====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors- / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional Newsletter) BACK FOR THE FUTURE || ====================================================================== AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga International, GmbH ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 970607 P E T R O I N A T L A N T A P . O S P R E R E L E A S E I N J U L Y A U S T R A L I A N A M I G A S H O W N E W S O U N D C A R D L A T E S T V E R S I O N O F S H A P E S H I F T E R V I D E O T U R T L E U P D A T E O N U P C O M I N G Y A M T A E N N O T E S A A A A W A R D S A P P L I C A T I O N S Editor's Thoughts and Introduction: Some interesting items have come our way in recent days. First, Amiga International's Petro Tyschtschenko was in the US recently for a visit to Gateway 2000 headquarters. He also made a guest appearance at the Atlanta, Georgia, Amiga users' group meeting. We have a report and a transcript for you. NewTek Moving? Another interesting story appeared in a copyrighted article in the Kansas newspaper the Capital-Journal for June 3. Since it's copyrighted, we can't run it here but we can tell you about it. The gist of the story is that NewTek Inc. is considering leaving their long time Kansas home in Topeka, probably for a location in Texas. Reasons cited include difficulty in convincing qualified employees to come to Kansas, and the "not a pro-business" attitude of the state. It seems unlikely a move would affect the company's products much. Everyone watching the various "sort-of Amiga" products being developed will find our announcement from proDAD interesting. Their Amiga-like p.OS operating system will have a prerelease version available in July. Details are below. We have a story on the upcoming Amiga show in Australia. It'll be held the end of June. There's product news as well. An interesting new sound card is available, as is an updated version of "ShapeShifter", the popular Macintosh software emulator. We found a brief announcement of something called "the Video Turtle" in the Usenet postings. Find out more below. In other news, The Amiga Education Network has picked up steam since the buyout of Amiga by Gateway 2000, and has provided a press release. And finally, the AAA awards are upcoming. Applications for association with the awards system are due soon. Nothing earthshaking this time around, just a group of stories showing a forward moving Amiga community. We find that reassuring. Brad Webb, Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- P E T R O I N A T L A N T A FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Permission Granted to Distribute without Alteration Atlanta, GA May 31, 1997 A-I's Petro Tyschtschenko Addresses Amiga Atlanta ---- (Atlanta, Georgia)- The Williams meeting room of the Dunwoody Public Library was utterly quiet and completely packed. On Saturday May 31, a standing room only crowd of amost seventy-five Amiga users listened attentively to hear the first US address on the future of their favorite computer. Petro Tyschtschenko, Managing Director of Amiga International addressed the May General Meeting of Amiga Atlanta, Inc. Just days before he had met with the Board of Directors of the new owners of the Amiga platform- Gateway 2000. Out-of-town attendees almost outnumbered Atlanta members, with some people traveling from as far as Florida, Alabama, and Dayton Ohio to hear the news. In marked contrast to past owners of the Amiga, Petro not only made a statement (transcribed below) but stayed to answer questions and hear suggestions from the audience for almost an hour. Most notible was his call for unity to the Amiga devloper's community as well as an exciting preview of the new Amiga International's desires for the future. Also presenting at the meeting was Scaal Loret, who flew in from New York to participate. He is a founder of the Jay Miner Society for the Advancement of Personal Computing. This non-profit group seeks to enhance individuality by expanding, instead of restricting, user options in personal computing. All attendees were in agreement that an historic event had finally taken place on US soil. After years of emphasis on the European market, the Amiga was finally, in the words of Petro, "back home again". Contact: Bob Castro. Vice-President Amiga Atlanta, Inc. User Group PO Box 49103 Atlanta, GA 30359-1103 Or via email at: bcastro@mindspring.com --------------------- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Permission Granted to Distribute without Alteration Atlanta, GA May 31, 1997 Petro Tyschtschenko's Speech at AAi Meeting Transcript Here is what Petro Tyschtschencko, Managing Director of Amiga International had to say during his recent presentation to the Amiga Atlanta, Inc. User Group (AAi). ---- Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for this kind invitation here to Atlanta. Thank you very much for the invitation. This is my first event here in the