Microdeal have released a clock card
which they claim leaves all the others behind. The Micro-Time
Clock Card was developed in the States but Microdeal were so
impressed by it that they negotiated a deal to produce it in England
and the card is now available at just £34.95. What makes the card
special is that it fits inside the machine with no soldering and
with the minimum of disassembly. It comes with NiCad batteries that
recharge each time the computer is switched on and can be adjusted
depending on how often you use your machine. Software is provided
for setting up but from there on all you need is the Control Panel
on your boot disk.
Also from Microdeal is Shuttle II, a
game come simulation, putting you in charge of an advanced shuttle
able to take off from a runway. Lots of things to consider such as
wind speed and cloud cover before getting into orbit. Once there,
having ditched the boosters on the way, you have to do a bit of ETA
to retrieve a faulty communications satellite before getting back to
earth. In the 1990's you'll be able to get a seat on the Shuttle for
real, but not for £24.95!
Eidersoft, mentioned a couple of
issues ago as bringing out several arcade style games at PCW, are
rapidly expanding their horizons with some top quality professional
applications and add-ons. Top of the line is Publishing Partner, a
complete page layout system from the States which caused quite a
stir when shown at Comdex last year. Minicomm is a complete
comms program as a desk accessory and features Xmodem and Kermit
protocols among others. Loads of functions including the ability to
cut and paste to word processors. Professional Sprite Designer
sounds just what budding games designers might need allowing sprites
to be designed and tested before being saved to be used in other
programs. On the hardware side is the first Graphics Tablet for the
ST, Pro-Draw which works with all programs that use the mouse
and a 20Mb hard disk that is claimed to be faster and cheaper
than Atari's own. Keep an eye on Eidersoft.
Mastertronic have two titles coming
for the ST at a 'budget' price of £9.95 (well how much do most
programs cost?). Both are games and are titled Renegade and
Ninja Mission.
Infocom's latest for the ST only (i.e. not
8-bit Atari) is Portal: A Computer Novel with the promise of
a new experience of computer literature. This is not an adventure in
the conventional sense and will allow a great deal of interaction
between the player and the program. The start of new concept or
clever use of advertising blurb? Either way, it sounds interesting.
Rumours from, or rather about, Atari are
that they will introduce later this year a full Desktop
Publishing system including laser printer for around £2000 and
hard disks at a fraction of their present cost by using 'reject'
20Mb drives and remapping them to get 15 or 16Mb without problems.
Will these come before or after the CD-Roms?
At the CES Show in Las Vegas in January Atari
actually showed a prototype of their laser printer which uses the
DMA port of the ST and therefore the ST's CPU to save on the cost of
an on-board processor. This makes it useable only with the ST but
also makes it cheap. Also on show were 'Mega ST's with detachable
keyboards and radically redesigned internals with room for
enhancements such as add-in cards and new circuit boards. Atari say
they will be 100% compatible with existing models.
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