  1299. <STRAMIEL>Notuntilaftertheshow,Jeff.Sorry.It'snotourproduct.
  1300.  
  1301. <P.LORIMER>WilltheFalconbesoldwithMulti-TOS,andwillmulti-TOSbe
  1302. intheROM's?FromwhatI'veheardittakesupclosetoaMEGifinRAM.
  1303.  
  1304. <STRAMIEL>Yes,theAtariFalconwillbesoldwithMultiTOS.Itwillbea
  1305. combinationofROManddiskbased.
  1306.  
  1307. <S.AGARWAL>Sam,WhynoDMA(ACSI)port....HowshallIconnectmySLM
  1308. 804tothefalcon?
  1309.  
  1310. <STRAMIEL>WefeltthattheDMAportwasnotenoughofastandardport.
  1311. That'swhywewenttoSCSIII.Thereareseveralthirdpartycompanys
  1312. thatareworkingonaconverterboxtoallowyoutoconnectupyourSLM
  1313. totheAtariFalcon030.TheSCSIismuchfasterthanDMA,too.
  1314.  
  1315. <NEVIN-S>Thanksforcomingtonight,Sam.Asadeveloperwhodependson
  1316. salesofAtarisoftwareforagoodportionofmyliving,Iamexcited
  1317. aboutthenewFalcon.Ontheotherhand,Iseemoreandmorepeople
  1318. beingfiredfromAtari,entiredivisionsbeingcloseddown,etc.Atari
  1319. seemstobeverygoodatcuttingcosts,butisthisreallythetimeto
  1320. cutcosts?IamconcernedthatonceagainAtariwillhaveagreatmachine
  1321. technically,butthatthecorporationbehinditwon'tbestrongenoughto
  1322. maketheFalconfly.
  1323.  
  1324. <STRAMIEL>Weare"rightsizing"ourcompanytoreflectourcurrentrate
  1325. ofsales.Wemustconserveassestsforfuturegrowthwithproductslike
  1326. AtariFalcon.Example,withthenewNorthAmericafreetradeagreement,
  1327. wefeltthatwecouldhandleCanadiansaleslogisticallyfromSunnyvale
  1328. andhavesalespeopleinCanadaandtheUShandlingbothcountriesina
  1329. north/southdirection.
  1330. Ç   WewillsupporttheAtariFalconthroughouttheworld.Andneed
  1331. developerslikeyoutosupportitaswell.
  1332.  
  1333. <[TheEDGE]C.ROSE4>I'vebeenusing1040STbecauseofit'sMIDI
  1334. capabilities.IalsouseC-lab'sNotator.IwantedtobuyaTT,but
  1335. Notatorwon'trunonit.WilltheFalconsupportthisproduct?
  1336.  
  1337. <STRAMIEL>ThenewversionofNotatorwillrunfineonaFalcon,justas
  1338. thenewversionwillrunontheTT030.
  1339.  
  1340. <E.MONACO>Is16Mhzviablerunningmultipleaplications?Whatcanwe
  1341. expect?
  1342.  
  1343. <STRAMIEL>We'vefoundittoworkjustfine.The68030iswellsuitedfor
  1344. multi-tasking.
  1345.  
  1346. <B.SALDANA1>theFalconinspiredmetodesignanattractivemonitorstand
  1347. foritcalledtheSTATION[faxedB.Rhebock].Hasitbeeninspiringnew
  1348. oroldsoftwaredevlopers?{I'llsendyouoneSam>
  1349.  
  1350. <STRAMIEL>AtarecentAtariFalcondevloperconference,{organizedby
  1351. thecapableBillRehbock}intheUK,Iwasveryhappytolearnaboutnew
  1352. developersandsomeexcitingsoftwarewhichisalreadybeingdeveloped.
  1353. Themachinesspecaresonovel,thatdevelopersreallyhavetofigureout
  1354. allthenew,wonderfulthingsthattheycandowithit.I'msurethat
  1355. we'llseegreatsoftwarewithinthenext6months.Thanksfortheoffer
  1356. ofthemonitorstand,I'lllookforwardtoit!!!
  1357.  
  1358. <[J.M.T.]J.TORRES17>Sir,IstheFalconfully1040STecompatable
  1359. (graphics,8Mhz,TOS,etc)?ormoreliketheTT?
  1360.  
  1361. <STRAMIEL>TheAtariFalconisVERYSTEcompatible.Muchmoresothat
  1362. theTT030is.Wereallytrytomakeourproductsascompatibleas
  1363. possible.
  1364.  
  1365. <[NotSamT.]SAM-RAPP>Doesthis"OfficialAnnouncement"meanthatall
  1366. these"Gagged"developerscanstarttalkingnittygrittywithusinfo
  1367. starvedmasses?Atleastsomeinfo?;>
  1368.  
