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Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga News and Community Announcements => Topic started by: eliyahu on May 22, 2015, 01:59:12 AM
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news from A-EON via facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AEonTechnologyLtd):
A-EON Technology and ACube Systems strengthen strategic alliance
Cardiff, 21st May 2015
Following a series of meetings held over three days in late April at A-EON Technology's Cardiff headquarters, the two companies agreed a joint development plan to ensure the future of Classic and Next-Generation Amiga hardware and software development. In particular they agreed a new hardware and software development roadmap which both companies will jointly fund and support. Their plans include a series of exciting new hardware and software projects starting with the Minimig Plus, an updated version of ACube System's highly successful Amiga 500 FPGA implementation, based on Dennis van Weeren original design concept.
During the summit the companies also visited Ultra Varisys, the developers behind A-EON Technology's Nemo and Cyrus 64-bit PowerPC motherboards, to discuss future hardware trends and opportunities. Max Tretene, ACube's technical guru commented, "During our meetings we had very good MiniMig Plus prototype ideas about near future hardware and software development, really can't wait to realize all of them." While Enrico Vidale, ACube's business manager added, "This strategic alliance can only be good for the whole Amiga community."
Meanwhile A-EON Technology's Managing Director, Matthew Leaman commented, "The combined technical and financial resources of A-EON & ACube should help secure future success." Trevor Dickinson added, "I'm more optimistic now about the future Amiga scene than I have been for a very long time. All I can say is, bring it on!"
note: the full press release is available here (http://www.a-eon.com/PDF/News_Release_Summit.pdf).
-- eliyahu
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I am intrigued by what comes out of this MiniMig Plus thing.
Hopefully something interesting.
It would be nice to get more information and features of it.
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an updated version of ACube System's highly successful Amiga 500 FPGA implementation.
now, are they are really giving themselves credit for minimig??? cmon..
another load of marketing talk, as if there was public out there to notice..
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Pretty big scumbag move on the Minimig credits thing. I'll take my business elsewhere as a whole from such companies in the future. Taking glad-handing credit for open source projects is the lowest of the low, even if said company did make improvements and bring it to a larger market.
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Mini-ITX MiniMig Version 2.0
Illuwatar's modification of Dennis van Weeren's Open Source minimig to include such things as multiple video outputs, dual pic design, and true Mini-ITX form factor.
What part did ACube do?
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What part did ACube do?
Not sure why you mentioned Illuwater's ITX version. Only thing Acube did with Dennis' design was do a proper production rather than a small number of hand built boards. Dennis should be credited in the press release.
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now, are they are really giving themselves credit for minimig??? cmon..
another load of marketing talk, as if there was public out there to notice..
"Their plans include a series of exciting new hardware and software projects starting with the Minimig Plus, an updated version of ACube System's highly successful implementation of Dennis van Weeren's Amiga 500 FPGA design."
Better? :)
The meat of the press release, rather than the minor detail, sounds like good news to me.
It's good to see a strong cooperative attitude, and I respect that they're being businesslike. These are good things, aren't they?
I'd rather consider buying an expensive piece of hardware from someone businesslike, rather than someone who portrays it as hooby-level, and plays on your conscience when you need to make a claim under warranty. You can't have it both ways.
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"Their plans include a series of exciting new hardware and software projects starting with the Minimig Plus, an updated version of ACube System's highly successful implementation of Dennis van Weeren's Amiga 500 FPGA design."
Better? :)
The meat of the press release, rather than the minor detail, sounds like good news to me.
It's good to see a strong cooperative attitude, and I respect that they're being businesslike. These are good things, aren't they?
I'd rather consider buying an expensive piece of hardware from someone businesslike, rather than someone who portrays it as hooby-level, and plays on your conscience when you need to make a claim under warranty. You can't have it both ways.
the particularly exciting hardware to date actually come from "someone who portrays it as hooby-level" just to name majsta, who actually pushed the limits said companies are unable to reach. also "playing on conscience" is something i rather identify with another group, guess whom.
to my knowledge there isnt any amiga hardware and expansions from aeon so far released to the public. the new generation minimig isnt very exciting in comparison to various community based projects around.
the only real thing in testing is the audio streaming card, which is of limited use imho, has been incorrectly advertised as a sound card and after all the excitement still remains unreleased.
this hardly improves my confidence in further press releases like this. have seen enough of them and doubt anything is going to change.
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@wawrzon
Are you always this cheerful?
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the particularly exciting hardware to date actually come from "someone who portrays it as hooby-level" just to name majsta, who actually pushed the limits said companies are unable to reach.
