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Welcome to the ____ / ___) *StarShip* 5-MINUTE Weekend Newscast / (_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / ___) / (__ very weekend the *StarShip* on GEnie presents a new 5-MINUTE Weekend (_____) Newscast in Communications Room 10 in the Real-Time Conference Area. Featuring late-breaking stories from the Amiga community, these dynamic, scrolling newscasts cycle every 5 minutes, so you can stop by between 6PM and 3AM Eastern time on Friday, or 3PM and 3AM Eastern time on Saturday or Sunday and learn everything that happened during the preceding week. Industry news, product announcements, upgrades, rumors, special *StarShip* activities, trade show reports, GEnie usage tips, humor, recommended files to download... ... the works -- and it ONLY takes 5 minutes! Each 5-MINUTE Weekend Newscast is available on *StarShip* Menu #10 during the following week. Periodically, newscasts are combined and made available for downloading from the *StarShip Library. ____________________________________________________________ // \ || -*- IMPORTANT! -*- | || | || As long as individual stories are kept intact and credit | || is given, this material may be reproduced in ALL or PART | || on a privately owned BBS or in a user group newsletter. | || See wording for proper credit at the end of this Newscast. | \\____________________________________________________________/ || | || | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks to Denny Atkin, Editor of COMPUTE's Amiga Resource, for his input. Here we go!... DateLine: September 11, 1992 This 5-MINUTE Newscast presents the following stories: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Preliminary Peek at the Pasadena World of Commodore Show 2. Commodore Announces Amiga CD Solution Promotion 3. Computer News for Business People 4. Next Week's Conferences: Sat. Nite Special 9/19: WoC/Amiga Debriefing! 5. Westwood Studios Needs Amiga Talent 6. Amiga WordSearch Puzzle WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE World of Commodore SHOW COVERAGE 7. Commodore Introduces A4000 at Pasadena World of Commodore (Press Release) Two HAM screens of A4000: *StarShip Library File #16915 4000.LHA 8. News From the Pasadena World of Commodore 9. On-The-Scene Report from the World of Commodore *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 1st of 9 Stories ______________________________________________________ / \ | GEnie Breakfast at World of Commodore! | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | | Meet members of the *StarShip* Crew at 9AM, Saturday, | | for a No Host Breakfast at the Pasadena Hilton Hotel. | \______________________________________________________/ ______ Preliminary Peek at the Pasadena World of Commodore Show (__ __) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / / *StarShip* News Network / / (_/oday -- Friday, September 11, 1992 -- is the first day of the World of Commodore Show set to continue until late Sunday afternoon in the Pasadena, California Convention Center. The *StarShip* has several *Reporters on the scene today frantically gathering and verifying information to be presented in THIS Newscast the moment it is ready. Commodore Business Machines and OVER 50 Amiga developers and retailers are exhibiting and selling products at this Major Amiga Event, and a general press conference was held mid-day today. To tide you over while we're whipping up our first official show report, here is an introductory overview of the biggest news of the Show: the NEW Amiga 4000 model being demonstrated on the exhibit floor by Commodore personnel. The A4000's external design is VERY similar to the Amiga 3000, but this baby is better equipped and -- yes! -- faster: Amiga 4000 Model Overview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 25MHz 68040 C.P.U. Comes equipped with 2MB of Chip RAM, 4MB of Fast RAM, and is expandable to 16MB of Fast RAM on the motherboard using SIMMs New AA chipset! Same resolutions as earlier chipsets, but with 256 or 262,000 colors out of a palette of 16 million -- PLUS even more colors are possible in programmable resolutions! IDE hard drive interface, with 120MB drive included Optional SCSI to be available Internal sound ports for mixing in DSP or other internal sounds High density floppy drive Two 3.5" bays (1 internal), and one 5.25" bay Operating System: AmigaDOS 3.0 Street Price should be UNDER $3,000 -- Exact figures and full details will be made available in THIS Newscast THIS