Amigaport of 'Orbit' released
Orbit -- A Freeware Space Combat Simulator, an Open Source project by Steve
Belczyk, is available from the Aminet directory game/shoot since today. Required
are a PowerPC processor, WarpOS, StormMesa and Warp3D. I'm also looking for
skilled people who want to port the network code.
Amiga Active issue 8 released
In this issue you'll find reviews of IBrowse 2.2, Cycas (CAD 2D+3D+architecture
program) and X-Surf (ethernet card) as well as much interesting information
all around the Amiga.
27 Apr 2000
Chamber Amend
Phase5: Case of Filing for Insolvenzy abandoned due to lack of assets
On April 19th, 2000, the Case of Filing for Insolvenzy Phase 5 Nr. 61 IN 18/00
has been abandoned by the Amtsgericht Bad Homburg due to lack of assets.
This means chamber Amend (which was responsible for preliminary insolvency handling)
is no longer the contact for potential claims. Potential claims have to be taken to
the former owners Wolf Dietrich and Gerald Karda, Phase5 digital products, In der
Aue 27, D-61140 Oberursel, Germany.
Note of the editors: Sadly we did not get the opportunity to contact either Wolf
Dietrich nor Gerald Karda directly; we wanted to ask them if they see any hope for
users who did send in devices to Phase5 for repair. If somebody else is able to make
contact, we would welcome an official statement since we think users want this to
be clarified.
Linux_m68k
Linux_m68k CD-ROM available at the title link; based on Redhat 5.1, installation directly
from CD-ROM without boot disk, including KDE as defaul window manager (extensively tested).
After installation of the X-Window_System immediately working with German keymap under X,
since the XF86Config has been adapted.
The latter seems to be bad news for non-German Linux beginners... :-/ (mb)
ArtEffect 2.0 comes in May
The 4th version of the popular graphics package for image processing and
natural media paint comes with many new features and improvements.
Especially the functionallity of the layers has been extended and improved.
The version comes on a CDROM full of fonts, cliparts and workshops.
News.
AmigaWriter 2.0 available in May
The long awaited version will be available soon. The new version got a lot of powerful features -
highlights are: Word import, TrueType support with Antialiasing and broschure print. More details
will follow very soon.
VD@Work - the Virtual Dimension webcam
Now you can watch us working! Every Thursday starting 7:00 PM (MET), our webcam
is online. Perhaps someone can see on the pictures what we currently work upon? ;-)
fxPAINT EK #2 completed
The second update for fxPAINT has been completed. The new version offers
a wealth of new features, and a significantly improved speed thanks to many
optimizations. The most important changes in an overview:
ScreenClock Update
There is a small update for my program ScreenClock! It now has a CPU line showing
usage of the CPU in addition to the percentage number. Moreover, there is the
latest version 12.24 (01.04.00) of ICE, the IBrowseCacheExplorer for IBrowse2
to be found on my homepage.
Download: ScreenClock.lzx ICE.lzx
VHI Studio 5 available
The successor of VLRec NG offers a breathtaking range of new features, and already
supports numerous digital cameras and digitizers. Pictures can be edited, optimized,
reloaded or send to fxPAINT directly in / from VHI Studio; MPEG clips are saved in so
far unknown speeds without temporary saves; all frames and pictures held in memory
can be loaded from any program by virtue of a virtual drive, up to nine input lines
(depending on employed hardware) can be supervised simultaneously.
Since VHI Studio is distributed on CD, there is enough space for all VHI drivers and
CPU optimized versions of the VHI Studio modules. Owners of digital cameras now have
new possibilities with VHI Studio: Record video clips, create time lens recordings,
read the pictures from your camera or implement a WebCam. On the new VHI Stuido
homepage, you can now join a guided tour, and find detailed answers to frequent
questions!
Download: VHIStudio.lha.
Pictures = Files... the new Stargate plugin for fxPAINT
The new version of the Stargate plugin now also allows to access pictures loaded in fxPAINT
as if they were files. There is also an option to directly send pictures to fxPAINT. Among
others, the porgrams PhotoAlbum, CyberShow, Superview, VHI Studio and Ultraconv NG already
support the "Stargate Airport".
Download: stargate.lha
Registration at NordicGlobal possible again
After the server that hosts the registrations wasn't available for some weeks,
registrations for NordicGlobal products like Miami are possible again.
There was also a new version of the ClassAct GUI module for Miami released which has
some smaller bugs fixed.
FastATA'99 Version 5.6 & update for AllegroCDFS version 3.0
- improved recognition of ATAPI devices
- thanks to Stephane Payet now also in French
Download: FastATA'99v56a30f.lha - 82 Kb
GNN: Tao ships Java-Engine for QNX-4
«The English Tao Group and QNX Software Systems announced the availability
of the J-Engine, Java Technology Edition, for QNX-4 realtime operating system.
Thanks to the J-Engine, QNX-4 users have the possibility to run PersonalJava and
EmbeddedJava applications ressource-friendly and very fast. The Tao Group's J-Engine
is supposed to be the fastest Java implementation currently available for embedded
and desktop environments. Furthermore, the entire J-Engine including all class
libraries and AWT for the support of pJava 1.1.6 requires less than two MByte of
native code according to the companies.» For full article (in German) follow title link.
"Computer Zeitung" issue 16/2000
The German magazine "Computer Zeitung" 16/200 (German magazine for skilled workers
and managers in the IT business) of April 20 features an article by Marc A. Pletzer
about the faction struggles between operating systems. In a historical outline, the C128 and Atari
are mentioned, and regarding the C= computers it says: "Based on those experiences,
Commodore's programmers developed the AmigaOS, a multitasking-enabled operating system
with graphical user interface. Long before Windows NT and OS/2, this operating system
had an internal 32 bit structure as it was developed for Motorola's 32 bit chips.".