United States, and I'm really impressed to see all these activities around our Amiga. When I arrived yesterday midnight, I could already feel the warm hospitality. It is nice to see that our Amiga platform is gifted by a community of competent people. Ladies and gentlemen, it is no longer a secret that we have got a friend in business -- Gateway 2000, the new home for our Amiga. Before I continue, first of all I would like to say thank you for your understanding, for your patience, that you, my friends, have kept Amiga alive. It is your success that our wonderful technology, our Amiga, has survived. With Gateway 2000, we all, and Amiga, I believe, will have a great and bright future. Gateway 2000 is a well-known, solid and established company in a computer world. Gateway 2000 is a leading global marketer of personal computers. Ted Wait, the chairman and CEO, founded Gateway 2000 in September, 1985. The company is located in North Sioux City, South Dakota and Gateway 2000 became a public company in 1993. Today, Gateway 2000 sells more PCs, compatible systems in the U.S., through direct marketing, than any other company. Gateway 2000 has a vision: to be the leading marketer of personal computers, products in the world, and Amiga is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gateway 2000. Gateway's mission is to grow the business faster than the competition by better understanding and serving the desires of the customer. And, ladies and gentlemen, Amiga is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gateway 2000. Gateway 2000's values are respect, teamwork, common sense, effectiveness, aggressiveness, honesty and, of course, fun. And Amiga is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gateway 2000. Should I say more? You would like to hear some facts about revenue? No problem. Revenue up 37% from 1995. 1.9 million Gateway PCs shipped in 1996. Shipments up 43% from `95. Earnings up 47% from `95. International revenue up 69.5%. I believe, ladies and gentlemen, there's a bright future for Amiga, for our community and for Amiga International. As I mentioned already in London, the basis of my strategy is 3 elements: Supporting the existing Amiga community. How? That's why I'm here. Through conventions, through press conferences, and the Internet (watch www.Amiga.de), meetings, of course, and useful initiatives coming from the Amiga community. Second, leveraging the existing Amiga technology through broad licensing. The basic of success in this project is to work together with partners to define a common path of development. The Amiga market cannot afford to split; we must go together. Together, in one direction. For us to keep the market alive it is necessary to assist many companies in developing products. Products through broad licensing. Our licensing policy will be very open, broad, and of course, simple. Licensing will be focused on standards, Amiga OS, chip sets, trademarks, boards, etc. Whatever you would like. The third basic element of the strategy is assisting in developing new products, based on open standards, through the home computer and video market. It is very important that we explore an open Amiga platform and use industry standard components. That would make our products cheaper to produce, faster to develop, and easier to upgrade. At this time, we are identifying candidates to manage the R&D department. Be sure, we will explore the most efficient method of determining R&D. Amiga's intention is to support the development community through concepts such as the open Amiga initiative. We will explore other concepts to bring developers on the platform. We will explore the development of an Amiga OS upgrade and we will address the features and functions that are necessary. You can be absolutely sure that Gateway 2000 will provide resources to reinvigorate the Amiga marketplace and keep Amiga a profitable subsidiary. Long live our Amiga and our strong community. Thank you very much. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- P . O S P R E R E L E A S E I N J U L Y p.OS PreRelease will be available at the middle of July! Suggested Retail Price DM 49.00 ********* Ordering information: The most convenient method of placing an order is to use our electronic order form located at http://www.schatztruhe.de/order.html. You can also send an E-Mail to stefano@schatztruhe.de including your address and the products you wish to order. Please do not forget to include your credit cards details. ********* Product Information Since its first introduction this new operating system, an innovation started on the Amiga platform, gained tremendous interest from the Amiga community. With this prerelease every user gets the opportunity to take a closer look into the philosophy of p.OS - the operating system which will soon be available for the Amiga and many other platforms. The prerelease is a nearly complete operating system at a reduced introductory price! You may also upgrade this version to the final