WEEKEND! The Amiga 4000 is NOT being sold at the World of Commodore Show. We'll have information such as availability on it as well as the Amiga 600, which is also being introduced in the U.S. at this show, and news about products being unveiled there in a *StarShip* News Flash later this evening -- and possibly Saturday as well. A prominent announcement on the Main Menu (GEnie page 555) of the *StarShip* RoundTable will alert you to check back for these reports! DMCS Upgrade! Another much heralded project was confirmed today at the World of Commodore Show as well: Electronic Arts has officially announced an upgrade to DELUXE MUSIC CONSTRUCTION SET for the Amiga! Among other things, DMCS 2.0 will take advantage of the new hardware features of the Amiga 4000, will support ALL screen modes, and will include a freely distributable DMCS song player! It does NOT look the same on the screen as the original DMCS. Availability is set for "early winter" -- hopefully by Christmas! Remember: You learned it in the *StarShip* 5-MINUTE News FIRST! More info to follow SOON! Watch Page 555 _____________________________________________ / \ | SPECIAL WORLD of COMMODORE SHOW DEBRIEFING | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | | Mark your calendar NOW! | | | | Reserve NEXT Saturday Evening | | | | --September 19th -- | | | | For a Special World of Commodore Debriefing | | LIVE in *StarShip* Conference Room 2! | | | | *StarShip* *Reporters who attended the Show | | will be there in addition to exhibitors and | | and developers! Starts at 10PM Eastern Time! | \_____________________________________________/ -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 2nd of 9 Stories Commodore Announces Amiga CD Solution Promotion ____ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / ___) West Chester, PA - September 2, 1992 / / / (__ (_____)ommodore Business Machines Inc. today announced that through October 31, 1992, purchasers of the Amiga (R) 3000-25/50 or the Amiga 3000-25/100 will receive a free CDTV (R) Multimedia Player and Interface Kit. The "Amiga CD Solution" promotion offers an attractive option for Amiga users who want expanded audio and MIDI capabilities, access to CD-ROM discs from other platforms, and who want to run CDTV applications. Adding the CDTV Player and Interface Kit to an Amiga enables owners' access to hundreds of CD-ROM discs based on the ISO-9660 format. According to David Archambault, Commodore Director of Business Marketing, "Utilizing the CDTV Player as an intelligent peripheral opens the door for users to hundreds of text, music and picture collections available on CDTV-readable ISO-9660 disks. Text data and picture file formats can be converted from MS-DOS (R) and Macintosh (R) formats using existing Amiga-based software. The promotion is ideal for any Amiga user, particularly home and educational video enthusiasts seeking expanded, low-cost features." The "Amiga CD Solution" also offers users expanded audio and MIDI capabilities through the CDTV Player. The unit can play standard audio CDs, CD+Graphics, CD+MIDI discs, and access the large library of CDTV specific titles. Both the Amiga and the CDTV player maintain the ability to run thousands of Amiga disk-based applications as well. The Interface Kit includes: a specially configured parallel port cable, for connection between an Amiga and CDTV player; the ParNET file system, allowing two-way communication between the systems; and the Fred Fish CD-ROM collection, containing of over 600 freely redistributable programs. The Manufacturer's Suggested List Price for the Amiga 3000-25/50 and the Amiga 3000-25/100 are $2729 and $3379, respectively. Current Amiga owners can purchase the CDTV Player and Interface Kit for $599.00. This promotion is offered through Commodore authorized reseller locations. Commodore Business Machines, Inc., based in West Chester, PA, manufactures and markets a complete line of computers and peripherals for the business, education, government and consumer markets. Commodore and CDTV are registered trademarks of Commodore Electronics Limited. Amiga is a registered trademark of Commodore- Amiga, Inc. