====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ || /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors- / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional e-mail WELCOME TO TOMORROW || News Source) ====================================================================== AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga, Inc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 000108 T A O , B A B Y ! T H E P A R T N E R A N N O U N C E D A M I G A I N C . T O B E A T A M I G A 2 K N E W S R O G D E V E L O P M E N T E N D S Editor's Thoughts and Introduction: Below we have the second big announcement in recent days by the reborn Amiga Inc. This one concerns the "content platform foundation partner" for future development. Not sure yet what all is covered by that mouth numbing phrase but I am sure it will be interesting and, I hope, encouraging to watch this relationship. There seems to be much more a feeling of relief in the shrunken Amiga Community at this ownership change than there was when Gateway took over, and that's as it should be. If we don't make it this time, at least we finally have some Amigans with vision giving it a try. If only that had happened back in 1994 ... We don't have an actual story on it, but if you read the items below carefully you'll see that Amino is now Amiga. The change took place on January 6. They'll be at the Amiga 2000 computer show this spring in St. Louis, USA, and I can hardly wait. I believe this will be the first chance for the newest Amiga Inc. to address a large body of the community. If you can get there, it should be well worth your time. If I have my Amiga history right, this is the third Amiga Inc. to be set up. The original development company (or were they not an Inc.?), Gateway's, and now the former Amino. Correct? Brad Webb, Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- E-mail to the E-ditor: 5 Jan 2000 brad, just a quick note to say "keep up the good work" ! i enjoy receiving this e-publication. also, let me add that i prefer this "e-mail style " as opposed to the old "download style "!!!! makes it easier for me to read. best, dave ~~~~~~ Dave, Thanks very much for the note and the vote of confidence. Not sure who's old download style you mean as we've always been e-mail based, but I think I know what you're getting at. It's always been one of our goals to get the news out to people, rather than wait for someone to come to a website. We think the Amiga community needs both, and our method can help get the message to people who would never see the websites. Brad ====== 1 Jan 2000 On 31-Dec-99, Brad Webb wrote: > The transaction, effective immediately, includes the transfer of > all Internet domain names related to Amiga which Gateway had held. > Gateway retains ownership of all patents acquired when it bought > Amiga in 1997. In other words, they have the right to develop something and call it an Amiga, but not to make or sell any of the old hardware, possibly the OS either. Then again, that might not to be a bad thing. We all know how far behind the current hardware and OS are. When Tom Schmidt announced that Amiga wasn't going to be a computer platform anymore, I started looking at the alternatives. I figured there were three; Linux, Mac and (GULP!) Windows. - Linux is a Unix variant at heart. Switching to it meant night school courses just to learn to use it. (I still haven't entirely ruled that out.) - My GF uses a Mac and she's happy with it. I looked at the new iMacs and they're nice machines, reminiscent in some ways of my good ol' A1200, and the price wasn't too bad, considering what it was. Then I took a gander at the software and nearly had a coronary! $800 for a paint program??? - Then there's Windows. I tried to look it up on the 'net. At first all I found were jokes pages. I surfed over a few of them. It was educational; nobody likes Windows! At last I found MS's homepage. The first thing I saw there was ol' Visa Bill Gate's editorial about "freedom to innovate," (whinging over the Anti-Trust Court obviously.) By this time I was wondering what had possessed me to even consider doing this to myself! I hope to heck Amino makes a go of Amiga. There are no good alternatives out there. Allan ~~~~~~ Allan, I certainly agree with the sentiment in your last paragraph. It's very early to have a feel for how Amino - now officially Amiga Inc. - will do, but they've got the community in mind and that's a real plus. You do have one misconception in your note. Amiga Inc. has a license from Gateway to the old patents, so there's really nothing stopping them from doing just about anything they want to, including building "classic" type machines if they wish. With the new Amiga in place, I think there's at least a good possibility we won't need an alternative. Brad ---------------------------------------------------------------------- T A O , B A B Y ! T H E P A R T N E R A N N O U N C E D Las Vegas, January 8, 2000 - Amiga Incorporated, a privately held company based in Maple Valley, WA, has entered into a strategic relationship with the Tao Group as the new content platform foundation partner for the new Amiga. