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Archive 07/2003


22.Jul.2003



amiga-news.de: restricted news service from 31.07. - 13.09.2003
Like last year it's time to grudge the amiga-news-team a summerbreak. The break is between 31st July and 13th September.

Nico Barbat told us that he will upload important news and news summaries. Please send your news how usual to the ANF or send the news directly to nico@amiga-news.de.

While the summerbreak, there are no translations and the comment function is deactivated. The Forum stays in function, we will call there a moderator, who looks after the contents.

In this time we all good think about how we could celebrate our 5-years-anniversary. (ps) (Translation: gf)

[News message: 22. Jul. 2003, 23:44] [Comments: 0]
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22.Jul.2003
Wojtek Kozlowski (E-Mail)


Elbox: Website Update
The Elbox Website has been updated. The eFlash 4000 page has been set up in the Products Section.

Check also the eFlash 4000 page in the Adapters and Interfaces Section of the Elbox Online Store. (ps)

[News message: 22. Jul. 2003, 19:03] [Comments: 0]
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22.Jul.2003
Sebastian Hensel (ANF)


KuH-Mag and AmigaJoker.de: Interview with Michael Labiner
The team of the KUH-magazin and AmigaJoker.de was able to find the years missing Michael Labinier (Amiga- und PC-Joker), and they interwied him. He answered to twenty questions, which you can read at: KuH-Mag or directly under the title link. (ps) (Translation: gf)

[News message: 22. Jul. 2003, 18:40] [Comments: 0]
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22.Jul.2003
(ANF)


X68000 Emulator PPC 0.00b21, Carbonized for Mac OS X
The X68000 was an impressive Japanese home computer system that was released in 1987. It featured a 68000 processor running at 10MHz, and supported up to 12 MB of main memory. It also had very impressive multimedia capabilities for the time, with a 65536 color palette and an 8-voice stereo FM synthesizer.

X68000 Emulator PPC is currently the only X68000 emulator available for the Macintosh. It is in very early stages of development, but it appears that it can run Gradius and Fantasy Zone to some degree, which is certainly impressive. An important thing to note is that the program and home page are entirely in Japanese, which makes it difficult for English-speakers to enjoy it. Also note that the application is compressed in LZH format, which is quite uncommon for most Macintosh programs, but Stuffit Expander seems capable of handling it; you may need to expand the files multiple times to get the program to work, however. (ps)

[News message: 22. Jul. 2003, 13:43] [Comments: 0]
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22.Jul.2003
Andreas Loong (E-Mail)


ACGGBG and ToAks presents: The Amiga PPC Demo Database
ACGGBG and ToAks from Push Entertainment proudly presents: The Amiga PPC Demo Database!

For a long time now, we've collected demos and tested them. We felt that this was something that the PPC users were lacking - ONE place to find them all, including a text with requirements to make it work. Look no further, this is the ultimate P P C D E M O D A T A B A S E. (ps)

[News message: 22. Jul. 2003, 08:44] [Comments: 0]
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21.Jul.2003
Olaf Köbnik (E-Mail)


Amiga Arena: Jubilee special offer for "Poseidon"
Amiga Arena is proud to announce the availability of a special offer for the USB-stack 'Poseidon'. We have to mention that this is not the official start of the upcoming 'Amiga Arena jubilee weeks'!

A co-operation between Chris Hodges and Amiga Arena made a special offer for 'Poseidon' possible. Until the 31st July 2003 you can order 'Poseidon' for only 14,00 EUR (only bank orders are accepted). In order to buy the program you have to use the registration form at Amiga Arena. Additional information about 'Poseidon' can be found at www.platon42.de. Special thanks go to Chris Hodges who made this offer possible. (ps) (Translation: sk)

[News message: 21. Jul. 2003, 20:49] [Comments: 0]
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21.Jul.2003
z5 (ANF)


Amiga Demoscene Archive: Searching for PPC owners
Amiga Demoscene Archive was updated again with two demos: CNCD's classic Closer, winner at The Party 1995 and Spaceballs demo Dark Helmets from The Gathering 2003 and seven new logos were added in the Logo-gallery.

