-=========================================================================- _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Amiga Update -News and Rumors /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || (An Occasional Newsletter) / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ || BACK FOR THE FUTURE || -=========================================================================- AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga Technolgies, GmbH --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 960829 V I S C O R P W A N T S A M I G A T Y P E L O G O R E P O R T O N V I S C O R P S T A T U S - A N D A N A M I G A L U G G A B L E ? S I L E N T P A W P O R T A B L E K I T I N T R O D U C E D The Editor's thoughts: LOGO: The good folks at VIScorp are in search of a new logo and are having a contest to design one. We find the premise behind this contest very reassuring. If you're a graphic artist - and we know some of our readers are very good graphic artists - give this some thought. VIScorp STATUS AND PORTABLES: We've also included a posting made by VIScorp's Jason Compton to the Usenet in which he discusses the current state of VIScorp - and mentions some interesting items about a new Amiga "luggable" computer.. The post from Jason Compton refers to QuikPak, the North American distributor of Amiga. Despite their inability to spell as demonstrated by their name, QuikPak seems to be a first rate organization. We've mentioned them in the past but not had much information about them. We decided to include a note from their CEO to redress that lack. Speaking of portable Amigas, we've been hearing from the Silent Paw people for a long time about their kits which allow you to make an Amiga portable from an existing mother board. We've not seen much to indicate they're actually available, though. If you've been waiting as we have, see the last item in this issue. EET: If you get the chance, take a look at the August 19 issue of "Electronic Engineering Times". EET is a venerable and much respected publication in the Electronics industry. It has a long and mostly very good front page article on the current Amiga situation titled "Hola, Amiga: Rebirth of a Platform". The only negative spotted was a statement that Escom beat out Atari (!?!) in the bidding for the Amiga after Commodore declared bankruptcy. Author Craig Matsumoto seems to be having flashbacks to the contest between Commodore and Atari in 1985 when the original Amiga company was up for sale. Unless there were other things happening in 1994 that we all missed, that is. Despite this one faux pas, the article is excellent and something no Amigan should miss. RUMOR!! It's been a while since we've had any fun rumors to pass along but we picked up one recently. Supposedly, Microsoft is working on a version of the Microsoft Explorer Web browser for the Amiga! Given that Amigans as a group are mighty active on the Web and Microsoft seems bound and determined to dominate all segments of the Web, it's almost believable. One thing to keep in mind is what the only other major Microsoft effort for the Amiga - Amiga Basic - was like. Fundamental programming flaws kept it from working on anything but 68000 based Amigas and even then it was slow. (We will admit it did have nice features. Not too valuable if it won't run on your Amiga, though.) As it always seems to be for Amigans, these are strange times indeed. Brad --------------------------------------------------------------------------- V I S C O R P L O G O C O N T E S T Design the New VIScorp Logo! VIScorp wants to show the world that it is more than just a set-top technology company with three capital letters in its name. We want to tell everyone that we own the Amiga, in everything we do. What better way than to incorporate Amiga trademark images in the VIScorp logo? We'd like this to be a community project. The specifications of the new logo are as follows. * The Logo MUST be provided in a form that will show up in NTSC and PAL broadcast video. (avoid white backgrounds, etc.) We recommend, but do not insist upon, a battleship-grey background at 10% screen. * The Logo MUST be provided in a form that will be color-separatable and printable. * The Logo MUST incorporate the Amiga double-checkmark in the "V" of VIScorp. * The Logo SHOULD incorporate the Amiga rainbow color stripes (as found on Amiga OS manuals, etc.) in the "o" of VIScorp. If you wish, you may ALSO submit a design with the Amiga boing ball as the o, but the rainbow "o" should take precedence. * The Logo MUST be designed on an Amiga. So, whether your bag is DPaint, Brilliance, AdPro, ImageFX, or Lightwave, we want to see your vision for the future of VIScorp and the Amiga. This will be appearing on all corporate information packages, memos, correspondance, etc. The entries should be submitted to VIScorp. Disks can be provided in any format. VIScorp 111 N. Canal St. Suite 933 Chicago, IL 60606 USA The winner will receive our undying gratitude and recognition on the inside flap of our official corporate information packet. All entries will become the property of VIScorp.-- Jason Compton Communications Manager, VIScorp --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A V I S C O R P P R O G R E S S R E P O R T - A N D A N E W A M I G A ? Where Things Stand 8/20 comp.sys.amiga.misc From: jcompton@flood.xnet.com (Jason Compton) Subject: Where Things Stand 8/20 Date: 20 Aug 1996 15:33:41 GMT Hi, guys and gals. As you've all no doubt noticed, August 19th has been and gone and there was no fireworks display. Later today there will be an official notification of a 30-day extension granted by the Escom trustee to VIScorp for the Amiga acquisition. [Press release carried in the previous issue of "Amiga Update" - 960821. Brad] What else is news? Well, many of you have heard by now of the Amiga luggable I was showing in Atlanta and later in the Chicago suburbs. Here's a mini-FAQ. No, it is NOT the Silent Paw A4000 portable design. It WILL BE a new motherboard design done by QuikPak. The capabilities of the machine will be A4000-ish, with either an 040 or 060, up to 128 megs of RAM on the motherboard, with Zorro slots and a video slot or two. I don't have the specs on what I/O it will have internally or externally yet. What I showed was an OEM case built by Prism, which is what QuikPak has selected as the case and LCD for the machine. It's smoke-black, so it won't match the Amiga beige equipment on your desk now. :) It does NOT take batteries, it is AC powered