release without having to pay more than the difference in price. For the price of DM 49,00 you'll obtain the p.OS PreRelease on CD ROM or on floppy disc. And as a special introduction bonus you receive - for free - additional demos and tools, which demonstrate the abilities of this operating system. An online tutor introduces you comfortably and with the greatest of ease to all the technical innovations and allows you to become immediately familiar with this powerful operating system. An excerpt of the features of the prerelease (CD ROM version): - Complete p.OS workbench Powerful and comfortable workbench with * Taskmanager, * Taskbar, * polished Drag&Drop- and windows technology - Powerful p.OS shell * Many commands with extra options for controlling the DOS * Comfortable extras like a history slider and Drag&Drop technology in the shell make its use absolutely simple. - Easy to use p.OS filer Powerful program for organising your files and drives e.g. highly comfortable * copying * viewing * searching of files and drives * Drag&Drop into other tasks like e.g. the shell or picture viewers, sound players etc. - incl. pOS-DOS fast DOS system with compatibility to AmigaDOS - incl. demos - various WB games - fractal demos - creation of animations with effects - picture viewers for different formats e.g. IFF, JPG, GIF PNG etc. - PhotoDirectory - Text viewer - Guide viewer (compatible to AmigaGuide) - HTML-Viewer - complete UNIX emulation with many demos Available in mid July for only DM 49,- p.OS PreRelease is distributed worldwide by Schatztruhe GmbH. System requirements: Amiga with MC68020 or higher, 4MB RAM CD ROM version: CD ROM drive / harddisk recommended Disk version : Floppy drive (DD) and harddisk Restrictions of this version: - Only usable parallel to Amiga-OS - therefore in parts limited speed in ECS/AGA modes - Disks in MAC-OS and MS-DOS format only useable with AMIGA drivers (but usable parallel ) - no printed manual, but ONLINE-Guide resp. HTML-Tutor (in the disk version because of space limitations without graphics) p.OS PreRelease is a product of proDAD Software GbR Feldelestr. 24 D-78194 Immendingen Phone: ++49-7462-91134Fax: ++49-7462-74354 E-Mail: huber@prodad.deWWW. http://www.prodad.de ---------------------------------------------------------------------- E - M A I L T O T H E E - D I T O R Subject: Your Newsletter Thanks for the up-dates/newsletter. Nearly all my computer activity is with an Amiga 3000. I try to up-date my software and support the people working with the Amiga OS as best as I can. Your "back to the future" helps a great deal towards that support. Thanks again. Burt (this PC is my computer challenged children's! Except for AOL.) ---- We appreciate the kind words, and the support of the companies who in turn support the Amiga. It's that sort of concern that's kept the computer alive, and which Petro Tyschtschenko has been aluding to in his recent speaches. It's what makes the Amiga community special. Brad ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A U S T R A L I A N A M I G A S H O W Australian Amiga Gathering Press Release: 03/06/97 The Australian Amiga Gathering is Australia's own Amiga expo. Now less than one month away, AAG-97 is what Australians have been waiting years for, a dedicated Amiga show. Held on the weekend of June the 28th and 29th, it will be located at the Sydney Showground in the Exhibition Village. Some of the Amiga companies that will be represented at AAG-97 are; Cloanto, Digita, DKB, Draco, Golden Image, GP Software, Haage & Partner, HiQ Limited, Phase 5 and ProDAD !! The show will run from 10:00 am to 05:00 pm each day. For further details check out the web page at http://www.pnc.com.au/~mother/expo.html or email the organisers at mother@pnc.com.au> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- N E W S O U N D C A R D 3 Jun 97 ANNOUNCE: DELFINA LITE - NEW DSP AUDIO CARD FOR GENERAL USE 1. TECH Delfina Lite is based on Delfina DSP, the world's first general use multifunctional DSP audio card for Amiga. From the Delfina DSP some functions have been deleted (serial/parallel ports, memory expansion) and some functions have been added (multiple sound input, expansion port). The modern manufacturing allows a very low price: SRP is $299. Delfina Lite is primarily a DSP audio card, and it is best suited for producing and recording audio with optional realtime effects. Effects can be applied on any sound produced by Delfina or external source transparently, and all the sounds produced by Delfina-capable programs or external source can be mixed into Delfina's output. Delfina Lite is also freely programmable for all general computing tasks using the supplied compiler and libraries. With the upcoming S/PDIF option Delfina Lite turns your Amiga into a professional 24-bit computer audio workstation. The optional serial port adds a new high-speed MIDI-capable serial into your computer with very little CPU usage. Features: - 40 MHz Motorola DSP56002 digital signal