Apple is highlighted also. Later it says: "But Apple never served the mass market with
its average demands of technology. Microsoft on the contrary very much."
Linux is mentioned in an extra box, which had "a bright future": "especially in the
multimedia field, Linux is predicted first-class chances".
It's rather unusual to find articles in such publications that positively mention
alternate operating systems, accordingly the Amiga is mostly excluded from such
overviews - with the increasing acceptance of Linux and significance of multimedia
this astonishingly seems to change...
MetalWEB Version 4.0.1 released
This new version fixes some bugs, the speedbar preferences can now be saved and thanks
to ATO, MetalWeb is now available in the following languages: · Catalan
· Czech · Croatian · English · French · German · Greek · Hungarian · Italian · Polish
· Portuguese-Brazil · Portuguese · Slovenian, · Spanish · Russian · Turkish
Download: MetalWEB401.lzx - 903 Kb or MetalWeb4_update_401_400.lzx MetalWEB4_Docs_Eng.lha
The Pulse issue 12
The issue 12 will be released on April 25 and contain reviews of Heretic 2, Virtual Ball Fighters,
Giana Twins, Teakwondo Master and Cedrik.
Hyperion: Heretic II demo released
Hyperion is proud to announce the release of the Heretic-II-demo. This demoshould give an impression
what the final relase has to offer. The full version of the game can be ordered from
Titan Computer.
Because of the size of the download (41 MB) here a list of the required hardware:
The archive is 41 MB big and lha-packed. Simply unpack on harddrive and doubleclick the "Run_HereticII"-icon.
The final product will be released soon.
Post Scriptum:Hans-Jörg Frieden informed
us by e-mail: Sadly we had to temporarily remove the Heretic II demo from our web-page. The demand for it was so big
that we exceeded our ISPīs transfer allowance a bit. We will find a new place for it ASAP, until then we have to ask
for your patience. Thank you, your Hyperion team.
CD32 news
Read under the titlelink the news of the CD32-alliance. They are still looking for interested users to work with.
Also the alliance will take part with an own column in the new (german) print-magazine amiga.topcool.de.
games-net.de news
Today after 14 hours of hard work we have added beside new 3D-models of Remorseless Games and first textures some new tutorials.
Also new links for the rubrics graphics and Amiga Development are inserted. Some changes of the booksection.
In moment we are working on a special beginners tutorial: This tutorial will assist the development of a game from the concept to
final product. Every step will be explained and shows examples.
If there will be news of this, you can find them on games-net.de
MP3-decoder for the Amiga now cheaper
The MAS-player of DCR has found many friends. So more people can use this MP3-decoder it has gone cheaper.
If you interested in this hardware , visit our homepage and get informed.
AmigaImpact will be for a few days offline
The french online-magazine "AmigaImpact" moves to another server and will be for a few days offline. AmigaImpact concentrates on the
french community has many informations and services. For example they translate the news of amiga-news.de to french.
Probably outdated - the message was posted April 18th, but I was offline for reinstallation... (Windows, sheesh...) (mb)
CyberGraphX 4.2 Update
Pre6 of CGX version 4.2 has been released. This version fixes the "Pointer Color Bug" with
CVPPC/BVPPC, and improves the CV64/3D drivers. As always, the CGX V4 CD-ROM is required
for this update.
Hyperion announces their Amiga plans for 2000
In the next days, Hyperion will celebrate itīs first birthday. When we started
this endeavor, it was our declared goal to bring high-quality high-end entertainment
software to the Amiga.
We believe we are on the best way to achieve this. In the last year, we created
an impressive code base, which will allow us to significantly reduce our time-to-product
in the future. This code base is now partially available for the Amiga community, too:
MiniGL, chunkyppc.library, the new Warp3D version (in cooperation with Sam Jordan) etc.
We work with two of the most inpressive 3D engines, the Quake-II and the LithTech engine.
In cooperation with Titan, we brought the Smacker Video Codec to the Amiga, a real
industrial standard. In the next months, we are ready to significantly speed up
the development cycle. This is why we want to answer some frequently asked questions.
GoldED Service Pack 16
The new Service Pack 16 for GoldED is scheduled for release at the end of April.
As you can see on this screenshot,
the new Webworld add-on will be significantly expanded. Looks promising :-).
amiga-news.de now available on WAP mobiles
AMIGA news everywhere, at any time... starting immediately, owners of a WAP
mobile can read amiga-news.de by WAP, getting the latest news on their mobile.
Right now only the headlines are transmitted, later on the full articles will
be available by WAP.
The software employed is made by Innovative.
If you donīt own a WAP mobile yet, but want to have a look at the WAP offer, you
can look at this screenshot or look at the page
with Netscape on a PC at gelon.net.
HBMonopoly version 2.4 released
HBMonopoly is available in a new version. Aside from small improvements, there are
now new translations to Russian, Portugeese and Czech. Additionally, the Finish and
Catalan translation have been updated.
Download: HBMonopoly.lzx.zip - 518 Kb
Epic News
Epic Marketing and Paul Burkey announce the "Foundation Mission CD: The Undiscovered Land".
The CD requires the "Foundation Directors Cut" and offers 40 new missions and more. First
informations can be found under "Projects" in the next few days. The CD will be released
around the end of May.
AROS News
No news about the comercialisation of AROS, which is being discussed recently.
Many ideas have been talked about and evaluated, but as always when money is part
of the equation, things move slowly. Independantly the development of AROS is
continuing as usual.
There are still two well-payed jobs open!
Right now we are using DOpus 4, which was gratuitiously provided by GP Software,
to find and fix bugs in AROS.
SHARKS! CD32 edition almost finished!
