-=========================================================================- _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Amiga Update -News and Rumors /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ ||(A Very Occasional Newsletter) / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ || BACK FOR THE FUTURE || -=========================================================================- AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga Technolgies, GmbH --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 960821 V I S C O R P D E L A Y S P U R C H A S E O F A M I G A E L E C T R I C S V 1 . 1 A N N O U N C E D A M I G A I N T E R F A C E F O R Q U I C K C A M Editor's thoughts: Nothing comes easily in the Amiga universe! VIScorp has just announced a delay in their purchase of the Amiga from the Escom bankruptcy trustee. It looks to be a minor paperwork matter, nothing to be concerned about. I think we long suffering Amigans can be forgiven for worrying, however. The market needs some positive news on this front, and needs it soon! More cheeful news reaches us from from Amiga software developer Chris Sterne. His announcement of an upgrade to the "Electrics" circuit simulator is below. As one who has actually done professional circuit board layout on the Amiga, I find this product very interesting. We have a long article from the folks at Omnilink Corporation about a new product Amiga video and animation makers should find interesting. Actually, we have their press release and some additional information culled from their WWW home page. You won't be making any wide screen productions with this product but for less ambitious uses it's well worth a look. Hope you enjoy this issue! Brad --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A M I G A P U R C H A S E D E L A Y E D VIScorp News: August 20, 1996 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Chicago, IL August 20, 1996 Permission Granted to Distribute without Alteration 30 More Days: VIScorp Announces Extension on Amiga Sale On August 20, 1996, the trustee for the bankruptcy of ESCOM AG and AMIGA Technologies GmbH, Bernhard Hembach, extended the closing date for VIScorp's purchase of AMIGA for 30 days with the support of ESCOM creditors. While the agreement is firm, one of the financial institutions supporting VIScorp in the transaction required more documentation to authorize their portion of the funding. Satisfied that VIScorp would meet these requirements, the closing date was extended. The closing will not be extended past this date. Contact: Jason Compton, Communications Manager, VIScorp 111 N. Canal St. Suite 933 Chicago, IL 60606 (312) 655-0903 voice (312) 655-0910 fax --------------------------------------------------------------------------- N E W V E R S I O N C I R C U I T S I M U L A T O R Electrics (V1.1) Digital Designer is a group of programs for designing and simulating digital electronic circuits on the Amiga computer. The circuit to be tested is drawn using simple (NAND, XOR) and complex (74193, 74245) gates, and may span multiple sheets. Several signal levels (0, 1, X, Z) and drive strengths permit realistic circuit behavior during simulation. ARexx is supported for complex simulation scripts. The price is US$30.00 + US$2.00 (P&P). Contact: Chris Sterne 1111 west 7th avenue. Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 1B5 Canada PHONE: (604) 733-6972 EMAIL: chris_sterne@panam.wimsey.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A N I M A T O R S / V I D E O G R A P H E R S T A K E N O T E ! AQCVid: Omnilink Corp.'s NEW Amiga interface for use with the QuickCam August 17, 1996. Welcome to a whole new ballgame! Omnilink Corporation is pleased and proud to announce their first foray into Amiga(TM) hardware development with the AQCVid(TM). A unique hardware and software solution which allows Amiga users to enjoy the benefits of the popular PC/Mac QuickCam(TM). For those of you who are not familiar with the hardware specifications of the QuickCam, here are a few: * Up to 320x240 pixel capture. * 4-bit grey scale (16 shades of grey) for movies. 