processor * 20 MIPS, upto 120 MOPS * 24 bit data bus (144 dB dynamic range) - 96kB (32kWords) SRAM * Zero-waitstate (12ns) - Stereo audio codec (Crystal CS4231A) * Sample frequencies upto 48 kHz at 16 bit * Three stereo inputs, one stereo output * All inputs can be mixed with Delfina's output - Two stereo RCA inputs - One stereo RCA output - Internal connector for audio input from CD-ROM - expansion connector for MIDI-compatible serial port and 24-bit S/PDIF digital I/O - Fully programmable using the supplied software Requirements: - Amiga with Zorro-II slot (A2000, A3000, A4000) - AmigaOS 2.04 or higher - 68020 processor or higher - about 5MB of hard disk space 2. SUPPORT Delfina Lite fully supports AHI, the retargetable audio standard for Amiga. Number of AHI supporting programs is steadily increasing. In the future, Delfina Lite will also emulate the Toccata card in software. In addition to AHI standard, Delfina Lite can run multiple Delfina and AHI programs at the same time, and various effects can be applied globally, on a single program output or a single external input, with all the sounds mixed together at wished levels. Only Delfina's DSP usage and internal memory set the limits. Software supporting Delfina includes: - Octamed SoundStudio - AudioLab16 for Delfina - SoundFX - Digi Booster Pro - Hippoplayer - APlayer - SinED - Play 16 - ShapeShifter 3.6 .. and many more. Delfina Lite system software includes: - AHI (Audio Hardware Interface) driver * Play&record multiple channel audio * AHI standard allows you to write software that works on other audio boards or normal Amiga audio too - delfina.library * For basic operations and user's own DSP software * Supports DSP program multitasking * Enables audio playback and recording - DelfPrefs * Utility to adjust Delfina's parameters - DelFX * Multiple realtime effects * Record and play AIFFstereo samples at 4000-96000 Hz * Configurable shortcut effect combinations * Can be used to process input or output of other programs - DelfLoad * Shows DSP usage and other statistics - MUI 3.8 unregistered version * licensed for use with Delfina software - A56 * DSP56002 assembler * Allows you to write your own DSP programs - Many example programs including source code - Software upgrades available for free, at http://www.sci.fi/~petsoff/ftp 3. MORE INFORMATION Delfina Lite boards are available for order from June 16th 1997. WWW site is at http://www.sci.fi/~petsoff To order, use the WWW order form, or mail to: Petsoff Limited Partnership P.O. Box 1009 FIN-53301 LAPPEENRANTA FINLAND Distributors sought worldwide. For ordering questions, please send email to: petsalo@petsoff.pp.sci.fi (Jyrki Petsalo, marketing) and for technical questions, please send e-mail to: suikki@petsoff.pp.sci.fi (Teemu Suikki, hard- and software design) ---- Delfina - Discover the Sound of Power. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- L A T E S T V E R S I O N O F S H A P E S H I F T E R 1 Jun 1997 TITLE ShapeShifter VERSION 3.8 AUTHOR Christian Bauer DESCRIPTION ShapeShifter is a multitasking shareware Macintosh-II emulator for the Amiga and DraCo computers. It allows to run Macintosh software concurrently to Amiga applications without hardware add-ons or modifications. Some of the emulation's features: - Color display up to 256 colors on AGA Amigas (16 colors on ECS) and up to 16.7 million colors on graphics cards - Accelerated graphics with CyberGraphX/Picasso96 - Support for one or two monitors - No MMU required, even runs on A1200 - Macintosh hard disks can be simulated in Amiga files or Amiga hard disk partitions [unregistered version has no hard disk partition support] - Can use Amiga floppy drives, serial, parallel and SCSI ports from the Mac [use of SCSI not possible in unregistered version] - Mac HD disks can be read directly with an HD floppy drive, Mac 720K disks can be used with any Amiga floppy drive. To use Mac 800K disks, you have to own CrossMAC and an original Mac drive. ShapeShifter also supports the Catweasel controller. - 8 bit stereo sound output (sound cards supported via AHI) - Sound input with parallel-port sound digitizers - Access to Ethernet networks - Simple networking between two Amigas with PLIP - Text clipboard sharing between Mac and Amiga - File handler to access Macintosh volumes from the Workbench - Speed comparable to a real Mac with equivalent hardware The most important changes in V3.8: - The Apple CD300 emulation has been replaced by an integrated generic CD-ROM driver. - 15 and 24 bit modes can now be used under Picasso96. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OS2.1, 68020 processor, 4MB of RAM, HD floppy drive recommended. A copy of a Macintosh 512K or 1MB ROM and the Macintosh system software are not included, but required. The ROM can be read off of a real Mac by using a supplied program, the system software can be bought from Apple. Note, however, that reading the ROM is only legal if you have bought the ROMs or own a real Macintosh. AVAILABILITY Aminet sites: /misc/emu/ShapeShifter38.lha http://www.uni-mainz.de/~bauec002/ShapeShifter3_8.lha Next Generation BBS, Germany (ShapeShifter support BBS) Port 1: +49-261-805012 (Zyx19.2/ISDN) Port 2: +49-261-84280 (V.FC) PRICING The requested shareware fee is DM 50,- or US$ 40. Upon registration you will receive a keyfile that enables the disabled features (SCSI and hard disk partition support). DISTRIBUTABILITY Shareware (DM 50,- or US$ 40 requested) Bye, Christian -- / Christian Bauer, Max-Planck-Str.60, 55124 Mainz, Germany \/ WWW homepage: http://www.uni-mainz.de/~bauec002/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- V I D E O T U R T L E 3 Jun 1997 Good News For RGB Monitor Users!!!! A new product, the VideoTurtle from Turtle Enterprises, is now available! This product converts RGB known as TV RGB, into S-Video signals. Replacing the need for an older TV RGB Monitor. ANY SYSTEM, that outputs TV RGB, can use the VideoTurtle. Some of the many are: Sega Genesis/32X/CD-ROM SNES Amiga Atari ST Neo Geo Apple IIgs Laser 128 MSX II/MSX II+ Adam Commodore 128 TV RGB Monitors(for uses other than computer/video games) Video Arcade Games, ones that output RGB. IBM CGA If interested in the VideoTurtle from Turtle Enterprises, please email me-ab453@cleveland.freenet.edu Thank you! James W. Krych ---------------------------------------------------------------------- T A E N N O T E S 30 May 1997 Now that the Amiga has a new owner and AI can look forward to operating again, we can expect renewed interest from the education sector. This interest has, in fact, already started, as TAEN is now receiving enquiries regarding the availability of Amiga education software at the present time. This is an appeal to all publishers of education software to send me details of any/all education software that is (i) currently available from th= em, (ii) that they plan to resuscitate, and/or (iii) that they are planni= ng for the future. This information will be used to build up a global Amiga education software database. I would also like to hear from any persons who: (a) Can put me in touch with publishers who appear to have fallen victim to the Amiga's long absence from the marketplace, but who may now be able to re-enter the Amiga market (publishers like Australia's Software and Rush Software, and New Zealand's Lascelles Software, for example). (b) Can advise me of any education software (including CD-ROMs) that th ey have found to be useful, and can recommend. Finally, TAEN is still looking for National Representatives. Can you be one? If so, please get in touch with me. Remember to include details of your background and your association with the Amiga. Basil Flinter Convener THE AMIGA EDUCATION NETWORK (TAEN) P.O. BOX 353, ARMIDALE N.S.W, 2350, AUSTRALIA Voice: +61 67 72-2100 Email: flinter@tpgi.com.au taen - the amiga education information highway ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A A A A W A R D S A P P L I C A T I O N S AAA Awards Associate Applications Due Umeå, Sweden - Sunday, June 1, 1997. AAA Awards Associate applications are now due in one month. Application is open for any Amiga user group in the world! Becoming an associate means YOU get to handle the handing out of a national AAA Award in YOUR country! Applying Download the application at our homepage, http://www.amiga-cg.se/aaaa/ and fill it out. The application must be sent to Amiga Computer Group by mail, and post stamped by July 1st 1997 (for application within 1997). For further information, see the AAA Awards homepage or contact AAA Awards Director Martin Sahlén at martin.sahlen@amiga-cg.se. Further rules can also be found there. Take a stand - apply for AAA Awards Association right away! Supporting Visit the AAA Awards Homepage and download a AAA Awards Button which you may include in your own WWW pages. Updates All the latest news regarding the AAA Awards will be made official at the AAA Awards Homepage. Acknowledgements The AAA Awards is copyright © 1997 Amiga Computer Group. The AAA Awards logo is copyright © 1997 Amiga Computer Group and Björn Hagström. The national and international AAA Awards are copyright © 1997 Amiga Computer Group. AMIGA® is a registered trademark of Amiga International, Inc. More Information AAA Awards Homepage - http://www.amiga-cg.se/aaaa/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Amiga Update on the net: some issues available at: http://www.sharbor.com/amiga/news/ (in html format) http://www.amigacom.com (in ASCII text) Australian Mirror Site: http://www.comcen.com.au/~paulm/index.html All back issues available (in ASCII text) at: http://www.globaldialog.com/AdventureCentral/AU/index.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1997 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified. ====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Brad Webb/AmigaUpdate /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ || ======================================================================