=============================================================================  NEWSFLASH INFORMATION FILE ============================================================================= CONTENTS -------- - UGA's Hifi-streamer - Short Hardware report by Martin Jansen HIFI-STREAMER UGA is proud to announce the first hardware development in our history. Till now we have concentrated on software development but with this new AMIGA interface we have entered the hardware market. HIFI - STREAMER We all will know tapestreamers and videostreamers. Tapestreamers are still quite expensive and videostreamers are not always 100% reliable. With UGA's Hifi-streamer you can connect your audiotape-recorder to your AMIGA and store your valuable data on ordinary audio-tapes. On a C90 tape you can 250 MB of data. So ideal for bigger games and Windows applica- tions. The included software will make operation very simple for you. It will display on screen the directory of the tape and give you in- structions like "Rewind Tape", "Press Play", "Press Record" etc. The whole idea is simple. Many of us will remember the Commodore C64 computer which used a datarecorder for the software loading. In that time you could use normal audiotapes as well. By using an own compression routine (based on our AMIGA product Power- Packer) the storage on tape will be much faster now. You can restore data with a average speed of 200 KB/sec. Because we will release this unique card in the beginning of April we will not give out any technical details before the worldwide press-statement will be released. For as far as we know we will be the first company to offer this unique AMIGA backup system. The price of the card + software will be around US$ 150.00 so afford- able for many people. The only extra thing you need is a reliable audiorecorder with normal amplifier-connectors (socalled tulip). More information can be obtained in April from: UGA Hardware Po Box 881 3700 AW Zeist Phone/Fax: +31 (0)3404 53531 SHORT HARDWARE NEWS This file contains some global information about recently developed or improved hardware phericals for the Amiga. If you want more specific information about a product, please contact first your local hardware retailer, otherwise you can contact the company in the companies list at the end of this file. VideoMaster ----------- The German firm GTI has a new audio/video product. It is called the VideoMaster, and is low-budget priced. The extension is an audio and video digitizer in one. A colorsplitter for digitizing is included together with a program to play animations. The videosignal can be digitized with 16 gray-scales or 4096 colours. With the supplied software it is possible to assign an animation or a sound to a keyboard short-cut. To make full use of the capabilities of the VideoMaster, you'll need an Amiga with at least 1 Mb of RAM. Pricetag : 100 US$. Seikosha SL 95 Color -------------------- Seikosha has extended his 24 pin printer range with a new color model : the SL 95. It's a printer with a maximum resolution of 360 DPI, and can use also normal black/white printercartridges. The printer has 9 build-in fonts like Courier, Prestige Elite, Gothic, Script, Orator, Roman and 2 machine readable OCR-A and OCR-B font-types. The printing speed in draft mode is 240 characters per second, and in letterquality mode 54 cps. The printer emulates in monochrome mode the Epson LQ 850 and in colour mode the Epson LQ 860. Pricetag : 500 US$. Merlin Graphics --------------- The Domino graphics card has a new big-brother : The Merlin Graphics Card, developed in Germany by X-Pert Computer Services. This 24bit card has a videodigitizer connector, therefore it is possible to connect later on a realtime videodigitizer. Some technical info: Resolution : - 1280 * 1024 pixel with a maximum of 16.7 million colors. - 1600 * 1280 pixel with a maximum of 64000 colors. - 2048 * 2048 pixel with a maximum of 256 colors. - Workbench 2.x emulation with a maximum refresh-rate of 81 Hz. - Output : * PAL/NTSC * Y-C * FBAS * VGA There is a special blitter chip mounted on this card which takes the blit- ter functions from the CPU. This means the CPU can work faster. Optional for the Merlin is a VideoDigitizer which fits on the Merlin. The VideoDigtizer works in realtime and accept the following signals : - PAL/NTSC - RGB - YUV - Y-C - FBAS The digitizer works with a 72 Hz (VESA) workbench with a frame-rate of 25 pictures a second with TrueColor on a resolution of 320 * 200. When the resolution becomes higher, the frame rate will decrease. Pricetag : Merlin with 1 Mb : 350 US$. Merlin with 2 Mb : 425 US$. Merlin with 4 Mb : 525 US$. Digitizer Add-on : 350 US$. Derringer 030 ------------- For speeding up your ray-tracing and all other sorts of math dependant pro- grams, Memphis Computer Products has a reasonable solution for giving your Amiga that new impuls for the needed speed. The card, which fits in an Amiga 500, 500 Plus and 2000, has a 68030 processor on-board and a 68882 Coproces- sor. The Coprocessor determines at which clock speed the card works, in this case this means that the card is running either in 25 MHz or in 50 MHz. The maximum amount of 32bit memory can be 32 Mb. An option to copy workbench into 32 bit RAM is also one of the possibilities this card has. When is seems that a program doesn't really like being driven by a high speed pro- cessor, a soft- and hardware fallback is included for optimal software support. Pricetag for the 25 Mhz version : 750 US$. pricetag for the 50 MHz version : 950 US$ Blizzard 1200/4 --------------- Advanced Systems & Software announces its first product for the Amiga 1200, the Blizzard 1200/4. This product is a memory expansion board, which fits in the expansion slot on the bottom side of the Amiga 1200. It has 4 Mbyte of memory installed, expandable untill 8 Mb, and is working with 32bit datapath and zero wait states. Tha card is built with SMD and multilayer technique. The card has a warranty a 2 years. Pricetag 4Mb version : 275 US$. Add-on for 8Mb memory : 200 US$. Fastlane Z3 ----------- This piece of hardware is developed for the Amiga 4000. Normally, the A 4000 is installed with an IDE/AT harddisk controller, but isn't quite a speed demon. Therefore, Advanced Systems and Software has made an SCSI-II DMA con- troller for the A 4000. This card fitted into a Zorro III bus, will give quite good improved harddisk results : the data transfer rate is 10Mb per second, and in burst mode even 33 Mb per second maximum. The card supports all kind of SCSI periphals like SCSI harddrives, removable harddrives, optical devices and so on. The card can also be installed with 64 Mb RAM maximum, which is auto configuring. Pricetag without RAM and HD : 500 US$. Clarity 16 ---------- For the music enthusiasts, Microdeal has a special product developed for those who only want the best music results : the Clarity 16. The Clarity 16 is a 16 bit soundsampler for all types of Amigas. The hardware exists of 2 16bit DA and 16bit AD converters, which scans the analog stereo input for information. On top of that, the card has a MIDI interface with MIDI In/Out and Thru. The software is capable of reading and writing both in 16bit and 8bit format. Converting 8bit samples into 16bit is also possible. The maximum sampling rate is 44KHz, which means CD quality sound. Music can be played with the 16bit output on the Clarity or, after converting into 8bit format, with the 8bit output on the Amiga. Pricetag : 250 US$. VideoDigitizer -------------- When it comes to graphics it seems that the Amiga has a great position on the market right now. Masoboshi from Germany comes with their new Video- digitizer type 819. This card is used in combination with an Amiga 2000, 3000 and 4000. It consists of : - realtime framegrabber - YUV technology, convertable into 24bit RGB - Digitises in realtime from the video a fullscreen picture - Superfast preview monitor also realtime on screen - A RGB converter is not neccesary due to direct anti- aliasing techniques direct on screen - Supports the FrameMaster II (Rainbow II) - Userfriendly software, supports Arexx - Running under kickstart 1.2 1.3 and 2.0 - Timebase correction for connecting a videorecorder The pricetag from this piece of hardware is set upon 175 US$. Manufacturers List : -------------------- VideoMaster : GTI Germany, Zimmersmuhlenweg 73 6370 Oberusel Tel 06171-85934 Seikosha SL 95 : Seikosha Germany, Ivo Hauptmann ring 1 2000 Hamburg 72 Tel 040-6458-920 Merlin Graphics Card : X-Pert Computer Services Germany, Dorfstrasse 14 5541 Strickscheid Tel 06556-814 Derringer 030 TurboCard : Memphis Computer Products Germany, Gartenstrasse 11 Tel 06007-7091 Blizzard 1200/4 : Advanced Systems and Software Germany, Homburger Landstrasse 412 6000 Frankfurt 50 Tel 069-5488130 Fastlane Z3 SCSI-II : see Blizzard 1200/4 Clarity 16bit Sampler : see Videomaster Videodigitizer : Masoboshi Germany, Joachim Strasse 16 4630 Bochum 1 Tel 0234-308151 For Dutch readers : Amigis Spanjaardstraat 53 4331 EP Middelburg Tel 01180-25632 or Sultan Systems and Software Ijsselmondselaan 248-250 3064 AV Rotterdam Tel 010-4517722 =============================================================================  NEWSFLASH INFORMATION FILE =============================================================================