From: jyoung@nyx.cs.du.edu (Jeff Young)
Subject: NEW Atari Falcon news
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 05:37:40 GMT

Here is lots of new about Falcon!..
 
 IN SEARCH OF THE ATARI FALCON 030
 
 Even though no official word is available, even though Atari has
 maintained a lid on details, and even though some leaks claim that the
 new computer to be unveiled this fall won't bear the name FALCON, the
 rumor mill has provided ample pseudo-information on what is expected to
 be a remarkable machine.
 
 Atari held an invitation-only Falcon developer conference in London on
 June 27th, attended by over 120 developers.  Sam Tramiel, Bill Rehbock,
 and John Skruch were among those attending the conference for Atari.  In
 addition to the Atari personal, a few experts were brought along to
 discuss features of the Falcon and programming the Digital Signal
 Processor.  Reactions from the intense one day affair varied from the
 positive to the wildly enthusiastic.  A number of the developers that
 attended are not currently working on Atari platforms, but the
 demonstrations and discussions appear to have convinced all of them to
 either reconsider their position or to immediately add Atari to their
 development programs.
 
 Sam Tramiel has planned to reveal the Falcon technical details in live
 conferences on the GEnie and Delphi telecommunications networks in early
 August.  This will be in preparation for the huge Dusseldorf Atari Messe
 ("fair") in Germany, August 21-23, where the public should see the
 Falcon for the first time.  Commercial availability for the units is
 projected for later this fall.
 
 A first look almost came early, through the efforts of Atari Advantage
 Magazine.  An exclusive Falcon story, complete with photographs of the
 outside and even the motherboard of the Falcon, was planned for their
 June issue.  However, delays in production caused that issue to become
 the June/July issue, and then negotiations with Atari Corp regarding
 non-disclosure matters caused the photographs to be dropped and the
 printing to be further delayed until late July.  The photographs will
 instead be featured in an upcoming issue of Atari Explorer (see related
 story, below).  The Atari Advantage Falcon article remains generally
 complete, and is recommended reading, even getting "thumbs up" from
 Atari officials.  The Falcon issue should be available at Atari dealers
 well into August.
 
 Speculative Specs

 The Falcon 030 (it may still be called something else when released, but
 this name is now seeming to stick) will feature a 68030 running at
 16mHz, be in the 1040-style one piece cabinet, and feature "more colors
 than you can see, more sounds than you can hear", and use a Motorola
 Digital Signal Processor DSP 56001 (like in NeXT).  It will have an
 updated TOS operating system that will include MultiTOS multitasking.
 That much is official.  The rest is via leak and speculation, and as
 such, subject to change.
 
 MultiTOS was developed by ATARI Corp. in cooperation with Eric Smith of
 the Mathematics Department at the University of Western Ontario.  Eric
 designed the multitasking kernel called MiNT, which forms the basis for
 MultiTOS, a combination of ROM code in the TOS and extensions on disk.
 Message pipelines exist between parallel running applications, allowing
 controlled interaction of simultaneous processes in different windows.
 Old-standard desk accessories now unnecessary due to CPX modules and the
 ability to run programs simultaneously, in effect, making every
 application work like an accessory.  Under MultiTOS, if one of many
 parallel running applications should crash, the others remain protected
 and safe.  A more limited version of MultiTOS for older ST computers is
 expected to be available as software.
 
 According to the Atari Advantage Falcon story, the Falcon case will be a
 dark grey, similar to the color of the Portfolio and STacy.  It will
 feature an STe/TT compatible LAN port plus and industry standard SCSI II
 peripheral port, stereo microphone and headphone jacks,  STe extended
 joystick ports, a DSP port, and a built-in speaker.  This last item is
 important as the Falcon will be able to use standard high resolution
 color multisync monitors which typically have no audio.  Older Atari
 monitors will also be usable with an adaptor.  Broadcast quality TV
 compatible video is offered with built-in genlock and "true color"
 32,768 color capacity plus a variety of other modes (including all ST
 modes).
 
 Sound?  Yikes.  Sixteen-bit digital record/playback in resolution up to
 50 kHz (better than an audio CD) in up to eight channels, with direct-
 to-hard-disk recording, with a DSP port allowing digital audio transfer
 rates of up to a megabyte per second.  And STe 8-bit and ST three-voice
 sound will be supported, making the Falcon as close to 100% backwards
 compatible as possible.
 
 Also in the copyrighted Advantage article are observations of on-board
 sockets that appear ready for addition of alternate CPU devices, such as
 PC or MAC emulators.  With the dramatic speed and PC compatible video,
 emulation should be a snap.  Other internal items included a fan and an
 internal hard disk--a 2.5" 40 meg unit in the one Advantage cracked
 open.  A daughter board held 16 meg of RAM in a plug-in module.
 
 Price?  It is rumored that the Falcon 030 will start at under $700.
 