For some time now I am working on a CD32 version of my game "SHARKS!". Itīs getting closer:
"SHARKS! CD32-Edition" will be finished in reoughly two weeks!
The CD version will offer many options to customize the game to your AMIGA. Among others,
a CD sountrack will be included as well as two other games by myself. This CD is not only
suited for the CD32, but can also be started with a "normal" AMIGA (OS2.04, 2 MB RAM &
CD-ROM). More details are available on my homepage, in the "Projekte" area.
News from Dreamworlds Development
After a long break, our website recieved an update again. The Crossfire II pages
have been completely reworked, with new screenshots added.
Also we are looking for a graphics artist to support the finishing of Crossfire II.
If you are interested, you will find more information on the website.
New Lightforce version released
As I promised, the new Menu system has been "finished" on Sunday. There arenīt that
much functions yet aside from Start and End, but you can get a first impression of
how it will look like. The archive is available at the Lightforce site as lha archive
in three versions: full archive, program files only, graphic files only.
A word on the (bad) graphics: I urgently need an artist taking over this part.
Everybody is free to modify the graphics files (png format) and send in his version.
I will provide these versions as archives on the Lightforce download site.
Hyperion: New MiniGL library finished
The new MiniGL technology is available to software developers immediately. The
MiniGL.library proved itself already in the Heretic II port, and will also be
employed in ports like SiN, Shogo: MAD and Freespace. More
details.
Voyager 3.2 released
This version is a "full release". It has been tested by alpha testers and public beta
releases, and should run very stable. Of course development continues, and the next
version is already under development. Read the complete readme
for more details.
V.44.41 beta 4 of HSMathLibs for MC68040 and MC68060 released
Some functions have been optimized, many bugs removed. This version is
for registered users only.
Added afterwards:
Version 44.41 beta 4a of the HSMathLibs for MC68060 fixes a bug in the function
"SPSincos" (mathtrans.library).
The Amiga in perspective
'The Amiga in perspective' website, is an open view to the Amiga community which contains
ideas and analyst to further dialogue and develop ideas for the future of the platform.
Check it out and give me your feedback. I think it will provide an interesting read.
Free Amiga Jobs online
The worrying lack of qualified people in the computer field is also apparent on the Amiga market.
Creative minds, especially programmers, designers and text journalists, are sought
by numerous small and medium-sized companies and private developers.
The editorial staff of the German print magazine Amiga plus is pleased to announce
in cooperation with the Amiga-News team a free job service. "Free Amiga Jobs" is
supposed to bring new life to the Amiga market by getting employers and employees
into contact. This job service can by used freely by both employers and employees.
Virtual Dimension status report
After months finally an update. First of all: Many thanks for the incredibly
positive feedback regarding our fair video. As it was such a success, we will
of course make videos again in future - just stop by ever now and then.
After so many months you will certainly ask what's up with Cybermove, our Sokoban clone
with extras, several music tracks, etc. Have a look at the picture here! :-)
In plain language: we had a little harddisk crash and lost all source codes of
the last half year (Backup - how do you spell that?). The Cybermove project thus is frozen
for the time being, but we already work on something new. What that is? That'll
be revealed sometime soon... ;-)
Pokémons now as Amiga icons
Elastic Images is offering some of the well-known (?) Pokémons as WB icons
(OS 3.5 only). The sets are available in two sizes (for resolutions of 1024x768 +
and for smaller screens).
Special Pokémon icon sets for the īScene-Handlerī
by Alex Kazik are also available on the Movieshop software sote. Additionally, we have
some new downloads on the subject MovieShop to offer.
The web charts can be found at http://www.gutesites.de/
and http://www.schlechtesites.de/. There is an
option to rate the listed websites. As you can see, there is also a chart for especially bad
sites. This area can only be called "unbelievable". ;)
Oh yes, we are happy :-) If you want, you can
rate
amiga-news.de. We are very keen to see the results. In the right hand menu, we placed a little
banner with link, so our readers can rate us at a later time. (ps)
Added afterwards: Within a few hours, over 250 people have rated our
site, and in no time boosted us to rank #1. Thanks for the great ratings :-). (ps)
Airsoft Softwair website has moved
The Airsoft Softwair website has just moved: All files are now on a SpacePorts.com
server, which is much faster than Fortunecity.de, and !free of ads!. The redirect at
http://airsoft.home.pages.de now directly leads to the new page, with the URL
http://phobos.spaceports.com/~sfa/ (title link). The pages at Fortunecity.de will
be removed in the next days.
ideaEDGE Ventures
Interesting, interesting! This company will be "Creating a New Generation of
Internet Companies".
Whatīs so interesting about it? The founderīs
names:
Jim Collas - Managing Partner, Post-PC Solutions
Rick LeFaivre - Managing Partner, Technology
Dan Pittard - Managing Partner, Business and Finance
Tom Schmidt - Managing Partner, B2B Solutions and Infrastructure
Also interesting is that the index site (title link) pictures the Boing
ball texture in the leftmost picture of the line. This leaves room for
many speculations I donīt like participating in, but if Jim Collas supports
AMIGA - in whatever way - I would very much wellcome this :-))). (ps)
Digital Almanac contest
The aothor of Digital Almanac has started a contest. All star watchers with some
imagination and creativity can participate. It is a graphics contest for the nicest
logos and GlowIcons for DA.
Prices are the DA II CD-ROM, a keyfile for DA II (Aminet) or a free update to the
upcoming DA III. Detailed information can be found
here.
AmIDE Beta version 0.2b released
The first public beta version of AmIDE has been released. AmIDE is a so-called
"Integrated Development Environment", helping you in maintaining, editing and
compiling your projects. The MUI graphical interface is used for this. In the
current beta, AmIDE supports the SAS/C compiler, but in the final version, other
compilers like Storm-C or vbcc will also be supported.