6-bit grey scale (64 shades of grey) for still graphics. * Frame rates up to 24 fps. * Draws less than 350 milliwatts of current. * Field of view is approximately 65 degrees (equivalent to a 38mm lens on a 35mm camera). * Focus is fixed from 18 inches to infinity. * Lens is f1.9. A more recent QuickCam model has been introduced, which has 640x480 as one of its resolutions, with 24bit colour. AQCVid support is tentatively planned for this model, adding an even greater quality to an already impressive roster of applications. AQCVid is currently supporting the PC/Windows version of the greyscale QuickCam, with a Mac version also tentatively planned for the near future.This will allow Amiga users greater flexibility in their hardware configurations. It is important to note that the AQCVid software allows both 4 and 6 bit (16 and 64 colour greyscale) in the animations, unlike the 4-bit-only for PC animations. This development will allow all Amiga users a new field of applications for both amateur and professional use. Here are some of the possible applications: * Photography in several file formats (JPEG, IFF, Datatypes, etc.) for desktop publishing, games, multi-media, Internet(homepages, etc.), image processing, family digital picture albums, conferencing, etc. * ANIM and CDXL format animations (from live action) for use in games, multi-media, Internet(homepages(AVI, MPEG), etc.), video (image processing), family digital video albums, conferencing, etc. * Whatever else Omnilink, 3rd party developers and Amiga users can dream up. The AQCVid is designed to work with all ECS/AGA Amigas, and includes CyberGraphX support. File formats currently include IFF, ANIM5, and ANIM7.CDXL (animation w/sound) is tentatively planned for a future release. Users also have the option of time lapse with exposure control. Internet users have an overwrite previous file function, useful for realtime 'net video updates. An ARexx Commodity is also supplied to allow for control of the QuickCam by other external applications. 16bit audio sampling/playback support is also tentatively planned for 16 bit Amiga audio expansion cards. As new Amiga models come into being, Omnilink is committed to maintain AQCVid compatibility with these hardware advancements. We hope this will show the Amiga community and the personal computing community of the world, Omnilink Corporation's dedication to the best personal computer on the planet, the AMIGA. Developers who would be interested in supporting the AQCVid for their software and hardware Amiga applications, as well as interested Amiga users, may contact us through our Omnilink homepage at [http://www.portal.com/~omnilink/omnilink.html]>[http://www.portal.com/~omn ilink/omnilink.html] . Our homepage may also be reached through the Amiga Web Directory at [http://www.cucug.org/amiga.html] and The Viking's Home Page at [http://www.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~viking/]>[http://www.freenet.edmonton.a b.ca/~viking/] . More information about the QuickCam and other Connectix products, can be found in the Connectix home page at http://www.connectix.com NOTE: QuickCam is a registered trademark of Connectix. AQCVid is a registered trademark of Omnilink Corporation. Amiga is a registered trademark of VIScorp. {Following is some of the information from their home page. Brad} AQCVid Information Release date: October 1996 Price: $59.99 Introductory offer upon release Page updated: August 20, 1996 The AQCVid is a hardware/software interface for Connectix Corporation's QuickCam digital camera. It allows the PC (parallel) version of the QuickCam to be connected to any Amiga. Listed below are the current specifications and requierments. we hope to add support for other QuickCams as well as more save formats such as CDXL and JPEG. Also included is an ARexx host commodity which allows the use of the QuickCam within an ARexx script. Minimum Requierments: Amiga 500/600/1200/2000/3000(T)/4000(T) Harddrive Processor: 68000 Ram: 1 Meg Chip Chipset: ECS O.S.: 3.1 Connectix Gray Scale QuickCam, IBM-PC version Recommended: Processor: 68020 or better Ram: 2 Meg Chip 4 Meg Fast Chipset: AGA or emulation Software capabilities: Colors: 16 - ECS/AGA or emulation 64 - AGA or emulation Maximum Resolutions: Stills: 323 x 200 161 x 122 80 x 61 Animations: Anim Op 5 and Anim Op 7W compression: 312 x 200 160 x 122 80 x 61 Anim Op 7L compression: 256 x 200 160 x 122 64 x 61 Image exposure time: QuickCam timing: 1/10000 seconds to 2 seconds Software timing: 1/60 seconds to infinity Save Formats: IFF-ILBM IFF-ANIM Op5 Byte IFF-ANIM Op7 Word IFF_ANIM Op7 Long For More information please send EMail to: omnilink@shell.portal.com QuickCam is a trademark of Connectix Corp.Amiga is a trademark of VisCorp --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amiga Update on the net: recent issues available in html format at: http://www.sharbor.com All back issues available (ASCII text only) at: http://www.globaldialog.com/AdventureCentral/AU.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1996 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified. -=========================================================================- _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || Brad Webb/AmigaUpdate /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || webb@malamute.med.ge.com /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ || Portal -- XJumpdisk -=========================================================================-