We are looking for people with high-end Amigas to help out with screenshots from PPC demos. (ps)

[News message: 21. Jul. 2003, 20:34] [Comments: 0]
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21.Jul.2003



Aminet Uploads until 21.07.2003
These updates or new programs have been uploaded to the Aminet since our last report:
newscoaster.lha      comm/news  482K+NewsCoaster Full Version (v1.58) (MUI)
newscoastersrc.lha   comm/news  229K+NewsCoaster Source Code (v1.58 - 11 Jul 
TView.lha            comm/tcp    77K+List TV-programs in Europe.
GuiGfxDevBas.lha     dev/basic   31K+Using GuiGfx library from HBasic
ctags.lha            dev/c      349K+Generate tag files of source code
CheckDisk.lha        disk/misc    6K+A simple utility to check your disks
TheCrypt29.lha       docs/mags  6.9M+Issue 29 of "The Crypt" online magazine
TheCrypt30.lha       docs/mags  7.9M+Issue 30 of "The Crypt" online magazine
Saga.lha             game/board 312K+Saga 1.28: Conversion of TSR boardgame
ToT_V0.50.lha        game/demo   36M+Tales of Tamar Client V0.50
DM-Spells.png        game/hint    9K+List of spells for Dungeon Master, CSB &
WormWars.lha         game/misc  549K+Worm Wars 7.52: Advanced snake game
Marryampic2.lha      game/think 525K+CardSet game with sound-pairs (MorphOS)
SmartScale.lha       gfx/conv    31K+A CLI/WB program used for gfx conversion
PicShow.lha          gfx/show   592K+Datatype picture viewer for directory to
WBVirus.lha          misc/antiq   1K+Old bouncing balls display hack
Foundation3.mpg      mods/mpg    21M+Third part of a three part suite
NI-SailorMoon.lha    pix/icon     8K+Anime/Manga NewIcons: Sailor Moon
fryingpanshots.lha   pix/illu   351K+FryingPan 0.022 (cd-burner program) scre
AAA2003_01.lha       pix/misc    10M+Amiga Alpe Adria 2003 archive 01
Satire13-Apr03.jpg   pix/misc    51K+"La satire du Jet d'Ail" in pictures on 
CharMap.lha          text/font   85K+Display the whole charset of a given fon
reqcollec2.lha       util/cli    29K+Second collection of request tools
WarpJPEGdt.lha       util/dtype 142K+JFIF-JPEG datatype V45.3 (68k,WarpOS,Mor
(ps) (Translation: sk)

[News message: 21. Jul. 2003, 17:25] [Comments: 0]
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21.Jul.2003
Chris Hodges (E-Mail)


Poseidon licencing ceasing on 01-Aug-03
Chris Hodges (Poseidon author) writes:
»Due to reasons I will not explain here further (ask me in private), Poseidon keyfiles cannot be bought after 01-Aug-03. People having just bought an USB card, that does not come with an OEM Licence, have the chance to register Poseidon until the end of this month.

Support for existing users is NOT affected and will continue as usually.

It is recommended that dealers stop selling USB cards without licence to avoid angry customers buying an useless piece of hardware, until the vendor delivers his own software solution or the situation is solved somehow.«

Im Klartext heißt das, dass die Software Poseidon von Chris Hodges natürlich weiterentwickelt wird, aber bis auf weiteres nur noch Karten mit OEM-Lizenz unterstützt werden. (ps)

[News message: 21. Jul. 2003, 10:47] [Comments: 0]
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20.Jul.2003
Sebastian Brylka (E-Mail)


FTW: Total Amiga Magazine #15 arrived
Sebastian Brylka of Funtime World writes:
We are glad to be able to announce that we have already received issue 15 of the English Amiga magazine "Total Amiga". As always some copies have been reserved for advance orders. Interested parties who still want to receive a copy should therefore hurry up. The magazine is still priced at EUR 6.50 incl. p&p (advance payment)!

