--------------------- MORTON'S MUSINGS By Morton A. Kevelson --------------------- SO WHERE IS CD남? Insofar as CD남 represents a third of the current Amiga product line, with the Amiga 1200 and the Amiga 4000 being the other two thirds, it would seem n Commodore's best interests to devote some efforts in marketing the machine. I have seen reports that CD남 has been very successful in Europe, where Commodore is selling every CD남 it can make. However, I have yet to come across the opportunity to purchase a CD남 locally. Commodore's present plans for CD남 in the USA consist of private showings to key distributers at retailers at Comdex, November 15-19, in Las Vegas and reviews in the gaming magazines. Apparently, the various gaming magazines, such as Electronic Games Magazine and Computer Gaming World, have review units in house. Commodore's full marketing efforts are scheduled to begin in early 1994 with booth space already reserved at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 6-9, in Las Vegas. Commodore has already put together a comparison sheet for CD남 versus 3DO and Sega CD. The comparison sheet was included in a recent mailing to registered Commodore developers. A quick scan of Commodore's statistics reveals that Sega CD does not even come close to CD남. Furthermore, CD남 stacks up very well, technologically speaking, against 3DO. Both CD남 and 3DO are based on 32-bit processors -- for CD남 a 14MHZ 68020, and for 3DO a 12 MHz ARM60. Commodore rates CD남 at 3.5 MIPS versus 6 MIPS for 3DO. CD남 sports 2MB chip RAM while 3DO makes do with 1 MB video RAM and 2MB of system RAM. CD남 seems to come out ahead in the display department with a 256,000/ 16.8 million color, 1280 x 400 pixel display versus 256/32,768 colors, 320 x 200 pixels with hardware interpolation to 640 x 400 pixels. However, 3DO'S display throughput is rated at 64 mega-pixels/second against 7 mega-pixels/ second for CD남. The current video game marketing efforts are emphasizing CPU processing capability, specifically the number of bits. Atari's advertisements for Jaguar stress 64 bits and little else. Commodore and 3DO are fixated on 32 bits while Sega has to make do with only 16 bits. Nevertheless, my impression of the potential purchasers of video game machines is that they will not be influenced by technical specifications. What interests game machine buyers is the availability of specific game titles for which a strong desire has been carefully cultivated by massive amounts of advertising. ITS TRULY VIRTUAL Virtual Reality Laboratories has released VistaLite, $69.95, a scaled- down version of Vistapro that runs on Amiga systems with only 2MB of RAM. Vistapro requires an Amiga equipped with 4MB of RAM. Vistapro and VistaLite are three-dimensional landscape modeling programs that use real-world data from the US Geological Survey and NASA space records. VistaLite is supplied with 25 Digital Elevation Model (DEM) landscapes. TOWARD BETTER HARD COPY A burst of activity has been recently noted with regard to printers. Several 300 dpi laser printers are now selling for less than $500. Hewlett- Packard, which basically dominates the U.S. laser printer market, has just introduced the 600 dpi HP Laserjet 4P. Although the HP Laserjet 4P carries a list price of $1,229, it is already being offered for less than $1,000 at the retail level. The HP Laserjet 4P is sold with 2MB of RAM, which is about half of what is needed to print a full page of 600 dpi graphics. At 600 dpi, for a given size image a printer puts out four times as much data as at 300 dpi. Meanwhile, Canon has just introduced the BJC-600, a color inkjet printer. Canon's advertisements pit the BJC-600 against the HP DeskJet 550C with a 360 dpi resolution, a lower cost-per-page and a retail price which should be less than $649. I have seen offerings for the BJC-600 below $600, as compared to the DeskJet 550C below $570. Unlike the HP Deskjet, the Canon printer is a true four-color machine which properly employs black as well as the three primary colors for graphic printing. Before Amiga users will be able to extract the maximum performance from either the HP Laserjet 4P or the Canon BJC-600, new Preferences printer drivers will need to be developed. Has anyone come across an Amiga Preferences driver for the Canon BJC-600? STUDIO PRINTER SOFTWARE MacroSystems US is distributing the Studio Printer software package in the U.S. Studio Printer is a collection of enhanced Preferences printer