Heh, noticed the typo after posting, couldn't be arsed to correct it (phone keyboard).
If I still kept Amiga hardware, I would probably have bought one - on a hobbyist level, and with no expectation of warranty, CE marking, etc. I see that as majsta's project that he's sharing, nothing more or less.
Spending several hundred pounds on a full, new system is something else entirely.
also "playing on conscience" is something i rather identify with another group, guess whom.
Dunno, do tell.
(Who, not whom, btw - "playing on the conscience" is the subject of the sentence. Are you Franko? :))
to my knowledge there isnt any amiga hardware and expansions from aeon so far released to the public. the new generation minimig isnt very exciting in comparison to various community based projects around.
the only real thing in testing is the audio streaming card, which is of limited use imho, has been incorrectly advertised as a sound card and after all the excitement still remains unreleased.
this hardly improves my confidence in further press releases like this. have seen enough of them and doubt anything is going to change.
Thought the soundcard was out, but I haven't been following that closely tbh.
Totally sympathise with the general pessimism regarding Amiga announcements - evidence from the last 20 years is totally on the pessimists' side - but A-Eon/Cube do seem to live up to their announcements, from my recollection at least.
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@wawrzon
Are you always this cheerful?
Commercial interests glad handing and taking undue credit for open source projects generally aren't well received anywhere.
I'll give anyone the due credit for bringing such a product to a wider market at a fair price any ole day of the week, but the phrasing of the press release left a bad taste in many peoples mouths. The original designers of the minimig worked their hindquarters off to bring the product to bear fruit and that doesn't seem to have been shown much respect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimig
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Yes and while that, the minimig thing, was an unfortunatly frasing. It was not actually the important thing in the press release.
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Dunno, do tell.
do i really need to spell it out, who is constantly playing on fans conscience "supporting the platform by investments"?
(Who, not whom, btw - "playing on the conscience" is the subject of the sentence. Are you Franko? :))
no, im not, but im neither a native speaker and have my share of dyslexia to fight.
Totally sympathise with the general pessimism regarding Amiga announcements - evidence from the last 20 years is totally on the pessimists' side
its not pessimist side. its just some reason. at least imho. there is stuff to be excited about even in this scene, no doubt, but its not any pompous statements.
- but A-Eon/Cube do seem to live up to their announcements, from my recollection at least.
partly, as you know. i have a bit considerations when something is marketed as consumer devices, while in reality those are beta stage products, the consumer is supposed to test while waiting for support to be completed, paying the pull price nevertheless. i dont have this problem with community project, especially the open ones, where you fully know, what you are at.
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Agreed, was just a poor choice of phrasing. Whether that's enough to change peoples buying habits is another story. I know where I stand on it, and it's enough for me to put the nix on my 460 mobo purchase.
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Yes and while that, the minimig thing, was an unfortunatly frasing. It was not actually the important thing in the press release.
then what is actually the important phrase in this announcement? because if these oversights didnt follow some frequent pattern, it would be less to complain about.
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There will always be something for some one to complain about, if nothing else, then complain about what is not in a press release.
I think, that the important thing here is that "A-EON Technology and ACube Systems strengthen strategic alliance"
But I do recognize some peoples need to focus on the negative side and their need to focus on complaining, just like any other groups of old grannys.
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Just to be clear, there was no intention by ACube to belittle the work done by on Dennis van Weeren on original MiniMig design concept. The News Release has been modified to acknowledge Dennis' original design concept.
The MiniMig Plus is a different animal altogether.
TrevorD
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I hope that this means a cheaper low-end Amigas. Wich would mean higher volumes, as it is possible produce low-end PPC mobos really cheap, less than 50%&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@!8364; per unit.
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I hope that this means a cheaper low-end Amigas. Wich would mean higher volumes, as it is possible produce low-end PPC mobos really cheap, less than 50%&$#?@!%&$#?@!%&$#?@!8364; per unit.
How many PPC Amiga users want a low-end PPC Amiga? Even a low end PPC Amiga needs customers to lower costs. Most PPC Amiga users want reasonably priced high-end PPC Amigas but there aren't enough customers judging by the prices. IMO, the only hardware capable of selling over 10,000 units (still low end volume production) is 68k hardware with at least 68020+AGA chipset compatibility and with a low price. High end 68k hardware is still low end in terms of cost and in comparison to modern hardware. The FPGA Arcade is the base standard now (68020+AGA+RTG) and if the spec or cost can't be beat then it is better to work with Mike to produce the FPGA Arcade in larger quantities (lowering the cost) than to compete against him.
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Just to be clear, there was no intention by ACube to belittle the work done by on Dennis van Weeren on original MiniMig design concept. The News Release has been modified to acknowledge Dennis' original design concept.