From the contents:
  • News
  • AmigaOS 4 Update
  • Columns from Fleecy Moss and Alan Redhouse Features
  • Selling the new Amiga "it's not about the desktop"
  • AROS: the DIY Amiga OS
  • Mac: Reloaded - getting back into classic Mac emulation
  • Quake II Competition
  • Tales of Tamar Update
Reviews:
  • Pegasos and MorphOS 1.3
  • Subway USB
  • IBrowse 2.3
  • FXPaint 2
  • Aqua
PD Paradise:
  • ANR and Home Bank
Support:
  • Top Tips
  • Hollywood Tutorial - how to create a simple presentation with the new multimedia package
As always you can conveniently order the magazine from our online shop!
(ps) (Translation: cb)

[News message: 20. Jul. 2003, 22:43] [Comments: 0]
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20.Jul.2003
AmigaWorld (ANF)


Fortnightly Q&A's with Fleecy Moss - episode 15
The English online magazine AmigaWorld has published episode 15 of the regular questions and answers session with Fleecy Moss, CTO at AMIGA, Inc. (Update 2012-03-15, cg: as the original document is no longer available, the following content was moved into our database):

1) amif1team: How about support for Russian and Ukrainian Amiga users? Do you support the Russian Amiga dealer 'Amiga Line' or do you have any other future plans to sell AmigaOne hardware in Russia and the Ukraine?

Fleecy: We have Russian and Ukranian language drivers in AmigaOS4.0 and although the Russian team seems to have disbanded, we have been told another is being formed.

The new Amiga Power Platform website will provide a forum for Amiga users and we will work with the ATO to make sure that it supports languages other than English. Our aim is to be able to work with local groups and dealers since they know their areas and markets far better than we do.

We are happy to sell AmigaOS and Amiga certified hardware such as the AmigaOne anywhere. The dealer you mention can send me a private email and I will try to get him/her set up.

2) Mojo-kun: AmigaOS needs modern applications. There is lots of very good free software which could be ported to AmigaOS if it had POSIX compatibility and some common GUI toolkits such as QT, GTK+ or GNU Step. What do you think of this and is an effort being made to support these technologies?

Fleecy: A great platform needs great applications. Our aim is to support and encourage the development of new applications on our platform so that we start to develop a unique and appealing software base that offers something over the other platforms.

Having said that, new applications take time and resources. AmigaOS4.0 will start off with a lot of older Amiga Generation 1 applications that are emulated, most of which are in serious need of updating. To increase the amount of AmigaOS4 specific software we have been looking closely at what is needed and what can be moved quickly from other platforms, such as Windows and Linux.

A strategy is underway to make such porting easier but, at the same time, we have to be careful not to turn AmigaOS4 into something else. POSIX, for example was created for very specific reasons, reasons that don't map one hundred percent onto the AmigaOS.

3) Turbo: According to the original Amiga One Zico Specification, several AmigaDE friendly processor types were to be supported. Are there still plans for a future Amiga OS to support x86? Is the future replacement for Amiga OS4.x coded on top of intent or is this going to be rehashed to run exclusively on a 64bit G5?

Fleecy: Our plan is still to make AmigaOS5 processor agnostic so eventually it will run on x86 but this is some time off, and would mark the completion of the Amiga Generation 2 project.

It will not be built on top of Intent. Intent will reside within the AmigaOS as a service, providing Amiga Anywhere and Java support.

The 64 bit AmigaOS implementation has always been a target, since we will be able to implement orthogonal persistence much more easily than on a 32 bit platform. There are still a lot of issues to sort out first however.

4) Yellow: I have Party Pack. I'm planning to buy AmigaOne with the latest AmigaOS perhaps after a year. Can I safely assume that I will get the $100 refund then? Does it matter what kind of AmigaOne model I buy; if there someday exists an AmigaOne model that uses 64-bit PPC processor, can one get the refund for buying that?

Fleecy: The voucher scheme is refundable against an AmigaOne (which is the Amiga certified Eyetech board and an OEM copy of AmigaOS that runs natively on it) so if you buy it a year after it comes out, then yes, you can claim the refund. The exact mechanism is still being discussed between ourselves and participating dealers but it will have to be in place before AmigaOS4.0 ships.

I don't see why it can't be used against a 64 bit Amiga but that is some time off.

5) alx: If you went back in time to before the A1/OS4 project began, what things would you have done differently and why?