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 3rd of 9 Stories ____ Computer News for Business People (_ _) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / / BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1992 AUG 31 (NB) / / The following report is provided by the Boston Computer Exchange _/ / (____)BM will raise prices. Do they make their own roller-coaster? It seems like only last week they were cutting prices. But, it's only a measly 3% increase on some hardware and software products. But, but, but, not the PS/1 or the PS/2's, or OS/2 or even DOS, mind you. Those prices are stable. IBM will have a handheld to show at Comdex this fall, so now handhelds have been blessed. Compaq is showing off. They are on the verge of releasing some new multiprocessor high end file server computers. The new TriFlex architecture allows two processors to handle more than twice the transactions of conventional designs. Meanwhile, Dell is building their new file servers with enhanced disk arrays to improve disk performance. Everyone is flexing the high end system muscles like boys preening for the right to debut with Windows NT. Stay tuned. Microsoft is touting its numbers again. 10 million copies of Windows sold. Ten thousand copies of the Windows NT developers kits are out. That sounds like one in a thousand of us is writing stuff for the rest. You can expect a lot of Windows NT talk as the beta copies get out in the early fall. Kodak released Photo CD Access to allow PC and Macintosh users to fiddle with their photos. The Kodak Photo CD process lets you put your pictures on a CD-ROM diskette and the new software lets you manipulate the pictures with your PC. You can even draw a mustache on your Aunt Agnes. Are you confused by the word RAID. Does it make you think of Bug Spray? There is now a RAID advisory Board. That's the Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disk Drive Advisory Board which is composed of the major makers and consumers of disk technology. They are going to help educate you about RAID. Watch for an exciting White Paper later this year. More on the Intel 586 processor. At 66 Megahertz it can perform more than 100 million instructions per second. The chip has more than 3 million transistors and will perform up to ten times better than the 33 Megahertz 486. Intel expects the new model to keep RISC computers at bay and maintain their dominance in personal computers. FastBytes: Wang's worse. Chapter 11 reorganization time for the star of the recent past era. They are retrenching and pulling back. 3Com announced new EtherNet cards that double the speed of data throughput. Cards for the ISA type computers are out this week with the other buses arriving later. The new free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada will effect the computer business. So long as computers contain motherboards that have been made in North America, they can move between the countries duty-free. We may be our own Taiwan. In what looks like a window into the future, Digital Equipment Corporation is going into the clone mail order business. With PC's priced starting at $899, it may even be called the cheap clone business. After the failure of the DEC Rainbow line, Digital sold PC's from other makers, but now has decided to go back into the production of their own PC's. The decision to do it mail order is another indication that the era of the store and distributor are about to change. Wish them luck, maybe this is the Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow. Finally, this from the Big Brother is Watching Department, Motorola and Amtech are forming a joint venture to develop wireless electronic toll collection and traffic management systems. The systems are designed to allow fleet managers to monitor the coming and going of company vehicles, and can be used for toll collection on hiways where the data about a car's toll would be transmitted to a central computer for later billing. That's all we need - try to reason with the computer when you get a bill for a million dollars in highway tolls. BoCoEx Index News The talk of the market is a possible price cut from IBM in the early fall and there are signs that people are repositioning their inventory in anticipation of another market tumble. The IBM PS/2 Model 80's were off this week down $100 from $1500, but the Model 95 took the biggest tumble losing $900 to sell this week for $3000. Compaq notebooks were active with stable pricing. The LTE 286 closed at $800 the SLT-286 traded at a high of $1000 for fully loaded models and $700 for the base system. Macintosh 2CX's were off $200 to close at $2400 while other Macintosh models were stable. The volume in the MacMarket is all PowerBook and SE-30. Laser 2 NT's were off $150 at $1300 in modest trading. SoundByte News is produced by Alex Randall who is solely responsible for its