drivers and other printer utilities developed by Wolf Faust, Am Dorfgarten 10, D-W-6000 Frankfurt 50, Germany. The package includes Preferences drivers for the Epson compatible 24-pin dot matrix printers, the HP DeskJet series of inkjet printers for both black and white and color including the HP DeskJet 550C, and the 300 dpi HP LaserJet series and compatibles. The Studio Printer printer drivers provide enhanced control via Preferences as compared to Commodore's original printer drivers. The added features include full control of page size and margins, typefaces, compressed graphics, printing with up to 16.7 million colors and 256 shades of gray and faster printing. With the LaserJet printers, multiple copy printing from the printer's RAM is supported as well. The package also includes the Studio program, a separate utility that prints IFF graphics scaled to any size across multiple pages with up to 16.7 million colors and 256 shades of gray. SOUNDS GOOD Wavetools, $350 from Digital Audio Design, is a new 16-bit sound recording and playback package with hardware and software for the Amiga. With a frequency response from 10Hz to 20KHZ and an 85 db dynamic range, Wavetools supports sampling rates from 19KHz to 48KHz which includes the standard rates of 44.1KHz and 48KHz for compatibility with audio compact disks and digital audio tape. Wavetools also maintains an internal time code in the form of SMPTE 24, 25, and 30 frames per second for synchronization of audio with video and animation. The Wavetools card installs in the Amiga 2000/3000/4000. The Amiga 2000 should be accelerated. FRESHFISH IN THE MAIL Amiga Library Services has released the October 1993 Freshfish CD-ROM, the first official monthly CD-ROM of the Fred Fish collection produced by Fred Fish himself. The disk contains a total of 637 MB of data in both compressed and uncompressed form including the ready-to-run contents of disks 911-930 (16MB), "new material" which is not part of the floppy distribution (40MB), the contents of floppy disks 600-910 (257MB), 150MB of useful tools including GNU utilities, TeX with numerous fonts broken down as follows: 3Mb Reviews of Amiga software and hardware 4Mb Full BSD source for supplied BSD executables. 8Mb Binary executables, libraries, and other "runtime" things. 10Mb Runtime support stuff for GNU emacs and GNU C/C++ 14Mb Distributions of various small utilities and libraries. 33Mb PasTeX source, fonts, binaries, etc. 78Mb Full GNU source for supplied GNU executables. Fish reports he has tested a number of CD-ROM driver packages for the Amiga and has found problems with all of them with the exception of the Xetec and Z3-Fastlane drivers. Pricing for the monthly CD-ROM is $19.95 plus $5 shipping. FRESHFISH SLIGHTLY INFECTED A mid-November mailing from Fred Fish reports on a virus infected file on floppy disk number 919 and on the Freshfish CD-ROM. The infected file is BBBF/FileVirLib/VirusToTest/Saddam_Hussein_Virus. The file was apparently included with a virus checking package as a sample for use with virus detecting program. Nevertheless, Fish will be automatically sending replacement disks to all those who purchased the floppy disk directly from him. Owners of the CD- ROM who want a virus free replacement need to return the original CD-ROM. This particular virus appears to be a problem only with Kickstart ROM versions 1.2 or 1.3. (JUMPDISK NOTE: According to our records, all people who received the infected Fish disk from us have now been sent a replacement at no charge.) FISH & MORE Xetec has just announced the release of Fish & More III, $25, which includes Fred Fish disks through number 910, as well as additional public domain software. The current release of Xetec's CD-ROM file system software is version 1.66. Upgrades are $5. COMPUTE CAPITULATES The September 1993 issue of Compute was the last one to carry the Amiga Resource insert. Now the December 1993 issue of Compute will go down in history as the last edition to carry the Commodore 64 Gazette insert. Starting with the January 1994 issue, Compute's Gazette for the eight-bit Commodore computers will be distributed on floppy disk. Current subscribers will have the option of converting their subscription to the floppy disk format for $29.95. The regular subscription rate will be $49.95. Compute's change to floppy distribution for the Gazette means that there is no longer a mainstream hardcopy publication for the Commodore eight-bit computers in