I'd like to complain that the news release was altered and now we have slightly less to nitpick and complain about. ;)
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@wawrzon
Are you always this cheerful?
Well, truth hurts.
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I look forward to the MiniMig Plus :hat:
Hope it will be pretty "fast" and working AGA...
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The MiniMig Plus is a different animal altogether.
Well done and good luck! :hammer:
I've been so busy lately I feel like I'm missing out on alot of things! Must find more time! :roflmao:
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I look forward to the MiniMig Plus :hat:
Hope it will be pretty "fast" and working AGA...
will that minimig plus be better, faster or more compatible than fpgaarcade or mist?
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will that minimig plus be better, faster or more compatible than fpgaarcade or mist?
Bah. These devices are all toys. If A-Eon can finish the Natami then I'll be really impressed! :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Bah. These devices are all toys. If A-Eon can finish the Natami then I'll be really impressed! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Equally impressive would be some nice new FPGA Accelerator cards with all the bells and whistles!
Hope your listening Guys ;-)
Chris
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Well, truth hurts.
So you're saying he's upset because of the truth?
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Altering the news release doesn't really mean much, the original release shows the real colours ;-)
Anyway, here is hoping something great comes out of all of this. Would love to be able to go down to the local store and pick up an Amiga again.
Don't see why this can't be achieved, plenty of other products have come back from the dead and retro and nostalgia is flavour of the month.
Stick it in a nice case like the X500 and in mini ITX format with fast FPGA, 060, DVI/HDMI, RTG running AmigaOS 3.9 with a custom theme and put it in toy stores at first and it would get lapped up.
There are so many projects out there that can achieve this.
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I don't mean to complain but suffering the truth now is better than suffering more later.
1) Most users don't want low end PPC hardware lacking Amiga custom chip compatibility.
2) Most users don't want to pay for high end low production custom PPC hardware.
3) Most users don't want more 68000+ECS hardware as we have plenty.
We want at least 68020+AGA+RTG, 128MB of memory and modern hardware I/O. Anything less is bringing out an inferior product to what is already available and I don't see the point. Many Amiga users and developers would like to see AmigaOS 3.x back in development and becoming more API compatible to other Amiga flavors like AmigaOS 4.x. Without cheap low end Amiga hardware, there will be fewer and fewer Amiga users and developers wanting high end hardware similar to what they are familiar with. That's game over for the Amiga.
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(Who, not whom, btw - "playing on the conscience" is the subject of the sentence.)
If you are to pretend you are a grammar nazi, at least learn to analyze sentences. ... "playing on conscience" is something I rather identify with another group, guess whom - (guess with which group, guess with whom).
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Matthey, you are aware that most Amiga users are running some version of UAE and are perfectly happy with that?
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.Stick it in a nice case like the X500 and in mini ITX format with fast FPGA, 060, DVI/HDMI, RTG running AmigaOS 3.9 with a custom theme and put it in toy stores at first and it would get lapped up.
And returned within a week as it does not run the software "most users" expect any computer to run. What you ask for already exists as much more capable and cheaper systems.
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The FPGA Arcade is the base standard now (68020+AGA+RTG) and if the spec or cost can't be beat then it is better to work with Mike to produce the FPGA Arcade in larger quantities (lowering the cost) than to compete against him.
Good greef no, leave MikeJ alone! ACube can grab his stuff when it is released, and do whatever the license allows them to.
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will that minimig plus be better, faster or more compatible than fpgaarcade or mist?
I don't know if the specification has been changed now, due to the cooperation, but one year ago (http://www.amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2014-04-00009-EN.html), the Minimig Plus was planned to equal an Amiga with 68030 CPU at 30 MHz. Furthermore it was intended to have space enough for an AGA core.
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Matthey, you are aware that most Amiga users are running some version of UAE and are perfectly happy with that?
They are? Really? You're getting this data from where?
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They are? Really? You're getting this data from where?
I think Kolla is right.
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I think Kolla is right.
I would really like to see Kolla for once post a link to some cold, hard facts. Not that I really care, but just for argument's sake. :lol:
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They are? Really? You're getting this data from where?
Everywhere. All my ex amiga friends have UAE installed on some sort of device, I do too, on several, as do many NG users too. WinUAE download numbers could be fun to look at. Sales numbers of AmigaForever. UAE4All, FS-UAE, eUAE... just the number of different UAE implementations hint at its popularity.
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And returned within a week as it does not run the software "most users" expect any computer to run. What you ask for already exists as much more capable and cheaper systems.