  1369. <STRAMIEL>Nomoreonourproduct,buttheywillbewelcometodiscuss
  1370. theapplicationsthattheyaredevelopingthatwillbeFalconspecific.
  1371.  
  1372. <WORDFLAIR>Sam,weareexcitedabouttheFalcon.Wewillbelaunching
  1373. severalnewproductsthattakefulladvantageofitspowerlaterthis
  1374. fall.TheproductsarebeingdevelopedbyusandbyDigitalArts,GmbH,
  1375. theformerdevelopmentteamfor3KComputerbild.
  1376.  
  1377. <STRAMIEL>Lauren,it'salwaysapleasuretohaveyouaspartofthe
  1378. Atariteam.Thankyouforyoursupport!!
  1379.  
  1380. <[Ron]AD-VANTAGE>TheFalconsoundswonderfulSam!Couldyoudiscussin
  1381. generaltermssomeofthenewsoftwareindevelopmentfortheFalconand
  1382. whatdoyouthinkthemostsignificantimpactoftheDSPhardwarewillbe
  1383. onsuchnewapplications?
  1384.  
  1385. <STRAMIEL>Icannotgiveexactdetailstonight,butIthinkthattheDSP
  1386. hardwarewillopenupawholenewrealmofcommunicationstypesoftware.
  1387. I'mpushingveryhardforvoicemailtypeapplicationsforthehome.
  1388.  
  1389. <[Mike]M.HILL13>YoumentionedtheSCSI2portisDMAdrivenandtheDSP
  1390. ÇtooIbelieve,butistheLocaltalkportDMAdrivenlikeontheTToris
  1391. itliketheMegaSTElocaltalkport.IhopeitisDMAdriven.
  1392.  
  1393. <STRAMIEL>ItisnotDMAdriven,sorryMike.Wethinkthatitis
  1394. satisfactoryatthislevel.
  1395.  
  1396. <[Peter]ABC.SOLN>Canyoucommentonthefutureofexistingmachines,
  1397. especiallytheTT030.(therehavebeenreportsthatitisoutof
  1398. production)Forinstance,willupgradestomultiTOSbeavailable?Will
  1399. trade-updealsbeoffered?
  1400.  
  1401. <STRAMIEL>TheTT030isstillinproduction,andwedohaveplansto
  1402. releaseAtariMultiTOSfortheTT030.Itisnotapracticeforusto
  1403. offertradeupdeals.Thatissomethingthatisforthedescretionof
  1404. thedealers.
  1405.  
  1406. <M.RIVMAN1>MR.T.(Sam),welcome!Asgoodasthenewmachinelookson
  1407. paper,wehaveallbeenhardhitbylackofsupportbydealers/developers
  1408.    PLEASE-sellmeonstayingwiththeATARIplatformwhenallmy
  1409. friendsscreamMACforMIDIDTP,graphics!!!
  1410.  
  1411. <STRAMIEL>WehavebeenreluctanttoattacktheUSmarketwiththeold
  1412. machines.WefeelthattheAtariFalconistrulyagiantstepforward
  1413. andwehopethatthiswillturnonusersintheUS.Thiswillhelpget
  1414. ourmarketplacegoing.Wearesigningupnewdealers,andasmore
  1415. softwarebecomesavailable,youwillbeseeingusadvertiseintheUS.
  1416. ButasIsaidearlier,Iwillnotgointodetailsatpresent.
  1417.  
  1418. <W.RENKEL>WhenwilltheyarriveintheUS,andwheredotheyfitinto
  1419. thecurrentproductline??
  1420.  
  1421. <STRAMIEL>Theywillbeavailableinmid-October,andtheyfitverywell
  1422. intoourproductline!:)
  1423.  
  1424. <[Connor]CONNOR>GoodeveningSam.Iassumethatthereleasedatefor
  1425. theFalconwillbethesameinCanadaasintheUnitedStates,isthis
  1426. correct?
  1427.  
  1428. <STRAMIEL>Ifanything,itmightbeearlierinCanada.That'sbecause
  1429. I'maCanadian,eh.
  1430.  
  1431. <[Curt]C.FLUEGEL>willitbepossibletorecord/playbackonjusta
  1432. singleofthesoundchannels,orwilltheyonlyworkinpairs??
  1433.  
  1434. <STRAMIEL>AccordingtoBillRehbock<mytrustytechnicalassistant>,
  1435. yes,youcanrecordonasinglechannel.
  1436.  