only by a standard PC power supply. QuikPak is imagining that the machine will be popular as a Toaster/Flyer portable editing station. I am currently working on ways to make A1200s and A4000Ts more attractive for sale in the interim. I don't know what the engineering realities of a new stopgap machine will be, but in the meantime I am trying to put together a good deal for everyone. Graphic artists, please read my next post. [That's the contest item which we ran above. Editor's privilege to re-arrange items. Brad] VIScorp needs your help to herald in the Amiga's arrival at the company. Guys, I know it's tough. But we ARE trying and we ARE working as fast as possible to get things up and running. Visible evidence is scant, I know. "Faith" is a tough word to invoke when it comes to the Amiga, so I'll just ask you to persevere. We are, all of us, part of something unique. Something that the rest of the computing world has forsaken. We are a true Community, and I capitalize it on purpose. Each of us contributes something to the whole, whether it's the tangibility of a new Aminet release or the intangibility of simply grimacing at a flashing guru. Don't let them win. You know what we're up against, and it's more than just the legacy of Commodore's mistakes and Escom's inaction. We are trying to do our part, to keep everyone together. Please, persevere. I'm not here pissing away money just to ruin your day. I'm trying to ensure that the Amiga's place in the present and future is secure. -- Jason Compton jcompton@xnet.com Communications Manager, VIScorp --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A N I N T R O D U C T I O N T O Q U I C K P A K Quikpak Quality, Quickly. David A. Ziembicki CEO-QuikPak Corporation I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to QuikPak Corporation. QuikPak is currently providing distribution services and support for all Amiga Technologies products in North America. Back in June 1995, QuikPak received the contract from Amiga Technologies to manufacture the A 4000 T computer in North America. In late October, we completed the first production of the A4000 T and these units were introduced at several trade shows around the world. Worldwide acceptance of the A4000 T has been good although we have been told that availability in North America has been a problem. We at Quikpak were surprised by this. We have shipped thousands of board sets to Amiga in Germany for European sales and we have finished computers in stock here in the U.S. since December, waiting for end users like you. Most of you probably have not heard of QuikPak. We are a relatively young company but our background and experience with the Amiga dates back to the first Al 000's produced in the mid 1980s. Many of our management and workforce came from GVP and prior to that, some worked for Commodore in engineering, manufacturing, or service. Our ability to manufacture and support both the A4000 Tower as well as any other Amiga products released in North America is unsurpassed. Our goals are quite simple. 1. The end user is our top priority. We will provide high quality products, backed by the best factory technical support and service. 2. Our distributors and dealers are our partners. We will establish a strong distribution and dealer base, and then directly support our products at our factory, quickly and professionally. 3. Third party developers will make the new Amiga a success. We will encourage and support the efforts of all third party hardware and software developers as well as user groups in their efforts to support and promote the Amiga. The efforts of engineers, user groups, and third party developers, are what originally made the Amiga market a success. To this end, QuikPak is currently supporting the A4000 T and is now announcing repair services for all GVP products. We are encouraging all third party hardware and software developers to contact us so we can coordinate our tech support programs with theirs to be sure we best serve the A4000 T user community. All of us at QuikPak are dedicated to the continued rebuilding of the Amiga computer as an alternative to the "compatibles" in the applications where the Amiga is superior. This market launched several successful peripheral companies in the past, and because the Amiga remains a technologically competitive computer today, we expect to see that history can repeat itself. Our thanks to all of you-past, current, and future Amiga owners-for your support. Quikpak: Phone 610-666-8080 FAX 610-666-8086 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- S I L E N T P A W I N T R O S A L E Silent Paw Productions, Inc. is having initial release sale on the PAWS 1200. If you are student, a member of the military, police, fire or represent an educational institution please see below. All prices are US Dollars. PAWS 1200 - $2,195.00 This price is good on all orders up to Sept 20. Please note that with all special orders proof of status is required. Most things will be accepted from Xeroxs of student IDs to check stubs. Here is a list of our other products : Gecko - Allows any Amiga to use standard VGA displays in NTSC, PAL, DBL, and Productivity Modes. Video Toaster Upgrade coming soon. External Unit uses no Amiga slots. Comes with unit, power supply and cable. - $375.00 PAWSTRAC MicroTrackball - Small microtrackball for the Amiga. - $35.00 Cub - External LCD Panel for the Amiga. Can be sold with or with case to support interactive Kiosks. Cub supports NTSC, PAL, DBL, and Productivity Modes $1,459.95 (with case) $1,359.95 (without case) Please visit our Web Page at : http://www.netcom.com/~slntpaw We accept on line orders for our products and accept VISA/MC. Thanks for your attention. Regards Shawn P.B. Randolph President Silent Paw Productions, Inc. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amiga Update on the net: recent issues available in html format at: http://www.sharbor.com All back issues available (ASCII text only) at: http://www.globaldialog.com/AdventureCentral/AU.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1996 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified. -=========================================================================- _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || Brad Webb/AmigaUpdate /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || webb@malamute.med.ge.com /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ || Portal -- XJumpdisk -=========================================================================-