With AmIDE it is possible to work on several projects simultaneously, and compile
them parallel. AmIDE is written completely object oriented, ensuring a high level
of flexibility and expandability. In the future, more user requests will be
implemented, and more compilers supported.
Wim AmIDE, the author hopes to finally bring a decent developer environment to the
Amiga which can compete with other IDEs like KDevelop for KDE. A direct editor
support for GoldED will also be implemented in the next version. Jens Langner
will probably present AmIDE on the Amiga-Atari show in Neuss, Germany, on June
10th / 11th.
akDatatypes for MorphOS
Special versions of the akDatatypes are planned for
MorphOS. From a developer point of view,
MorphOS is an excellent platform for future Amiga PPC applications. Since
registrations have decreased by 80%, but PPC apps make up 90% of all registrations,
focussing completely on MorphOS seems likely - as a last-ditch attempt to give
an impulse to the remaining market.
Added afterwards:
As a small addition to my recent MorphOS statement - which might
have been misleading in that point - I'd like to add the following:
although special akDatatype versions for MorphOS are planned,
already the current PPC datatypes (and most likely all other of my PPC
applications, although not yet tested entirely) will run without
any modifications. The special MorphOS versions just are for
gaining extra speed and dropping old 68k/WOS/PPC ballast overboard.
hardhacks.de
In the meantime, much has changed at AmigaHardHacks! We created a new domain at www.hardhacks.de,
because we will now also support other systems like Linux, Macintosh and Newton. The design was
changed completely to speed up loading.
But there is much to do! So we are looking for people who have the time and motivation to participate
in creating hardhacks.de! If you are interested, send an e-mail to:
rene.koenig@hardhacks.de. We also welcome suggestions
for improvement!
Met@box closes deal for sale of 500,000 Multimedia Boxes
Met@box International Inc. a 100% subsidiary of Met@box responsible for
international operations has closed a strategic alliance with a foreign
corporation. The agreement covers multimedia-Set-Top-Boxes and Server
technology valued at over 500,000,000 DM.
Met@Box Inc. has thus achieved a further step in secureing markets for its
Internet-TV concepts. The foreign corporation, that at this time wishes to
remain unnamed has closed on a deal for 500,000 digital multimedia-Set-Top-Boxen
valued at around 500,000,000 DM. The agreemant also includes , after a
pilot project - together with the Deutsche TelekomAG, the implementation of
BOT Technology at a conventional TV station.
Complete Press release (also in English) via Title link.
tecChannel.de: Can Amiga succeed at a Comeback?
Alltogether there have been 24 such promises since Gateway purchased the Amiga
technology and patents, but Gateway allowed the hardware to fall 4 generations
behind current existing systems. Then they fired the manager in charge of
the Amiga project (Jim Collas)
Now the rights and technology lies with a new company named Amiga. Why
should things now be any different? Why should anyone believe that this
antiquated platform has a chance in today`s marketplace, regardless of how
ingenious it is adapted? Who is behin this new company?
Read Micheal Swaine`s answers via the Titlelink.
AmigaFuture: Interview with XTeam Software Solution
I the section Action of the AmigaFuture you will find an interview
with the italien software company Xteam Software Solution. They mainly
develop games and multimedia applications for Amiga & PC.
LinuxInfo.de: Report iOffice2000 - System independant Groupware solutions
LinuxInfo.de, a free information service for German language information
and documentation concerning Linux, has published a report an concerning Groupware solutions iOffice2000.
The important aspect of this Groupware solution is the system independant design of the client software,
because it is exclusivly Web based and the wide support available for Linux
server applications.
Pictures from the Amiga Meeting in Lodz
On 8 April in Lodz, Poland, a session was organised to cover current issues related to Amiga computers.
The panel presentation was held for the Amiga OS3.5 system, with introduction of the MakeCD program
and presentation of Linux as an alternative for the AmigaOS following.
Much interest was aroused in the meeting and discussion with authors of the "Amiga Vademecum" manual.
Visitors had the opportunity to meet the editor of the new Amiga-dedicated magazine: "eXec".
New products from ELBOX were on show: the FastATA ZORRO IV controller and the "Mroocheck" mouse
interface with support for wheels.
HydraBBD Source Code available
The source code for HydraBBS is now available for download. The author, Dominic Clifton, gives
permission to continue developing the program, but you must not charge a fee for it. However he
contradicts himself in saying also that he wants a full version if parts of his program are used
in commercial or shareware products. This seems to be more a basis for talks... ;-)
13.04.2000:
In the Amiga News Forum, Dominic Clifton clarified the conditions for using the HydraBBS
source code: If you want to continue development of HydraBBS, you should present the version
to Dominic prior to release, if possible. You must not sell the product.
If you use parts of HydraBBS in your own program, or use the source code as a basis for own
ideas for other BBS programs, Dominic recieves a full version of that program.
New Games at Amiga Sector One
At Amiga Sector One you can find lots of legal games for Amiga emulators. The author is only releasing
games being either freeware or PD, or for which he owns an explicit individual allowance.
If you own a PC in the meantime, and want to get the Amiga feeling again, you should have a look at
it. New are games like "Das Boot", "688 Attack Sub", "Omega", "BopīN Plop" and "Diplomacy 2".
KDH News
The recently announced "Mroocheck PC Mouse Adapter" is now available from KDH, too. The Mroocheck Interface
is a microprocessor-driven adapter for connecting PC mice (cordless, too) and trackballs to the Amiga. The
interface is plugged between mouse port and PC mouse. More details at the title link (German).
MUI MMC-Class News
On their website, Tumult is collecting information on all MUI MCC classes. If you want to update your
MUI MCC classes, you have come to the right place. Current news is that a new archive including source
code has been created for HexEdit.mcc by Miloslaw Smyk, and that NewImage.mcc by Matthias Bethke has
been renamed to Guigfx.mcc.
