July News Roundup
Index Information Announce New Amigas
Index information have announced the imminent release of a new Amiga computer system,
with more to come by Christmas. The first product is the Access, based on a redesign
of the A1200 motherboard. The product lines to follow are the Connect, an OEM motherboard,
and the InsideOut, a next generation Amiga system.
Index Information are a British company who specialise in multimedia display solutions
and Point Of Sale equipment. They produced the 7 screen multimedia show on board the
HMS Belfast and the innovative interactive displays used in the London Transport Museum.
The Access is intended to ship as a POS (Point Of Sale) and multimedia display platform
to replace their current system. It is basically an A1200 with a few modifications and
a major circuit board redesign. Improved efficiency in the circuit design has enabled
them to shrink the circuit board to fit into a 51/4 inch drive bay. Index told us that
they have also managed a few minor improvements to the board, including fitting a 3.5"
IDE interface and better ChipRAM access which gives a 30% speed increase.
Even more interesting is the plans Index have for the future. They are planning
launches by the end of the year for their mid- and high- end systems, the Connect
and the InsideOut. Connect is an AT style motherboard which fits straight into
standard PC cases and is entirely A4000 compatible. It will be supplied to OEM
dealers who can use it to produce custom build Amigas. Systems should start at
£6-700.
Index are tight-lipped about the Inside Out, but see the specs below. The only
additional information they would give us is that when they showed Gateway 2000
what they had after the WOA press conference, "a lot of jaws dropped".
Specs:
Connect
Baby AT size motherboard
A4000 compatible
CPU slot for any '040 or '060 processor
2Mb Chip RAM, up to 128Mb Fast
4 x Zorro III slots, 4 x ISA slots
1 x Amiga video slot
4 IDE device support
CD-ROM audio input and mixer
InsideOut
Compatible with all Workbench apps.
RISC processor performance
Full retarg to 1280 x 1024 24 bit display
optional 3D Accelerator card
Fully implemented PCI bus with wide software support.
TCP/IP and NetBIOS network support.
Golden Image New Products
Golden Image have announced a new range of products, mostly from the
Elaborate Bytes/Individual computers lines. They will be stocking the Catweasel in
A1200 an A4000 versions at £55 each, the Buddha IDE interface Zorro card also at
£55 and the Buddha plus Catweasel Zorro cards at £79 - look for a review of
this product next month. Also announced is the black Amiga logo 400dpi mouse at
£9.95 including P&P and the GI Quatro 4 way IDE interface including registered
IDEfix '97 for £59.95. Contact Golden Image on 0181 900 9291 for more details.
Weird Science Moves
Top Amiga CD-ROM company Weird Science
have moved to a new, larger premises in Leicester. They are setting up a showroom
which they hope to have ready in mid July. They will be stocking Vulcan and Guildhall
titles, and high-end hardware, including Micronik Towers and Phase 5 accelerators.
The new address is Weird Sciences, Q House, Troon Way Business Park, Humberstone Lane,
Leicester LE4 9HA. The telephone number is 0116 2340682.
Championship Manager 2?
Eidos Interactive have promised us that Championship Manager 2 is now pretty much
complete and release is imminent. Although Eidos have not shown any great commitment
to the Amiga market and have said that at this point they have no further plans to
support the Amiga, the team which is producing CM2 are pushing to complete the project
so that they can move on to development of their new project Championship Manager
All-stars.
Fastest 680x0 Accelerator Yet
Eyetech are to sell an A1200 accelerator using a 68060 processor at 66MHz. The board
is manufactured for Eyetech by ACT Electronics, who make the Apollo line of
accelerators. It will plug straight into the accelerator slot on an A1200 without
requiring tower conversion and has a single auto configuring SIMM slot which will
take single or double sided SIMMs of up to 32Mb. Tower users may also get a second
SIMM slot fitted, either at time of purchase or retro fitted, allowing 64Mb of RAM
in total. The board is priced at £399.95 inclusive of VAT, the second SIMM slot
costs £20. For further information, telephone Eyetech on 0164 271 3185.