the U.S. The December 1993 issue of Compute also ran the Compute Choice Awards "honoring the 25 best (computer) products of the year." One Amiga product, NewTek's Video Toaster 4000, was on the list with the award for best video hardware. The Video Toaster 4000 writeup was by Denny Atkin, the ex-editor of Compute's Amiga Resource. BRIDGEBOARD TO AMIGA SCSI NETWORK About six months ago I talked about sharing a CD-ROM drive between the Amiga and a Bridgeboard system. Two SCSI host adapters on the Amiga side will probably be required when the CD_ROM is shared with a Vortex Bridgeboard that also uses an Amiga SCSI drive as a PC hard drive. The CD-ROM drive should be connected to the Amiga SCSI host adapter that is not being used for the PC hard drive. The segregation of the SCSI busses is to avoid bus conflicts when the PC tries to access the CD-ROM and its hard drive at the same time. When the Vortex Bridgeboard uses an Amiga hard drive for the PC, the drive access is via the Amiga's SCSI host adapter. I have shared a CD-ROM between the Amiga and the Vortex Bridgeboard for more than six months without any problems. The CD-ROm was connected to the Amiga via a Xetec Mini FastCard SCSI host adapter, while the Bridgeboard's hard drive partitions were accessed through an IVS Grand Slam. I have recently retired the Bridgeboard to Amiga CD-ROM SCSI network when I added a dedicated CD-ROM drive to the Bridgeboard side. A double-speed Panasonic model CR-562-B was installed when the speed of my aging Chinon CDS- 431 proved to be inadequate to properly run several PC CD-ROM products. The Panasonic CR-562-B achieves a 300 kilobyte-per-second data transfer rate by running the drive at double speed. The PC programs that triggered the need for a faster CD-ROM drive were ICOM Simulations' Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Volume III and Dracula Unleashed. Both programs feature 15 frame-per-second, 256-color, quarter- screen, digitized videos with sound using real actors. When playing the game on the Bridgeboard system off the Chinon drive, the video would play for several seconds and then pause while fresh data was being loaded. The double- speed CD-ROM drive lets the program function as designed. GOLDEN GATE BRIDGEBOARD UPDATE Version 1.28.25 software for the Vortex Golden Gate Bridgeboards is now available. There is no charge for the software if you send a pair of floppy disks and a self addressed, stamped return envelope to GMR productions. If you have no spare floppy disks or lack stamps and envelopes, GMR will provide the update for $10. To better meet customer needs, GMR'S new technical support hours are now from 7:30PM-9:30PM Eastern Time. A-MAX IV COLOR A-Max IV Color, which was scheduled to ship by the end of November, should be available by the time you are reading this. A-Max IV color is available as an upgrade to exiting users of the various versions of ReadySoft's A-Max Macintosh emulator for the Amiga. If you are presently using A-Max II Plus the upgrade price will be $119.95 plus $5 shipping. If you are presently using a cartridge based version of A-Max, then the upgrade, which includes an A-Max II Plus Zorro II plug-in-card for the Amiga 2000/3000/4000, will cost $349.95 plus $10 shipping and handling. If you return your old A-Max cartridge to ReadySoft you will receive a $100 refund or credit towards your purchase of A-Max IV Color. If you are presently using a non-ReadySoft Mac emulator for the Amiga, you have the option of sending it to ReadySoft and purchasing A-Max IV Color for $279.95. The unadorned retail price for A-Max IV Color is $509.95. A-Max IV Color requires at least Apple System 7.0, 2 MB free RAM, and AmigaDOS 2.1 or higher. New or enhanced features provided with A-Max IV Plus are: � Runs Apple System 7.0, 7.1, 32-bit QuickDraw, QuickTime, AppleScript and other Apple system software. Macintosh 128K ROMS are required. � Supports Mac color applications running on multiple display devices. Display devices can be several Amiga ECS or AGA autoscroll screens with up to 16 or 256 colors. Also supported are third-party display cards such as Picasso II, Retina, EGS with up to 24-bits per pixel. Multiple displays are configured with the Mac "Monitors" control panel which sets the displays' relative positions and the number of colors. � Addresses up to 2 gigabytes of RAM with a 32-bit clean memory manager that allows Mac application memory to be dynamically allocated from AmigaDOS as