  1437. <[Advertise]T.MCCOMB>WillMultiTOSbeavailablefortherestoftheST
  1438. line?Ifso,whatkindoftimeframeforavailablity?-Tom.Pleasetell
  1439. metherewillbeaMAJORmarketingeffortintheUSAotherwiseonlyus
  1440. ChickenswillknowabouttheFalcon.
  1441.  
  1442. <STRAMIEL>MultiTOSwillbeavailableforTT030andforfuture68030and
  1443. abovemachines.Wealreadyansweredtheothermarketingquestions.
  1444.  
  1445. <[Steve]S.JOHNSON10>YousaidtheFalcon030(isitactuallygoingtobe
  1446. calledthat,bytheway?)hasa16-bit65,536colormode.Willthatwork
  1447. at640x480oristhatmodelimitedtolowerresolutionsand,ifso,which
  1448. one(s)?
  1449.  
  1450. Ç
  1451. <STRAMIEL>Steve,themachineiscalledtheAtariFalcon030.The16bit
  1452. truecolormodewillworkin640x480interlacedonaTVorSTstyle
  1453. monitor.
  1454.    TrueColorwillalsoworkin320x480onVGAmonitors.
  1455.  
  1456. <[Chuck.]HAINES>Forramexpansionuptothemaxof14meg,istheram
  1457. standardsimmsorproprietarytypepackages?Ifnotisthisthetype
  1458. thinggoodchipmerchantswillhavereadilyinstock.
  1459.  
  1460. <STRAMIEL>Itisacustomboard,butnotproprietary.Wewillhaveit
  1461. readilyinstock,andweareagreatchipmerchant!:)
  1462.  
  1463. <[Network23]R.MARTIN22>Thanksforbeingheretonight.I'mthinkingof
  1464. becominganAtaridealer.WhatsupportcanIexpectfromSunnyvale?Are
  1465. theanalogportsyoumentionedthesameasthoseontheSTE?
  1466.  
  1467. <STRAMIEL>PleasecontactnewUSsalesdirectorArtPruzynskiregarding
  1468. yourdealerinterest.Wewillsupportyoufully.Yes,theanalogports
  1469. arethesameasontheAtari1040STE.
  1470.  
  1471. <[ChrisC.]C.CASSADAY>FromyouransweraboutMultiTOSandtheST,it
  1472. seemsasif68000basedmachinesmaynotbeinAtari'sproductionfuture.
  1473. Also,when,andinwhatformcanweexpectMultiTOSfortheTT030.
  1474.  
  1475. <STRAMIEL>HiChris,thefutureofthe68000machinesalldependsonthe
  1476. marketwants.IE,whatsells.MultiTOSwillbeavailablefromAtarifor
  1477. theAtariTT030asanupgrade.We'llsupplydetailslateron,after
  1478. Duesseldorf.FromwhatIhaveseen,MultiTOSisfantastic,andisjust
  1479. asmuchamajoradvanceasthehardwarefortheAtariFalcon.NoGuru
  1480. meditationerrors,andsomereallygreatgraphicfeatures,andwonderful
  1481. technicalfeatures.
  1482.  
  1483. <[ScottJ]S.CORLEY1>Sam,whydidAtarichoosetousethefixedpoint
  1484. 56001DSPinsteadofthenewer,morepowerful96002DSPwhichhas
  1485. floatingpoint?Also.couldyougivemoredetailaboutFalcongraphics
  1486. capacities,i.eresolutions,#ofcolors,scanrates,interlacing,etc.
  1487.  
  1488. <STRAMIEL>Scott,theprimaryreasonswereprice...the96002ismuchmore
  1489. expensive.Thenewerchipdoesn'thavethesoftwaretoolsavailableto
  1490. takeadvantageofityet.
  1491.    We'llpostmoregraphicdetails<grin>inthebulletinboardafter
  1492. Duessledorf.
  1493.  
  1494. <[Chris]C.OATES2>TheAdvantgearticlementioned16bitinonly320x
  1495. 200.Anyotherinnacuraciesweshouldknowofintheirspecs?
  1496.  
  1497. <STRAMIEL>WehavereleasedthespecificationsoftheAtariFalcon
  1498. tonight.Youaregettingalloftheinformationstraightfromthe
  1499. horse'smouth.We'drathernotcommentabouttheAdvantagearticle.
  1500.  
  1501. <[Sysop]JEFF.W>AnyonewhomissedthespecsatthebeginningoftheRTC,
  1502. they'llbeinthetranscriptthatI'llputinthelibrarytomorrow.
  1503.  
  1504. <[MikeAllen]M.ALLEN14>DoesyourcommentabouttheFCCindicatethat
  1505. thefalconisNOTClassByet?Ifthisissohowcanyouhave
  1506. significantquantitiesintheUSbyMid-October?
  1507.  