HydraBBD Source Code available
The source code for HydraBBS is now available for download. The author, Dominic Clifton, gives
permission to continue developing the program, but you must not charge a fee for it. However he
contradicts himself in saying also that he wants a full version if parts of his program are used
in commercial or shareware products. This seems to be more a basis for talks... ;-)
RoboticsDP Developer Packet released
With the Robotics Developer Packet (RDP) version 1.0, programmers can breathe live into robots,
automats and moving devices. RDP works with the minissc.library. Aside from the library, the
packet contains a complete documentation, the necessary source codes and the RDP developer
manual.
Download: RoboticsDP.lha - 771 Kb
PlayGUI version 2.7 released
The new version 2.7 of PlayGui (GUI Add-On for HippoPlayer/Play16) is available now from
the support website. New: Miniplay (skin only shows the player gadgets), modules can be
copied by menu, buttons can be "hidden" so only the skin is displayed, and a small bug fix
concerning the new version of PLone (under construction).
Download: PlayGUI.lha - 510 Kb
MiamiDeluxe 1.0c released
NordicGlobal announces the release of MiamiDeluxe version 1.0c. Read the complete
press release, which
describes all new features of the TCP/IP stack for Internet and LAN.
Download area.
Aminet Virus Warning
The 46 Kb archive imaged.lha from gfx/misc, described with Add your own
description to images!, contained a file named InstallerFX. This file is
infected with the HappyNewYear96 virus.
The virus is recognized by VT Schutz, VirusExecutor and VirusCheckerII, and can be
removed with these programs, too.
The file has already been removed from Aminet, and they are right now checking how
the file went through the virus check all uploaded files have to pass.
New MorphOS overview
In the Files & links area, there is a new overview about the functionality of
MorphOS and the AmigaOS 68k emulation / extension included. This should clarify several
points.
ppc.library update
At the title link there are updates for the Blizzard/CyberStormPPC system software;
as well an update to the ppc.library as new FlashUpdates for BlizzardPPC and
CyberStormPPC. The new ppc.library 46.31 is needed e.g. for the new VFlash PPC
module of the currently released Voyager 3.1.
CS&E club
There is merit in joining the CS&E club at http://www.icatmall.com/cse as those who
have got their hands on an A1200 Magic Pack for a special price will vouch for. The
CS&E club is newly formed and is a development fund for our Amiga publishing and
wholesale operations. In short it is a co-operative idea where we get the best possible
value for our retail customers. This gives us the support we need to be in the Amiga
market so thank-you to everyone who has joined.
TECHNODATABSE OO is now available
It's now a 100% Amiga interactive CD-ROM as it runs with SCALA MM400 or player.
(PAL needed). A 400 megs bonus (hundreds of demos, gfx and sound utilities, mods,
mp3, pictures, anims, texts, web sites and so on...) is also offered. A pure delight
for technomaniacs and one of the only french interactive Amiga CD-ROMs. Also available:
DPIXELS and TECHNODATABASE98.
Silicon Anims for DraCo
Starting immediately, the Silicon Anims Volume 1 is available for DraCo. This enables
turning any pictures and video sequences into wonderful trailer, animated movies and
breathtaking animations easily. Professional users will save many hours construction
time, beginners will immediately achieve stunning results.
The package contains a CD-ROM and tutorial video. A review can be found in the
Draconer. There will
be a review released in the Amiga Plus / OS soon.
Aminet 36 CD-ROM available
Aminet CD 36, dated April 2000, contains 1 gigabyte (uncompressed) of
software in thousands of archives. Since the release of Aminet CD 35 more than
500 MB new software has appeared. The current edition includes the full
version of the excellent car racing game Max Rally.
FutureZone: Hard Drives becoming obsolete
"A completely new memory technology could make hard drives obsolete in the future. The
difference to the RAM chips currently employed is that, with this technology, the contents
of the main memory are not lost. A boot procedure upon power up is no longer necessary."
Full article (German) at the title link.
Voyager version 3.1 released
With Voyager 3.1, you get a version with countless bugs removed and many suggestions recieved
by users being implemented. Read the readme for a
complete list of changes.
VFlash has also been released in a new version. The PPC module is complete, but please
install the ppc.library 46.31 first.
Additionally, the Vpdf plugin has been released, enabling reading Adobe Acrobat (pdf) files.
NotifyPlus version 1.0 released
The free script NotifyPlus is now available in version 1.0. It is an event script
for AmIRC, which extends the "Notify" function.
After the installation of the script, the following functions are available:
The program and manual are right now only available in German.
Download: notifyplus.lha - 23 Kb
Sat aerial as Boing ball :-)
Borut Zivkovic from Kärnten, Austria, did send us a picture of his sat aerial,
which he painted in Boing ball design. So it is close to being "Powered by Amiga".
Nightlong almost finished
Nightlong is in the last stages of development. It took somewhat longer than planned,
since we had to wait for the new StormC version. Until now, we only recieved 150 preorders
for Nightlong PPC. Donīt worry, we wouldnīt let PPC down, but you will agree with us that
150 preorders arenīt that much. More about it in the next "S-File". Nightlong can still be
preordered until Monday, April 17th.
The clickBOOM portal already offers a Nightlong trailer, which shows what the main actor
Joshua is capable of. There is a scaled down version of 8 MB and a big version with 22 MB.
The trailer is available to all print magazines for their CDs.