Fleecy: I'd have put $1000 on the winner of the Grand National and I wouldn't have wasted $10 to see The Phantom Menace ;-)

With hindsight, we'd have started the AmigaOS4.0 project straight away, running it in parallel with the AmigaDE project. I also wouldn't have wasted 9 months trying to bring the various factions together for the sake of unity.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though.

6) Samurai_Crow: What affect does Tao Group's release of Intent 2 have on the AmigaDE platform and the general plans for the future?

Fleecy: As with every revision of Intent, we assess it, move the AmigaDE code to it and then help the developers to move their content to it. We are both committed to creating a better and better product set and seeing both Intent and the AmigaDE and its content on more devices and in more markets.

7) Agafaster: Can we have a PPC Linux version of Amiga DE? Pretty please?

Fleecy: The first version of the AmigaDE on PPC will be for AmigaOS4. This has been stated publicly from the very beginning - AmigaOS first, then OS X and then any other opportunities that make business sense.

8) Asemoon: Some time ago Amiga's CEO demonstrated AmigaDE's 2D scaling abilities for TechTV. When available for AmigaOS will the users be able to open AmigaDE software in seperate user defined screenmodes? (Screens various resolutions, instead of just running on the desktop as demonstrated on Windows/Linux)

Fleecy: Yes.

9) Asemoon: The AmigaOne-lite is said to become an entry-level Amiga solution. Are there any plans for an A1200/A500-style or similar custom case for housing the AmigaOne-lite motherboard?

Fleecy: There are plans yes but plans aren't products until you can buy them. A few third parties have also contacted us about creating their own case designs so expect to see quite a bit of choice.

10) unclecurio: In a previous Q&A, you mentioned you were looking at the way Apple had used the audio units system in OSX. Can you tell us a little more about how the Amiga solution might operate?

Fleecy: The AG2 audio solution actually started life way back when the AmigaDE was going to replace AmigaOS, quite some time before the OS X audio system became public knowledge. Reading the Core Audio documentation made us smile quite a bit.

Once we decided that AmigaDE and AmigaOS would address different markets, this solution was retargeted at the AmigaOS.

The AG2 audio project uses elements called 'streamers' which are similar to Core Audio's 'audio units'. They can perform filter-like tasks like effect processing, format conversion, stream encoding/decoding, mixing or I/O related tasks like streaming a file from/to disk or network.

To make a distinction between streamers of different applications, streamers belong to a certain 'Audio Context'. Of course there can be communication and data flow between several contexts, so the audio output of one application (for example a software sampler) can be routed to the input of another application (for instance, a multi-track program).

There will be specific higher-level streamers to accomodate for games, to make use of DSP's for example, without the need for the programmer to program them directly. The goals of the architecture are to make use of multi-channel audio, DSP's, multiple CPU's, etc. when they are available and to make sure a lowest possible level of latency can be acquired by means of a Quality of Service system.

(Copyright © 2003 Amigaworld.net. All rights reserved.
Originally available at http://amigaworld.net/modules/fleecymoss/index.php?cat_id=16
You may freely redistribute this article, providing that a URL is provided to the original source,
and the copyright notices remain intact)
(nba) (Translation: cb)

[News message: 20. Jul. 2003, 20:29] [Comments: 0]
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20.Jul.2003
WHDLoad (Website)


WHDLoad: New packages up to 20th July 2003
With the help of WHDLoad you can now install games on your hard disk that had only been meant for floppy use. The following packages have been added or updated since our last announcment:
  • 20.07.03 new: X-It (Psygnosis) done by Psygore
  • 20.07.03 new: Warm Up (GENIAS) done by CFOU!
  • 20.07.03 improved: Plan 9 From Outer Space (Gremlin Graphics) new imager and install script
  • 20.07.03 new: MOT (Opera Soft) done by CFOU!
  • 20.07.03 improved: Lemmings - Oh! No More (Psygnosis/DMA Design) supports another version, better speed, new icons
  • 20.07.03 improved: Impact! (ASL) better mouse support
  • 20.07.03 improved: Harley Davidson (Mindscape) new imager
  • 20.07.03 new: Cavitas (Nite Time Games) done by Psygore
  • 20.07.03 improved: Cardiaxx (Electronic Zoo/Team 17) new imager
  • 20.07.03 new: Bubble And Squeak (Audiogenic) done by JOTD
  • 20.07.03 fixed: Bloodnet (Microprose/GameTEK) removed disk requester
  • 20.07.03 improved: Ballistix (Psyclases/Reflexions) new imager
  • 20.07.03 improved: Adrenalynn (Exponentia)
(nba) (Translation: cb)