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Bill McEwen, Amiga President/CEO, said that the company selected Tao as the foundation partner for the new Amiga after reviewing numerous other potential partners. "After extensive research trawling the markets we found that Tao had the greatest similarities and strengths with our vision, and the capabilities to get the job done". McEwen said. "Amiga with Tao together will bring a new level of capabilities, portability and scalability never available before." "Tao has its roots in the Amiga so this is particularly satisfying for us" said Francis Charig, Chairman and CEO of Tao Group. "What makes this relationship so exciting to Tao is the relationship we can enjoy with Amiga and the Amiga Community. The world has changed radically in the last few years and there is a vacuum in terms of content and software environments that meets the needs of the mass market. The skill sets of the Amiga community combined with the power and flexibility of Tao's software infrastructure means that the New Amiga can create the most compelling content for the emerging digital services and content markets." ABOUT AMIGA Amiga Incorporated is dedicated to the development, design, and implementation of components, services, and models that support the digital experience of tomorrow. Amiga lead the world into the multi-media experience in the early 80's, and will lead it into the Digital content universe of the future. ABOUT TAO Tao Group is an intellectual property generator and software company specializing in technologies for home and mobile networks. Incorporated in 1992, the Company provides leading edge products for the emerging markets of intelligent consumer devices. The company's philosophy is based on providing powerful frameworks for use right across the range of networked appliances from smart phones to digital television into which Tao's clients can build in their own branding and incorporate their own added value. Tao's clients include blue chip technology corporations in the United States, Japan and Europe. Motorola and Sony are investors in Tao Group. Tao is headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom, with representation in Japan and the US, and its staff includes more than fifty world-class software engineers. Tao is a Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 Winner and has won a series of innovation ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A M I G A I N C . T O B E A T A M I G A 2 K January 6, 2000 Amino Development Corporation, renamed Amiga Inc. on Jan. 6, will exhibit at the Amiga 2K show. In a conversation today with Bill McEwen, President and CEO of Amino, now Amiga Inc.,stated that they will definitely exhibit at the Gateway Computer Show - Amiga 2K, April 1 & 2, 2000. Things are happening with Amiga 2K, just as we promised. Stay tuned for more information on the largest and best Amiga show in the Americas... Amiga 2K. Amiga 2K will be held on Saturday April 1st - Sunday April 2, 2000, in St. Louis Missouri, U.S.A. at the Henry VIII Hotel. Bob Scharp Amigan-St. Louis ---------------------------------------------------------------------- N E W S R O G D E V E L O P M E N T E N D S 04-Jan-2000 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ShadowWorks Software regrets to announce the end of the NewsRog project for the Amiga. NewsRog is an NNTP News client running on Amiga personal computers. Unfortunately, due to a combination of factors which include the lack of a market for Amiga software, obsolescent hardware, and a recent increase in piracy and fraudulent credit card orders, it is no longer financially possible to continue developing NewsRog. The last version stands at 1.8b, and the update is available to all registered users via the web page below: http://www.frii.com/~srk/ShadowWorks/Preview/NR.html ShadowWorks Software is proud to have pioneered a large number of news client features that have yet to be duplicated in any other software that we are aware of. We regret that it was not possible to continue development of the software, since there was a great deal more planned for the future. ShadowWorks Software wishes to thank all of our loyal customers who have supported our attempt to bring the Amiga a world class NNTP news client. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Amiga Update on the net: All back issues available at: http://www.globaldialog.com/~amigaupdate/index.html Stop by and check out our archive! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2000 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified. ====================================================================== _ __ _ <>_ __ _ A M I G A /\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ A M I G A U P D A T E /__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ U P D A T E / \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ amigaupdate@globaldialog.com ======================================================================