contents. (C) 1992 NewsBytes. Reprinted by Permission. -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 4th of 9 Stories _________________________________________________________________________ | | | *StarShip* Amiga Conferences | | ____ _ _ | | / ___) __/ ) / ) | | ( (__ ____ ____(_ __)___ __ __ / /_ ____ ___ | | \__ \ / __ )/ )/ / / __ )/ \/ \ / )/ __ )/ __) | | ___) )/ ___// /) // / / ___// /\ /\ \ / /) // ___// / | | (____/(____)/ ___/(_/ (____)(_/ \/ \_)(____/(____)(_/ | | (_/ | | | | IMPORTANT CHANGE: Hardware Clinic now at 9PM Eastern on SATURDAY! | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | | Except where noted, Conferences begin at 10PM Eastern Time in the Amiga | | Conference Rooms at Page 555. Amiga Programmers meet Wednesday nights | | at Pro/Am on Page 670. Amiga/GEnie HelpDesk EVERY Night at 9PM Eastern. | |_________________________________________________________________________| | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday| Humpday |Thursday | Friday | Saturday | | Help@9EST| Help@9EST|Help@9ES| Help@9EST|Help@9EST| Help@9EST| Help@9EST| |__________|__________|________|__________|_________|__________|__________| | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |17 | 18 | 19 | | | | | | | |9:Hardware| |5-MIN News| | o/` | AmiGames |vv-Video!| | Clinic | | 3PM-3AM | | |with Zach!| with |5-MIN News| --- | | --- | DeskTop | Music | --- | | 6PM-3AM |10PM: | |10PM:BEST |Publishing| with |Programing| Yury & | | SPECIAL! | | of Amiga | Amiga | Mikey |at Pro/Am | Guests | |WoC/Amiga | | Graphics | Style! | &Gang | | | |Debriefing| |__________|__________|________|__________|_________|__________|__________| ^^^^^^^^ HelpDesk *EVERY* NIGHT @ 9PM Eastern Time! Got a problem? If you have questions about learning to use your Amiga, the *StarShip* or GEnie, we have answers! Stop by Conference Room 4 ANY EVENING from 9 to 10 EDT for live, on-the-spot help. -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 5th of 9 Stories _ __ _ Westwood Studios Needs Amiga Talent ( \/ \/ ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ \ / \_/\_/estwood Studios, a computer game and videogame publisher in Las Vegas, Nevada, is now hiring Amiga programmers. Some of our most recent Amiga products include DragonStrike, Eye of the Beholder, and EOB II: The Legend of Darkmoon. We are growing rapidly, and we need experienced Amiga programmers capable of programming projects of this type and caliber. We are also interested in hiring Amiga programmers who are interested in applying their talents to programming videogames on the Sega Genesis game system. If you're interested, and you're REALLY good, and you're willing to relocate to Las Vegas, then we want to talk to you! Send your resume to Christopher Yates at the address below. If you're a great Amiga artist and can draw computer graphics competitive with the artwork in the above-mentioned products, then we want to talk to you, too! Please send your resume to Rick Parks at: Westwood Studios 3355 Spring Mountain Road, #49 Las Vegas, NV 89102 -*- *StarShip* NEWS *Flash* 6th of 9 Stories ______ Amiga WordSearch Puzzle (__ __) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / / / / (_/he puzzle below was made with a slick search-a-word type puzzle generator created by Jeff Sprague. It has a user-friendly interface that allows you to enter custom word lists, save, sort, generate and print your own puzzles of different sizes. Created with AMOS, it should work with all operating systems; a printer is required to make full use of it. This sample WordSearch Puzzle about the Amiga was made by your *StarShip* News Reporter in about 15 minutes. _________________________________ Circle the words below in the box | | to the left. They may be vertical, | E C C D H J A Y M I N E R C H | horizontal or diagonal, forward or | L C O U N K E Y B O A R D L P | even backwards! | J O U M W U D B L I T T E R Z | | O M S F M Q O K A J O T C C N | | Y P A O M O H S V I D E O G G | AMIGADOS ANIMATION | S A C V D S D U Z I P G P R S | BLITTER CLI | T T L A G A Y O L K E N R A J | COMMODORE COMPATIBILITY | I I I V L R G K R S S I O P O | COPROCESSORS DENISE | C B A Z A U T I I E B K C H L | DIGITIZING GAMES | K I I G Y N A N M L I S E I D | GARY GUI | F L D N P Q E P Z A Y A S C I | GRAPHICS JAYMINER | F I E O N D L Q B U M T S S G | JOYSTICK KEYBOARD | E T M B R O E B C T O I O U I | LORRAINE MULTIMEDIA | N Y I Y E H I Q U R U T R T T | MULTITASKING MIDI | I M T C A C G T E I S L S A I | MOUSE PAULA | A I L