programs are launched from the Mac's Finder. A memory management unit, or MMU, is no longer needed to access 32-bit RAM. � Multitasks with AmigaDOS and Amiga applications. Standard Amiga 2.1 or 3.x device drivers are used to to control Amiga hard drive via any Amiga interface as well as floppy drives, serial and parallel ports. I/O ports on third party devices can also be accessed. Dedicated A-Max hard disk drivers are no longer required. There is no longer any limit to the number of partitions of the number of controllers that can be accessed. � Mac SCSI devices, including CD-ROMs, hard drives, laser printers and scanners, can be accessed through your Amiga's SCSI host adapter. � Access to Ethernet networks with any SANA-II compatible controller. � Either an Amiga file or an Amiga partition can be used to emulate a Mac hard drive. � Supports Mac stereo sound. � Transfers files directly between any AmigaDOS storage device and any Macintosh hard drive partition of floppy disk. Provides software conversion between text, MacBinary, MacPaint and IFF and PostScript files. Text translation includes international, accented and special characters. � ImageWriter 9-and 24-pin output can be saved as IFF files for printing via an AmigaDOS printing device. � Supports text cut and paste between the AmigaDOS clipboard device and the Mac Finder. � The Apple SuperDrive is emulated to support 720K, or 1.44MB if you have a high density drive, disks with the Apple File Exchange file transfer program and other Mac applications such as SoftPC the PC emulation package. SOAPBOX DEPARTMENT A cursory examination of the specification sheet for some IBM video monitors brought the following to light: IBM 14 inch nominal diagonal monitors have an active display area measuring 270mm x 202mm. The 15-inch nominal diagonal monitors have an active display area measuring 280mm x 212mm. Upon applying Pythagoras' clever little theorem, I find that the active diagonals are respectively 337.2mm and 350mm which translates to working diagonals of 13.28 inches and 13.78 inches. Why should a 15-inch monitor have a working diagonal that is only one- half inch longer than that of a 14-inch monitor? Is this extra half inch really worth the 30 percent premium charged for the larger screen size? I suspect IBM is not the only monitor manufacturer that indulges in this technological sleight of hand. Finally, I noted that the IBM monochrome 21-inch monitor has an active area that measures 370mm x 296mm, which translates to a working diagonal of 18.65 inches. That is nearly 2-1/2 inches less than the advertised amount. I say foul. IS U.S. TECHNOLOGY BASHING JUSTIFIED? The Nov. 21 issue of the New York Times published the following strange strategic statistics: The population of the U.S. is about twice that of Japan. In the U.S. there are now 41.7 personal computers used in business for every 100 workers. Japan only has 9.9 personal computers per 100 workers. In the U.S., 1.18 million computers are connected directly to Internet, in Japan only 39,000. In the U.S. there are 55.7 local area network connections for every 100 business personal computers, in Japan only 13.4. The penetration of personal computers in the business environment and their degree of interconnectivity are considered to form an indicator of the technological prowess and productivity of a country's economy. In this regard, the U.S. is considered to be 10 years ahead of Japan. I'M OPEN TO FEEDBACK If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this column or a particular topic you would like to discuss, drop me a note. I normally do not respond directly to individual requests, but I will read everything submitted. My address: Morton Kevelson P.O. Box 336 Cooper Station New York, NY 10276-0336 DEVELOPERS MENTIONED MacroSystem U.S. 17019 Smugglers Cove Mt. Clemens, MI 48038 313-263-0095 Fax: 313-263-9639 Digital Audio Designs P.O. Box 5068 Fullerton, CA 92635-0068 714-562-5926 Amiga Library Services 610 N. Alma School Road, Suite 18 Chandler, AZ 85224-3687 FAX: 602-917-0917 Xetec, Inc. 2804 Arnold Road Salina, KS 67401 913-827-0685 ReadySoft Inc. 30 Wertheim Court, Suite 2 Richmond Hill, ON Canada L4B 1B9 416-731-4175 Virtual Reality Laboratories, Inc. 2341 Gandor Court San Louis Obispo, CA 93401 800-829-VRLI (8754) ICOM Simulations, Inc. 648 S. Wheeling Road Wheeling, IL 60090 708-520-4440 GMR Productions 3835 Richmond Ave., Suite 138 Staten Island, NY 10312 718-967-1509 END OF TEXT