LightForce Status
I want to give just a small status report on the Lightforce project at this place,
since it has become pretty quiet around it. There were reasons: I have married,
and have been on honeymoon starting March 17th. So I was busy with much more
important issues the weeks before and afterwards... :-)
The rest of the team was busy, too. Sadly not busy on the project, but since it
is a spare time project, it is understandable when it takes time. There are good
news, too, however: I am back again, and continued work. The new menu system
is almost finished, and should be available soon. The new version will again be
available as downloadfile from the LightForce download page instead of being send
out by e-mail. Simply because interest has grown so big I cannot send an individual
version to everybody. This made me really happy, and I hope to get e-mail feedback
on my project in the future, too!
Andreas, all the best wishes from the Amiga News Team. You are absolutely right:
family comes first :-) (ps)
News from the Amiga & Atari show 2000
As reported before, The Amiga & Atari show 2000 (The World of Alternative -
World of Amiga & Atari) is taking place on June 10th / 11th (Whitsun weekend)
in the City Hall Neuss. Neuss is close to Düsseldorf, and therefore should be
easy to reach even for international Amiga users. AMIGA and many exhibitors are
announced, even Bill and Fleecy might show up; workshops, seminars, conferences
etc. are in the planning stage; best provisions to make it a real Happening :-).
The list of exhibitors has been updated. Aside from AMIGA, eighteen exhibitors have
announced themselves, with more to follow. amiga-news.de will also show up at the
show, so we can provide you with "first hand" information. We will manage the booth
together with the Amiga-Club im BTX & Internet.
The occassion to meet each other personally :-). The experts from the Amiga-Club
will provide answers to userīs questions about everything Amiga. As at previous shows,
many small problems with Amiga hard- and software will be solved.
For PD and Shareware authors as well as clubs, there are options for a reasonably
priced presence at the show. E.g., for a table (120x60 cm) with two chairs, shareware
authors pay only 170,- including tax, so a nice opportunity to present your program
to a broad audience. More details can be found at the title link (German only), area
"Aussteller-Anmeldung".
I already notified the info line that itīs a bad idea to advertise an "show easy
to reach even by international users", if the homepage is German only. :-/ (mb)
A note...
The way translations are distributed among the translators doesnīt seem to work that well.
The articles below date back to Thursday and Friday, and since I didnīt recieve the
translatorīs work until Monday morning, I translated them myself. Sorry for the delays.
Elbox Computer News
ELBOX COMPUTER proudly announces a new product for Amiga 1200:
FastATA ZORRO IV EIDE controller with data transfer rates of 16.6 MB/s
Features:
Suggested retail price: EUR 110.00 Available starting April 28th
First presentation: April 8th on the AMIGA MEETING 2000 in Lodz (Poland)
Haage & Partner News
H&P Online Shop
Since early February, we have our shop online. In the meantime, we have done many improvements,
to further increase comfort. Among others, there are now links to the product pages, and the
cookie system recognizes customers (the shop is functional without cookies). Have a look at
it, suggestions for improvement are wellcome.
PageStream 4 Release 5
The next free update is now available. Registered users can order
the files for download of the complete version (over 7 MB, not including online help).
Fusion 3.2 Amiga delayed
Due to problems getting 3.5" disks, Blittersoft is unable to ship the update. Early next week,
they hope to get the disks.
St. Louis Show
Again this year, the Amiga Show in St. Louis was a big event. For the first time, H&P
was present as exhibitor. Aside from presenting AmigaWriter 2.0 and ArtEffect 4.0 (both
will be released in May), a workshop for programming AmigaOS was held. Some pictures from
the show are available here.
COOL bits News
Monitors by Iiyama: New in our product line are the monitors by Iiyama. I had a look
at them on the CEBIT, and the quality persuaded me :-). These monitors are really
worth their price. On our reworked product site, a description of the monitors is
available.
Development at Amiga/Amiga2000 show in St. Louis: I must admit that I very much wellcome
the development :-). Finally, there are things moving at Amiga, and we get to see something
new. After all, this is the first time after more than 5 years that Amiga development
produces more than mere vapor. Among others, the cooperation with Corel and Red Hat brings
me to casual optimism. I can only hope that Amiga quickly continues on this path.
AmiJoe G3: Talks between Haage & Partner and Metabox concerning the 68k emulation
have not been finished sadly, which still delays production and delivery of the cards.
In the area News you will find many new stuff from the last weeks.
The link site has been completely reworked :-). If you want a link to your homepage added,
please contact me. The pages with the special offers have been slightly modified.
X-10 Control now included in INET DIAL v3.5
The latest version of INET_DIAL now includes X-10 protocol for control of Lamps and
other appliances. INET_DIAL is an integrated Internet connection programme which
controls "dial-in" and "dial-out" connections both to the Internet and by direct dial.
Automatic timed mail send and retrieval is included. Remote computers can be accessed and they
can also control X-10 devices via the web.
"Webpad, desktop- and kitchen device | automatically connect to AOL network | AOL-CEO:
Help for young people. AOL and Gateway will bring a line of relatively cheap surf stations
starting by the end of the year, running under Linux."
Heise: Gateway and AOL
to bring surf terminals
"On the Spring Internet World show in Los Angeles, AOL and Gateway for the first time
present their line of surf devices (Internet Appliances): A web-pad, a so-called
countertop device with cordless keyboard, and a desktop system. The countertop device,
basically a LCD screen with attachment, are planned to reach the market for christmas
2000. The two other devices will follow next year. The desktop system looks like a grey
version of the iMac, and according to Gateway will cost less than 500 USD."
Digital Almanac II Update
Version 1.8.13 of DA II is available on the authorīs homepage. It fixes two hard-to-find
bugs in the 040 version of the program, which especially troubled the animation mode. At
the same time, drawing of surface textures has been sped up again (040 version).