[News message: 20. Jul. 2003, 15:32] [Comments: 0]
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20.Jul.2003
Diverse


Software-News in a nutshell (20th July 2003)
Several applications have been enhanced since the last software news update. We want to tell about the changes below:

NewsCoaster
The Newsgroup client NewsCoaster has been released in version 1.58. A.o.t. MUI is required. Download

Jamiga
The pre alpha version 0.0.0.0.0.5 of the final version 1.3.1 of Jamiga, a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) implementation for AmigaOS 3.9 and 4.0, has been released on the Sourceforge Website. Download

SmartScale
SmartScale, a CLI/WB program for scripted graphics conversion, has been released by Lorence Lombardo in version 2.0d. Download (nba) (Translation: cb)

[News message: 20. Jul. 2003, 15:30] [Comments: 0]
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20.Jul.2003
Amigan Software (Website)


Amigan Software: Worm Wars 7.52 released
On 16th July 2003 the Snake clone "Worm Wars" by Amigan Software was released in version 7.52 for AmigaOS and Windows. Several changes have been made since the last version 7.51a:
  • New object: super bomb.
  • Improved sound effects.
  • Miscellaneous rule changes and bug fixes.

Download: WormWars.lha (565 KB) (nba) (Translation: cb)

[News message: 20. Jul. 2003, 14:51] [Comments: 0]
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20.Jul.2003
AmithlonTV (Website)


TV card driver: AmithlonTV Beta-Version 347
Today Guido Mersmann has released the beta version 347 of the TV card driver software AmithlonTV with several minor updates and improvements.

Download: AmithlonTVBeta.lha

Changes:
  • FEATURE: Added the missing "external" hardware type. This type is useful when creating non supported hardware or non hardware sources like frogger.
  • FEATURE: New tv card "PowerColor MTV878" supported. Thanks to Harald Frank for sending me the card.
  • FEATURE: Most of the card can use a second (!!) VHS (FBAS/Composite) input just by updating AmithlonTV. If you ever wished to have a second composite insteed of the SVHS (S-Video) input, then your dreams come true. Now you get both! All you need is a special VHS->S-VHS input cable to successfully connect your input signal. Most graphic boards with TV-Out are providing such cable. Beside the fact the chinch is male (use a chinch gender changer) this cable may not work. Mine has input/output connected, so it works in both directions. Just give it a try before wasting money.
    NOTE: Giftware means sending me a gift not considering AmithlonTV as a gift!
  • FEATURE: Invented a remote control standard and wrote the first driver for the "PowerColor MTV878". Using a remote is so cool! For the next AmithlonTV presentation I need a remote control. (-8.
    NOTE: If you are waiting for a version which supports your card, then you may wait forever. Make a TVCardDump and sent it in. In the most cases the card is running within minutes.
  • CHANGED: I did many small changes to the drivers and the library core.
(nba) (Translation: cb)

[News message: 20. Jul. 2003, 14:48] [Comments: 0]
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20.Jul.2003



Samba 3.0.0beta3 released
The third (and possibly final) beta release of Samba 3.0.0 is available for download. While significantly closer to the final release, it should still be considered a non-production release provided for testing purposes only. The source code and GnuPG signatures can be found on Samba mirrors. RedHat RPMS for 7.3, 8.0 and 9.0 are also available in the Binary_Packages download area. Packages for other platforms will follow shortly. The full release notes are available on-line as well. (nba) (Translation: cb)

[News message: 20. Jul. 2003, 14:45] [Comments: 0]
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20.Jul.2003
Thomas Rapp (ANF)


PicShow Version 1.29 released
Thomas Rapp has released version 1.29 of the picture viewer PicShow.

This program is meant to be configured as a picture viewer in directory tools like DirOpus or DosControl. It shows the doubleclicked picture in a borderless window on the specified custom screen. The remarkable about this program is that it reads the whole directory the picture is in and you can then choose other pictures out of this directory from a menu or by pressing the cursor keys.