Y L E A E A V E U S L Z | REALITY SPEECH | R U U I I E M D I M E M M U I | SOUND VIDEO | R G M B T P E K E D I P J Q N | VIRTUAL WORKBENCH | O T Z Z Y S S G S C I N R L G | | L O H C N E B K R O W M A L N | |_________________________________| The puzzle generator is in *StarShip* Library file #16877 WORDSEARCHV2.LHA. -*- *StarShip* Amiga *Flash* 7th of 9 Stories __________________________________________________ / \ | Watch this space for coverage DIRECT from the | | Pasadena World of Commodore/Amiga Show | | taking place THIS weekend, Sept. 11-13, 1992... | \__________________________________________________/ Commodore Introduces A4000 at Pasadena World of Commodore ____ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / ___) Pasadena, CA --- September 1, 1992 / / / (__ (_____)ommodore business Machines, Inc. today introduced the Amiga 4000, the company's revolutionary new premier multimedia computer. The Amiga 4000 marks the company's most significant new technology advancement in its Amiga line since the product's introduction in 1985. In addition to the Amiga 4000, Commodore announced several other significant product introductions including the Amiga 600 and 600HD, AmigaDOS Release 3 Operating System, A570 CD-ROM Drive, and Amiga Vision Professional Authoring System. James Dionne, President and General Manager of Commodore Business Machines, Inc. commented, "these product announcements exemplify Commodore's continued commitment to offer computers with probably the best price/performance ratios in the computer industry today. We are confident that these products, particularly the Amiga 4000, will keep Commodore at the forefront of multimedia technology and enable us to continue our aggressive push in the multimedia marketplace." This powerful new machine features Commodore's Advanced Graphics Architecture custom co-processor chip set that enables users to display and animate graphics in multiple resolutions at up to 256,000 colors from a palette of 16.8 million. The new hardware features are driven by AmigaDOS Release 3, the newest version of Commodore's multitasking operating system, in combination with the machine's main processor, the Motorola 68040. While this new version of the operating system takes advantage of the latest features, it also maintains backwards compatibility with Amiga software not specifically written for the Amiga 4000. The Amiga 4000 will come standard with a 120 Mb hard drive, 6 Mb of memory, a dual speed high-density floppy drive, and CrossDOS which enables users to read and write to MS-DOS formatted floppy and hard drives. Other key multimedia features include: a dedicated slot for video devices; selectable NTSC scan rate compatibility; four voice dual-channel digital audio; up to 8 sprites, enabling high speed animations; and full hardware video overscan. The Manufacturers Suggested List Price for the Amiga 4000-040/120 is $3699.00. AmigaDOS Release 3, the newest version of the Amiga operating system, adds several software enhancements to the previous 2.04 operating system. Among the new features are: CrossDOS allowing access to MS-DOS formatted floppy and hard drives; a new Installer utility; and a PostScript printer driver. Additionally, AmigaDOS release 3.0 offers full support for the new Advanced Graphics Architecture chip set featured in the Amiga 4000. Amiga 600 The Amiga 600 is a powerful entry-level computer with a small footprint and low profile shape, making it very attractive to the home computer buyer. The Amiga 600 and 600HD will come with AmigaDOS 2.XX and a selection of software packages. A570 CD-ROM Drive The A570 is a high capacity read-only storage device for the Amiga 500 series. The A570 accepts standard 5" compact discs in a CD caddy and plays all CDTV, audio CD, CD+G, and CD+MIDI discs. It can also read industry-standard ISO-9660 CD-ROM discs. Amiga Vision Professional Amiga Vision Professional builds and expands on the visual programming environment used in earlier versions of Amiga Vision. The new features include support for the CDTV player, speed and memory improvements, and enhancements to the authoring environment. In addition, a freely redistributable runtime module has been included, enabling flows created in Amiga Vision to be played back without loading Amiga Vision. Commodore Business Machines, Inc., based in West Chester, PA, is the U.S. subsidiary of Commodore International. The company manufactures and markets a complete line of Amiga computers and peripherals for the business, consumer, education, and government markets. Commodore and CDTV are trademarks of Commodore Electronics Limited. Amiga, AmigaDOS, Amiga Vision, Bridgeboard and Advanced Graphics Architecture are trademarks of Commodore-Amiga, Inc. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Motorola is a trademark of Motorola, Inc. ATTENTION: Two digitized HAM photos showing the exterior and interior of the Amiga 4000 are available for downloading from the *StarShip* Library in File #16915 4000.LHA. -*- *StarShip* Amiga *Flash* 8th of 9 Stories ___ ___ News From the Pasadena World of Commodore (_ )( _) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / /_/ / *StarShip* News Network / __ / _/ / / / (___)(__)ere's a sampling of a couple of the more interesting press releases from the first day of the Pasadena World of Commodore. 4000 REASONS TO OWN AN AMIGA CONTEST Commodore's users have many reasons for using an Amiga system for both professional and non-professional applications. Now Commodore would like to give all users an opportunity to share their reasons for using an Amiga through its "4000 Reasons To Own an Amiga Contest." Commodore will award an Amiga 4000 to the Amiga user with the best overall entry. The second prize winner will win an Amiga 600HD and the third prize winner will receive AmigaVision Professional, Commodore's new authoring software. Contest entry forms, along with Amiga T-Shirts and buttons, are available at Commodore authorized dealers while supplies last. To enter, jot down in 25 words or less your reason for owning an Amiga. Entries must be postmarked before October 23, 1992. CSA HITS THE MARK WITH NEW DERRINGER AMIGA ACCELERATOR Computer Systems Associates (CSA) is readying an all new accelerator, the Derringer, that breaks speed and price barriers at the same time. The Derringer is a new 25 Mhz 68030-based accelerator that gives A3000-level performance for $249.95 -- about the same price as many 68000-based accelerators -- while still running three to five times faster. The Derringer supports the addition of 1, 2, 4, or 8 more megabytes DRAM together with a 50 Mhz 68881 or 68882 math co-processor. Additional 16 and 32 megabyte DRAM upgrades will be possible as future DRAM technology develops. The CSA Derringer is a self-contained, single-board plug-and-play unit that replaces the 68000 CPU inside your Amiga. It will work with any A500 or A2000 and is scheduled to ship during the fourth quarter of 1992. -*- *StarShip* Amiga *Flash* 9th of 9 Stories ______ On-The-Scene Report from the World of Commodore (__ __) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / / *StarShip* News Network / / (_/he World of Commodore Show opened today in Pasadena, California, to sunny skies, enthusiastic crowds, and a brand-new machine. The Amiga 4000, the subject of much speculation, was finally presented to the public. Housed in a gleaming white-and-tan case not much larger than the Amiga 3000, it dazzled the crowds with displays of 262,144 colors - out of a 24 bit (plus 1 genlock bit) palette - and a wide array of screen resolutions and modes. You can read the numbers and you can try to imagine what they mean, but the reality of HAM8 is astounding. The images are photo-real, indistinguishable from 24-bit. If you think of HAM pictures as low-res, chunky affairs, forget it. HAM8, in high-res, gives you silky-smooth images of almost unlimited hue. The new graphic magic of the 4000 comes courtesy of the new kids on the block - Lisa and Alice. Denise and Agnus, who have served us well these past 7 years, have been retired in favor of these 32-bit ladies. New graphics aren't the only benefit, though. The 4000 has the capacity to read and write high-density 1.7 Megabyte floppies. Another innovative feature of the 4000 is the use of modular processors. The CPU is no longer an integral part of the motherboard; it's a plug-in board. While Commodore won't say exactly what their plans are, they indicate that the 4000 is the first of a new family of machines. The implications are that the 4000 can be shipped with any of a number of processors, from the 68020 to the 68060, when it is released. Commodore occupied a large area at one end of the show floor, exhibiting the A4000, as well as the newly-released A600 and A600HD, CDTV, Unix, and Amiga Vision Pro. They weren't the only ones there, though. Here's a brief rundown of significant exhibits: Inovatronics was demonstrating CanDo 2.0. This version, finished just before the show, features script bookmarking - allowing you to mark places in your script for easy return; SuperDuper - a utility that allows you to insert spreadsheet-style columns and rows of objects into your applications; Object Layer Tool - which allows you to change the hierarchy of objects - and an error-checking utility, Bug Basher. Color was the name of the game at the Centaur booth - over 16 million of them, to be precise. The OpalVision 24-bit graphics board, currently shipping, was the centerpiece of this display. If you've missed the splash ads, the OpalVision board offers 24-bit color now, with a bundled paint program, and promises Toaster-like capabilities in the future through add- on modules. You couldn't miss the Sunrize booth; it could be heard from any point on the floor. Sunrize was busy demonstrating their new 16-bit audio card, the AD516. This board features 8 tracks of sound, a time code reader, and a Digital Signal Processor on one card, and is bundled with the Studio 16 sound editing program. Sunrize plans to release the DD524 Digital Audio I/O board within 6 months. This board will feature direct import/export of digital audio between the Amiga and a Digital Audio Tape or CD player. The word from the GVP folks was that Mirage, a world-class Image Processing program, will ship just as soon as the manual is finished. Meanwhile, they've released CimeMorph, a polymorphing program capable of rendering to any Amiga mode, as well as DCTV, HAM-E, and 24-bits. CineMorph will perform static or full-motion morphing, works on single image or sequences, can generate and automate animations, and features AmigaGuide online help. Over in the Merit Software booth, football ruled. Tom Landry Strategy Football, that is. In an interesting twist, this game - co-designed by Tom Landry - was developed on the Amiga and then ported to the PC. It features a 2-player modem option (with a chat mode) as well as VCR-style instant replays. If the game gets too tough for you, you can always consult with the master through the "Ask Landry" option. Tom Landry Strategy Football is expected to ship within a month. The Digital Micronics booth featured two things: Speed and More Speed. The Vivid 24 board offers 24-bit graphics, resolutions as high as 2048 X 2048, and the ability to perform operations at speeds of up to 160 million floating point operations per second. The modular design of this graphics co-processor allows you to add various upgrade modules, ranging from math co-processors to a video effects generator. The Digital EditMaster board features editing speed. This board offers full-motion JPEG - in real-time - as well as 30 fps video capture. The EditMaster board can be connected to the Vivid 24 board for real-time 24-bit image transfer from hard disk to screen. There was more to see, of course, but some things had to be left for another day. This was only the first day of the show, as well as the first day in the life of a new family of Amigas. How to sum up the show? Perhaps with the most frequently-heard expression on the floor: "I want one!" -*- Over a GIGABYTE of Amiga files in our Library! Catch your limit of Fred FISH Disks from the *StarFish* Library. If you are after a SINGLE PROGRAM on a Fish Disk, SEARCH for it before downloading the disk. Most are available separately! _______________________________________________________________ | | | | | Permission is hereby granted to quote ALL or PART of this | | Newscast on a privately owned BBS or in a user group news- | | letter (*) provided you include the following credit: | | | | Reprinted by Permission from the 5-MINUTE Weekend | | News Network, a *StarShip*(tm) Production on GEnie(R). | | * /\ / | |_________________________________________________ ___/ \___ _| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ \ oo / ~ . \ \__/ / _ (*) We would like to know about it / \ if you do, and you can tell us \ /\ / *FREE* by leaving Feedback to / \/ \/ \ the SysOps on GEnie Page 555. *StarFish* Librarian *StarShip* 5-MINUTE Newscasts are compiled periodically and made available for downloading as well. Search the Library using the term 5-MIN to locate the various files. Compiled July Newscasts are in File #16699. The September issue of ViewPort, *StarShip* Monthly Newsletter, is available FREE on GEnie*Basic on menu option #9 on page 555! Open your buffer before selecting it. It is also available for downloading (as are back issues) in the Library as File #16840 (.LHA) or 16842 (.TXT). The current issue of ViewPort is FREE --- Don't miss it!