#Ami3D time limited Artwork on display
Daniel Pisanec, long-time regular of ARCNet's #Ami3D, has created a site to showcase
all the work submitted for the #Ami3D time-limited competitions. The competitions
continue to be a success, and anyone rendering on any platform is welcome. Take a
look at competition.rogue3d.co.uk for more information.
The Competitions run every week, on Sunday evening 20:00 GMT+1, in #Ami3D on ARCNet
(irc.arcnet.vapor.com port 6667). PWe look forward to seeing you there!
CamX can be described as "object oriented, modular data manager with alarm / timing system".
Some example uses: MIDI/Audio Sequencer - Video Editing System - Laser/Slideshow -
Controlling household and office devices - controlling of HiFi/multimedia devices -
DVD/MP3 player
Everything (soft- and hardware) sending or recieving data in any
form will be controllable by CamX, if the driver module is available.
HydraBBS discontinued
Dominic Clifton has discontinued development of HydraBBS for Amiga, and is not
interested in porting the program to other platforms, either. If you are interested
in the sourcecode of HydraBBS, contact the author by
e-mail.
Amiga Future survey
We want to evaluate the users opinions of OS 3.5. So, on our homepage in the area "Aktion"
we created a page where we ask the following specific questions:
The AmigaOS 3.5 is available now for some time. We want to know from you what you think
about it! What do you like in AmigaOS 3.5, and what do you dislike? What is missing, and
what is getting you upset in it? Or did you expand your AmigaOS 3.5 with additional tools?
Which tools do you use no longer?
Write to us!
We will release the results on our homepage! Of course, tips and tricks for AmigaOS 3.5
are wellcome, too.
grafik-umsonst.de now with Amiga area
AMIGA. This device is cult. These pages are meant as a bow before the spirit of a creative
community. A sworn community, which after years of discontinued development holds high the
ideals of a computer that enabled multimedia even before that term was coined.
Due to this, an Amiga area
has been created (still under construction). Everyone owning an Amiga, or has created
pictures with one, can help. Many thanks to the Amiga-Magazin
for the friendy authorization.
Many other graphics of www.grafik-umsonst.de have also been created on Amiga: e.g. the
background series "am", "amnew" and "co" in the "Hintergrund" area, "big" and "at" in
"Hintergr2".
Emergency at IOM - harddisk crash
Bad news from IOM. Due to a hard drive crash all project files, all mails, addresses
and many more has been destroyed.
There is however a small chance to revive the hard drive. It is a
If someone has an idea, we would wellcome your input. If someone owns the same
disk and manages to unscrew the circuit board, we would be happy if we could
lend it for some time. The disk was connected to the CyberstormPPC SCSI controller,
formatted with SFS.
There will be a reward. Please call: +49 (0)9281 7676 990. We couldnīt reconfigure
the e-mail access yet. Many thanks.
New MUIbase version 1.4
A new version of MUIbase is available for download. Version 1.4 contains several large
bug fixes and some expansions. Catalogs are available for German, Swedish, Spanish
and French. Download: MUIbase-1.4.lha
New AMIGA Website online
Since the new IP address has not yet been added to all Domain Name Servers, the "new" www.amiga.com
page can be visited at http://209.15.87.244. "New" in quotes because the layout should be well-known
from Schindler times.
Changing IPs the week after such an important event; the information given at the show still not
available from the website; switching back to a year-old layout, looking even less professional than
before... I hope Amiga is better at R&D than they are at PR... (mb)
Interview with CS & E
Amiga Future did an interview with the UK software company CS & E, which gained popularity
with games like "Hong Kong Mahjong" and "The Fugitive" for the PC and "Max Rally" for the Amiga.
The interview can be found in the Aktion area at the title link (German).
MorphOS News
Despite diverse announcements by Amiga Inc. the
work on MorphOS continues. As we have already announced a number of
developers have already recieved a test version and are checking it for
compatibility with existing hardware and expansion cards. We will publish a
compatibility list and information at www.morhos.de shortly.
XAD-System Version 6
Verison 6 of the archiving extraction system "xadmaster.library" is
available. Important new features are the support for Arj, Arj-EXE,
RAR-Exe, Zip-Exe and BZip2. Currently 38 archive types are supported.
However is not familiar with XAD should take a look at it.
There is also a new freeware GUI available called Voodoo-X for all those
that don`t like shell tools.
Reminder: When you use free software, drop the author a line and inform
them of your appreciation.
One Year Amiga User List
12 Months have now passed. Exactlky on April 4th 1999, the first issue of
the AÄUL went online. Now there is an update and many user wishes have
been made a reality. There will soon be a version for MUIBase (also for the
unregistered version). There are also buttons available that can be used on
a persons webpage.
txt2pdf Version 3.3
txt2pdf on the Amiga? Read more about this in an article in the
Amiga-Magazin (German). Txt2pdf is a very flexible and powerful PERL5 programm
with which you can convert ascii text files to PDF. Click here for more
details.
Amiga2K: BoXer News
Roger Wyatt reports: "Anti-Gravity Products, Santa Monica, California bought the BoXer Technologie from Access Innovations. Blittersoft will manage the worldwide retail.
Paul Lesurf of Blittersoft will become the boss of the office in England. Mick Tinker will work as manager of the BoXer developer section for Anti-Gravity. The BoXer will be manufactured by Anti-Gravity in California (in Los Angeles or Palmdale).
Paul B. of Anti-Gravity has presented the BoXer at the banquet of the Amiga 2K Show. One could see that this computer is far beyond the prototyp status. Actually the developing is in its final and test phase.
Kickstart Show Update
Kickstart amiga user group based in Surrey, England are pleased to announce more details of their forthcoming show on saturday 27 may 2000. You can win a A1200 just by attending the show or win a hard drive if you win one of the games competions. For more details please goto our website.