  1508. <STRAMIEL>WehavenotyetevengiventhemachinetotheFCC.Andweare
  1509. onlyapplyingforClassBapproval.Accordingtoour"experts",it
  1510. ÇshouldpassClassB.WewillnothavesignificantquantitiesofAtari
  1511. Falconuntillaterintheyear.Octoberwillbejustthebeginning.
  1512.  
  1513. <[Veg]R.ALBRIGHT7>HaveanyAs-of-YetNon_AtariVendorsexpressed
  1514. intentionstoproduceapplicationstakingadvantageofthetremnendous
  1515. newcapabilitiesoftheFalcon.Softwarefromawellknownvendorcould
  1516. dowondersforenticingusersofotherplatforms.
  1517.  
  1518. <STRAMIEL>Yes,therearesome30newdevelopersthatareproducing
  1519. softwarefortheAtariFalcon.SeveralofthedevelopersarealsoNeXT
  1520. developers,forexample.
  1521.  
  1522. <[Sysop]JEFF.W>Folks...wehaveabout5-10minutesleftbeforewe
  1523. havetoletSamandfriendsgo.Wewon'tbeabletogettoeveryone,but
  1524. we'lltrytosqueezeinasmanyaspossible.
  1525.  
  1526. <R.PAINTER3>Willitbepossibletoupgradetoa040,orshouldIhold
  1527. outforthebettermachine(Ican'tafordboth).
  1528.  
  1529. <STRAMIEL>TheAtariFalcon030cannotbeupgradedtoan68040,asfaras
  1530. thedesigngoes.I'msurethatyou'llfindtheAtariFalcon030verycost
  1531. effective.Buyone!:)
  1532.  
  1533. <[wantsunix]JM.HAWTHORNE>Howfastwilltheserialportsbe,andhow
  1534. many?
  1535.  
  1536. <STRAMIEL>Theserialport(thereisone)isdrivenbytheSCCchip.It
  1537. iscapableoffulllocaltalkspeed,250Kbaud.Also,wefeelthatthe
  1538. DSPportwillhavegreattelecommunicationsapplicationswithveryhigh
  1539. speedthings,likeISDN.
  1540.  
  1541. <[Sysop]JEFF.W>Wehavetimefortwomorepeopletoaskquestions.
  1542. R.PECORAandM.RHODES8.
  1543.  
  1544. <R.PECORA>IsaMega-typeversionFalconapossibilityinthenear
  1545. future?Manyofusprefertheexternalkeyboardarrangement.
  1546.  
  1547. <STRAMIEL>Sorry,asIindicatedbefore,nocommentaboutfuture
  1548. machines.Thanksforyourinputontheexternalkeyboard.
  1549.  
  1550. <[Marc]M.RHODES8>Doyouthinkthe'major'retailers(alaCompUSA,
  1551. Computerland)willcarrytheFalcon?BeinghereinSanFrancisco,Ionly
  1552. have2or3placesIcangoforAtariequipment,andIwouldlovetosee
  1553. theFalconsupportedintheseoutlets.GAandGoodNight!:)
  1554.  
  1555. <STRAMIEL>Wesurehopethatsome"majorretailers"willpickupthe
  1556. Atariline.Agoodfriend,thatyouallknow,namedGregPratt,nowruns
  1557. IntelligentElectronics.Whydon'tyouwritehim,andpushhimtosell
  1558. Atariproducts?:)
  1559.  
  1560. <[Sysop]JEFF.W>Toeveryonewhowedidn'tgetto,myapologies.Butwe
  1561. _have_runthroughanincrediblenumberofquestionsandanswersduring
  1562. thistime.
  1563.    Thankyouallforattendingandparticipating.
  1564.    Sam,manythankstoyouandtheAtaricrewforbeinghereandfilling
  1565. usallinabouttheFalcon.Manybestwishesforitssuccess.
  1566.    Doyouhaveanyclosingstatementsyou'dliketomakebeforewe
  1567. adjourn?
  1568.  
  1569. <STRAMIEL>Yes,Jeff.Thanksforjoiningusheretonight.Andwe
  1570. ÇappreciateyoursupportofAtari.I'vejustreturnedfromAsia,whereI
  1571. sawthefirstAtariFalconproductioncomingoffthelines.Let'shope
  1572. thisnewofferingwillmakeitinNorthAmerica.Iknowthatthespecs
  1573. aregreat.Weshouldhaveagoodchance,withallofyoursupport.
  1574.    Goodnight,thankyouagainforattendingtonight!
  1575.  
  1576. <[Sysop]JEFF.W>ThanksagaintoSamandallwhoturnedouthere.
  1577.  
  1578. =========================================================================
  1579.  
  1580.