Main features:
  • can be started from Workbench or Shell
  • runs on any public screen or opens its own screen
  • directories can be recursively searched for pictures
  • pictures are recognized by file name or file type
  • pictures are preloaded and held in the buffer
  • Slideshow with various transition effects
  • picture printout
  • picture editing: scale, mirror, rotate
  • color editing: contrast, brightness, colour, gamma
  • RGB colour filter, greyscale
  • can display all pictures from multiple picture files, e.g. GIF (anim) or TIFF (fax).
  • Copy & Paste - support
  • Drag & Drop
  • Iconify
  • ARexx port
  • freely configurable keyboard mapping
  • freely configurable navigation bar
  • all functions can be executed via keyboard, menu, navigation bar or ARexx
  • includes versions for 68040, WarpOS and PowerUP.

PicShow can be downloaded from Aminet. (nba) (Translation: cb)

[News message: 20. Jul. 2003, 14:37] [Comments: 0]
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20.Jul.2003
Markus Lunk bei GFX-BASE


Superfrog level on external wall
Markus Lunk writes:
This morning I found something amusing. You all still know SuperFrog, the Jump'N'Run with the grinning little frog? GFX-BASE have provided a couple of photos on which the game's first level was painted onto an external wall. The wall is in the Luna Park in Belgrade. You can go directly to the pictures through the title link. (ps) (Translation: cb)

[News message: 20. Jul. 2003, 13:10] [Comments: 0]
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20.Jul.2003
Martin Heine (ANF)


Genesi: Statement on Pegasos II/III and company strategy
SuperBundle Sunday! :-D

Good work Targhan!

In honor of the eve of the first SuperBundle Sunday we will just post this message here!

Why the Dell not?!

1. We started with the Pegasos by attracting smart computer users. We have found that "Geeks" who are creative and innovative work miracles. Just have a look at the weekly releases and activities report here and on the other sites. Further, by promoting the Pegasos as a multiple OS machine we opened ourselves to even broader based attention. Many special computer people appreciate this and are developing a number of very interesting applications for the Pegasos. The Summer Promotion and the Betatester Blowout were part of that strategy. Of course, the SuperBundle is too. The idea is to build a "Community" of active, enthusiastic users who have an interest in advancing the platform. Now that we have Pegasos machines in 34 countries, well over 200 MorphOS developers registered at MDC, and a framework for third-party and alternate OS involvement through Phoenix, we can begin to consider the next steps.

2. As mentioned before, we will do our best to take advantage of the Linux wave. We are definitely poised to do that here in Europe. We are positioning the platform as a non-west-coast-USA product. That has a broad appeal here. Look at the recent success of SuSE in Munich. Things are changing. For example, by the end of 2005, the French Government has mandated that no Windows OS can be used by any local government. In Spain, there is an even broader Linux move afoot. There is definitely an opportunity coming. Outside of Europe, a couple of weeks ago at the Developing World Conference hosted by the World Bank and the UN, one of the key issues/conclusions was that building an IT infrastructure based on Linux was key toward the establishment of stable societies in Africa. Worldwide, the "education" market will also be big. Enough about that.

3. We hope to have QNX running fully on the Pegasos soon. It is partially working already. We expect to see a commercial package later this year and hope the good folks at QNX will fully support our developing relationship. This addresses the embedded market.

4. In the meanwhile, MorphOS continues to improve. Have you visited http://mdc.morphos.net lately? We are definitely creating a community there. :-) We also have a third party developer site picking up some steam at www.phinixi.com. The foundation for the future is being set.

5. This brings us to the whole Pegasos II/G4 discussion. To serve the markets mentioned above we need to have a dual approach. First, we need a basic system and second we need a "Geek" machine -- a SuperGeekTweak if you will. The Pegasos II G3 will sufficiently provide the gist for all the "basic" market capability we need. Can the G4 do the rest? Last week we decided it could not. The incremental difference in performance and efficiency did not warrant the investment we had intended to make. Frankly, the G4 works and we will make some, but the investment required does not correspond to the performance gained. This is why we let the information slip into the thread about the Pegasos III and the 970. With the 970 we can see the potential.