 
 ATARI EXPLORER TAKES ADVANTAGE
 
 Atari Advantage has ceased publishing operations after only three
 issues, as the publisher and editor have been hired to take over
 production of Atari's in-house magazine, Atari Explorer.  Mike Lindsay
 and Darren Meers are relocating to Sunnyvale to pilot the glossy bi-
 monthly Explorer after their short but well-received stint producing
 their own Atari magazine.  According to Lindsay, many subscriptions were
 either not billed or charged in anticipation of the move.  Paid
 subscribers will be given options on conversion to a subscription to
 Atari Explorer.
 
 Lindsay and Meers were part of ST-INFORMER for four years, and both left
 Informer in January 1992 over a dispute regarding ownership and control.
 Their own magazine, Atari Advantage, had established a respectable
 circulation, but Atari Corp. elected not to bring Advantage in-house as
 an additional magazine.
 
 The naming of editorial staff for Explorer ends months of conjecture
 about who would take over for John Jainschigg.  John declined to move to
 Sunnyvale from his New York offices where he produced Explorer for the
 last two years.
 
 Bringing Atari Explorer to the home offices is part of an overall
 consolidation of executive effort and attention at Atari.  Overseeing
 the magazine operation will be Atari's Bernie Stolar.
 
 
 LYNX GOES WEST
 As Atari gears up for the Jaguar game console to be released in 1993,
 the Lombard Illinois offices of Atari Entertainment are being relocated
 to Sunnyvale.  Home of the Lynx development team, Lombard will remain
 open as a programming center, but sales, marketing, and support for the
 Lynx and soon the Jaguar will be part of the California operation under
 the guidance of Bernie Stolar.  Leaving Atari are Larry Seigal and Dana
 Plotkin, who did not wish to relocate.
 
 
 ATARI IN FORBES
 The August 3, 1992 issue of Forbes Magazine recounts the Atari story in
 a two-page article called "Cheap Didn't Sell" by Dyan Machan.  The famed
 business/industry reporting magazine blames Atari's troubles on the
 Tramiel family's penny pinching.  Machan claims that second-quarter 1992
 financial statements (unavailable at press time) will be far worse than
 the first quarter when Atari lost $14 million on $44 million in sales.
 Further, the article says that Jack Tramiel has personally taken over
 day-to-day operation of the company, moving his son Sam out of his
 former office.  The article does mention the new line of Falcon
 computers and the Jaguar game console, but speculates that Atari has
 less than half of the cash needed to perform an appropriate roll-out of
 the new products.  Atari officials aren't happy with the Forbes
 article's tone, but some observers are saying, "Any press is more press
 than we have had.  A lot of readers will discover that Atari is not
 dead, at least."
 
 
 NEW SUPERBASE COMING
 Superbase database systems for the Atari have been acquired by Oxxi Inc.
 who now offer upgrades for the popular line of software.  The charge to
 upgrade either version of Superbase Personal to SB Pro 3 is $85,
 available only through Oxxi.  The upgrade includes full product, manuals
 and all.  A new product, Superbase 4, is expected in the near future.
 Oxxi Inc., P.O. Box 90309, Long Beach, CA  90809-0309, USA, FAX (310)
 427-0971.
 
 
 NEW HOST BRINGS CD, FLOPTICAL TO ATARI
 ICD Inc. has announced a new host adaptor that will enable standard ST
 computers to use industry standard SCSI devices, including hard drives,
 CD ROM drives, and flopticals designed for IBM, MAC, and Amiga.  Pricing
 has not been announced, but "The Link" will be a self-powered molded
 cable-box affair that will connect to Atari's DMA (ACSI) port and plug
 directly to standard 50-pin centronics style SCSI ports, giving instant
 and complete access to virtually any peripheral using SCSI, with up to 8
 devices at one time being supported.  Better yet, MS-DOS formatted
 devices will read and write directly and transparently from the ST
 without modification, using ICD's driver software.  CD-ROMs are now
 supported through The Link's extended SCSI commands, with a re-written
 MetaDOS driver to support the SCSI-2 standard for CD-ROM players.  The
 ICD Link will be premiered at the Atari Messe in Dusseldorf, Germany in
 August.  ICD is taking orders now with shipments expected in mid-August.
 For further information, contact Thomas Harker at ICD by phone (815)
 968-2228 extension 120, or FAX (815) 968-6888.
 
 
 CD's, PHOTOS, AND ATARI
 Atari's been dodging the CD-ROM technology for almost three years, and
 now it looks like the wait might pay off.  New CD technology is becoming
 available that makes most older disk players obsolete.  The Kodak Photo
 CD system provides a way for consumers to have their color photographs
 printed to a CD in resolutions exceeding all but the most sophisticated
 computers and monitors.  But the new format can't be read by many
 current CD player drives.  The new system is called Mode 2, XA, multi-
 session capable.  If you are buying a CD ROM, look for those
 specifications to preserve your value.  New format drives might be
 readable using the ICD LINK (see story above) or by using ICD's revised
 MetaDOS on a TT or Falcon.



 
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st