Chat with the editors of Amiga Future
We, the editors of Amiga Future, have often been asked if we could be met in an IRC channel to chat. In the future this will be no problem anymore. If you want to contact us, come to the #AmigaFun channel on the irc.germany.net server. The best time to meet us there is Thursday an Sunday from 21 o'clock on.
Tested: RedHat Linux 6.2
LinuxInfo.DE Announces:
In our reports area a small test report about the new RedHat Linux 6.2 has been put online. The downloadable GPL version of the operating system has been tested.
Amiga companies developing for the new OS
Czech Amiga News seems to be the only source of information about the Amiga 2K show. Roger Wyatt posts a list of Amiga companies developing for the new OS.
Epic, ACT, DCE, Met@box, Scala, Amiga Development, Titan, H&P, Digital Images, Hyperion and Crystal Software will apparently port or develop a total of 117 softwares for the new OS.
Miriam 2.0 Homepage reworked
The layout has been reworked by IOM and the screenshot have been shrunk. The main page is now using Javascript.
Miriam 2.0 is a software which controls Lanetco videosplitt computers like those used in monitor walls. Since the original software runs under MS-DOS, a software had been especially developed for the Amiga and used during the Amiga International Inc. Apparition at the Computer '98 fair. In the meanwhile this software has been improved and developed further and has now more functionality than the DOS version. The communication with the splitt computer is also faster th
an under MS-DOS. So Miriam is an powerful Amiga software which can be used in professional presentation business.
More details on AMIGAīs plans
At Czech Amiga News, Roger Wyatt tells more news from the Amiga show
in St. Louis, USA, according to statements made by AMIGA President Bill
McEwen.
I can remember one statement from the last Executive Update: "If it
is not from our (Amiga Inc.) website, it is not true."
It is quite possible that some details from the Amiga 2K turn out to be
April Foolīs jokes, or wishful thinking. However, this cannot be all made
up. Great things are moving, and I really look forward to the official
confirmations on these details... (mb)
New demo version of Audio Evolution
The demo version of the sample software Audio Evolution now supports multiple
samples in each track. Additionally, new screenshots can be seen.
It is astounding how the important messages always come as celebrity numbers.
The Amino / Amiga buyout was (almost) message number 2000 on this site. The last
Executive Update was #2500, and this is #2700. No kidding! ;-) (mb)
+++ AMIGA-aktuell-Special +++
Fleecy Moss informs about developer system and plans
--------------
AMIGA Vice President Fleecy Moss has just informed about the Amiga Developer System and the
companyīs plans on an IRC conference taking place on the Amiga show Amiga 2K taking place
today in St. Louis, USA. The important details folow:
Well, Iīd like to mention my article
posted a few days ago, for those users who have not read it already and now are disappointed
by this announcement. (And no, I didnīt know anything more than a casual reader of the
news and Executive Updates... ;-)) (mb)
Rework of the ICQ user list
All entries of the ICQ user list will be sorted by Postal / ZIP code and country
(the first update is online). Since Postal / ZIP codes are missing for several entries,
I ask these users to submit them.
CD32 Alliance presents CD32 developer kit
The "CD32 Developer-Kit" is available for free download
from the developer site, for all software developers. Thanks to Amiga Inc. giving
us permission for this.
Download: cd32dev.lzx - 1.6 MB
AUG99 Poll: Turrican 3D for Amiga?
The game TURRICAN 3D is currently under development for PC, and I want to know from you
if you are interested in a port for PPC Amiga. We will forward the poll result to the
developers (e.g. Manfred Trenz) / the distributor. We implemented a poll on our homepage
(title link).
MorphOS GCC 2.95.2 developer package PPC released
Here is the MorphOS GCC 2.95.2 (tools) dev pac. ppc GCC2.95.2 crosscompiler and ppc cross
binutil 2.9.1 to generate morphos executables. Can also be used for powerup but be aware
that the compiler does NOT use 68k structure alignment.
Download: morphos-gcc-tools.lha - 4.1 MB
Cross-Plattform Online Edition
The new Cross-Plattform Edition of the Amiga Forever Online Edition is identical to
the Windows version, but contains additional options to use Amiga ROM and OS files on
Linux, Mac, DOS, and other platforms.
Heise: Trackerlabels: The pioneers of online music
«In the beginning there was the Amiga, Commodore's flagship in the
battle for young home users. For musicians, the box did not have much
to offer, everybody with some little equipment in those times went rather
for the Atari ST. For the ST, there was professional software like Cubase,
and it had a MIDI interface. But the Amiga had many, many colors. 4096, to
be exact. That was a lot for the times when expensive PCs had either 4 or
16 colors. Compared to that, the Amiga was something like the first multimedia
computer. The fitting multimedia software, though, everybody had to make on
his own. And the kids programmed like mad. They cracked commercial game
software, replaced their intros with own ones and spreaded their dared
animations as so-called demos - some kind of electronic graffiti culture
came into existance.
The cult got in motion when 1987 a certain Karsten Obarski published a
program named "Soundtracker" for the Amiga. Obarski worked for the game
company Eidos and probably wouldn't have dreamed back then that he would
have been celebrated more than 10 years later as a hero for this step
The Karsten Obarski Tribute Project.
But he set with this simple program the foundation for a whole scene.»
Full article under titlelike (site and article in German).
68k assembler programer for Scalos wanted
Scalos developer archive to be re-released very soon (hopefully). We are looking for
one more full time 68k assembler coder to help comment the huge main Scalos program
and also fix bugs; send your offer to scalos@satanicdreams.com
Digital Almanac II bugfix update
Now there is a minor bugfix-update for Digital Almanac II available. The update can be
downloaded from the homepage of the author.
Also beta-testers for DA III are wanted!
Send an application with a description of your Amiga and your knowledge via email to
the author.
Amiga Link Directory