The information above highlights our ongoing, generally known intentions. As we do not have the overhead of a big company, it is not terribly difficult to do all that. Plus, our costs are further lower because we own or control everything internally (IP, production, etc.).

Now, what remains the ultimate objective? Why are we doing all of this?

Please remember, we have always said that first and foremost the Pegasos is a development platform. The ultimate target is the digital terrestrial/satellite television STB market. "Target" here means potential customers. Do not confuse what we want to offer them with what they have today. This is not a SetPal box (for those in the UK) -- it is MUCH more. We will offer two tiers -- basic (receiver plus a little extra functionality) and Super (bundled with a broadband ISP connection and ALOT of extra functionality). The market here in Europe is estimated by more than a few sources at over $2.5 billion in the next four to five years. MorphOS is "lite" and can lower our memory and comparative CPU costs against the competition. We do not pay royalties for its use either. Further, please notice that the PPC is the state of the art in this market space. We expect our first BIG customer to travel with us to IBM in Ny to help us negotiate CPU prices down for vo lumes over 1 million units. This STB WILL BE a computer and in fact could also be at the higher end the home server that is connected 24/7 and uses WIFI to communicate with everything in the "digital home." We really are talking about something revolutionary. It is not just a STB; it is a whole new kind of computer that integrates many different sources of data into one focal point for distribution on demand and as required. It really is something new.

#1 Rule of Marketing: offer people what they have already, just give them something better, more convenient, improve their life, etc.

We hope the Community we are gathering here can understand the potential we are discussing. One day not too far away analogue television signals will cease. The transition to digital will be fast in commercial terms. Everyone will need a receiver. The DVB standard has been broadly accepted in Europe and like GSM was to mobile telephones vis-à-vis the rest of the world, DVB will provide the same opportunity to this market here in Europe first (Australia and NZ too ;-) ).

The Pegasos as a computer will continue to march ahead, but the business plan in Genesi's future is about a multi-functional device that uses the internet and digital television signals to open up a whole new world of possibilities.

Now having said all that, a word about Press Releases and "professional" business behavior. We are accused of not be "professional" and even being "childish" by some of our more stern tormenters. We think they miss the point. What we are doing here is trying to build a broad and interesting mix of people that despite their different languages and cultures they share a common interest in the future we are trying to create. We cannot build a comfortable participative environment if we are not involved ourselves. This is not a "business" yet. We do not make money on the Pegasos or MorphOS. There are no profits. We do not need to hide behind Press Releases. We are here mucking around just like everyone else! We are not a public company. We are trying to cultivate something different. All the effort so far is still about creating something, which is why we feel like we need to be present and involved in mailing lists and Forums, and w hy we do our best to answer the emails we receive. This is also why we freely communicate our difficulties. We want to "share" the creative process with as many of you who want to be involved. We are not following a strict execution plan. We are following a light not a railroad track.

For example, here is the latest challenge -- as of today, Marvell will not even certify their own G4 development board. They are expected to. We have been expecting them to do so for a few months. They have not. What to do? Now if we are all in this together, you will consider the actions we are taking to be quite admirable. If on the other hand your intentions are not constructive (why are you reading this?), you might have another reaction...

Thomas and Gerald of bplan with the full knowledge and understanding of Marvell will remove the G3 from a Marvell development board and replace it with a G4. We will do the northbridge testing ourselves. We are pretty proud of their ability to do that...:-) That means we will still have the Pegasos II ready in September. Nevertheless, we will sell it in exactly the same manner we did the Betatester machines in September 2002. Our focus will be developers and interested users with a bigger focus on other Operating Systems. In the meanwhile, the STB project marches along. You can see the prototype at the new bplan offices in Oberursel if you call ahead.

The SuperBundle and the Pegasos I G4 will be our focus at AmiWest and we look forward to participating. We just thought we would share a few thoughts beforehand to make the whole thing a bit more interesting. And yes, we have made more than a few of the G4 Pegasos I. We will showing them at AmiWest and getting these out after the Show.

Sincerely,
Raquel and Bill (ps) (Translation: cb)

[News message: 20. Jul. 2003, 13:01] [Comments: 0]
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