You've missed the point, as I mentioned Nostalgia and all things retro are the flavour of the month.
Just check out Steam and all the games emulating 8bit and 16bit style graphics, there are a lot of the new generations coming through that have an interest too.
Set it up with a menu front end with WHDLoad to play the Amiga back catalog and for those that want to delve further into what is an Amiga can.
I'm still blown away why kickstarter isn't being used as well, the exposure on there is far wider than a couple of Amiga forums.
To be honest most Amiga hobbyists seem to be scared that their little community will be invaded.
Too many naysayers and negative people in the Amiga scene. Anything new mentioned gets torn apart and developers move on.
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As for commenting on WinUAE vs real hardware one can't really make any statements without seeing facts and figures.
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If you are to pretend you are a grammar nazi, at least learn to analyze sentences. ... "playing on conscience" is something I rather identify with another group, guess whom - (guess with which group, guess with whom).
How appropriate, you fight like a cow! :)
(I disagree with your analysis of the grammar, but really it was just a counter to the "hooby level" comment ;))
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I don't know if the specification has been changed now, due to the cooperation, but one year ago (http://www.amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2014-04-00009-EN.html), the Minimig Plus was planned to equal an Amiga with 68030 CPU at 30 MHz. Furthermore it was intended to have space enough for an AGA core.
so it has no advantage in comparison to fpgaarcade or mist. i wonder why the interested people dont simply get an available devices instead of waiting up vague announcements. perhaps it is waiting and hoping, what enjoys them most.
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wow this sounds interesting maybe they have picked up the interesting for fpga classic amiga.
if they comes with a classic amiga (fpga) with updated hardware I WILL BUY ONE.
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Matthey, you are aware that most Amiga users are running some version of UAE and are perfectly happy with that?
I don't know about most but many are happy with UAE. I have UAE+AmiKit installed here on my used PC (<$100 U.S. but more powerful than any AmigaOS 4 hardware) and it is nice for some things but I still prefer my real Amiga which is not held hostage by a foreign OS (even with SMB networking setup between the Amiga and PC). I believe there would be a draw to hardware that is cheap and convenient (many people with a fast PC still use slower smart phones, tablets and netbooks) and enhancements to the Amiga custom chips and CPU would become difficult for UAE to emulate (MMU emulation already can't be used with UAE JIT for example).
I don't know if the specification has been changed now, due to the cooperation, but one year ago (http://www.amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2014-04-00009-EN.html), the Minimig Plus was planned to equal an Amiga with 68030 CPU at 30 MHz. Furthermore it was intended to have space enough for an AGA core.
The DragonBall CPU was mentioned but it is only a faster 68000. There are several problems with that...
1) Much AGA software assumes at least a 68020 CPU (AGA was never released with a 68000 CPU)
2) Much non-AGA software assumes at least a 68020 CPU
3) AmigaOS 3.1 was the last to support the 68000
4) Finding 68000 only versions of programs is a pain
5) The 68000 is old and much less efficient for complex programs and/or programs >64kB (huge size at the time of processors advancing from 8 to 16 bit)
I don't expect compatibility can be good with the DragonBall past the late '80s and ECS. The TG68 CPU in a large but older Cyclone III (like Majsta targets with his new accelerators) with CPU+chipset beats it and this is not expensive. It may even be cheaper to produce the board without the DragonBall although it could be used for I/O and menu operation (the DragonBalls may already be purchased).
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You guys are really a bunch of pissers.
OK, many of you want some weird continuation of your obsolete hardware.
I get that.
Personally, since legacy capability is easily emulated today, I couldn't care less.
It's amuzing that so many of you want to speak for "most of us".
I don't intend to do that, but I will throw in my two cents.
I LIKE what A-eon and Acube have managed to produce.
And I am throwing my spare change into NG.
Why? Because its forward thinking, as opposed to the bizzare idea of continuing to insist on register level compatible hardware, further development of the 68K processor, and trying to polish that dead turd OS 3.X.
Honestly, I can see mantaining classic hardware for its nostalgia value, but trying to update it at this point?
Sorry, that just seems silly.
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Honestly, I can see mantaining classic hardware for its nostalgia value, but trying to update it at this point?
Sorry, that just seems silly.
Well said. Certainly a valid opinion, as most of them are. I think the last, best chance for your final point came and went with Natami. :( My copy of OS 4.1 FE awaits time to play with it under some form of emulation, but I don't have time for the hardware I already own, let alone another system, right now. My heart will always lie with the classic systems, though, and I'm a sucker for spending any money on those that I can. When's that Prisma card coming out, again? Also, I sure would like a nice '060 for my A2000! :lol:
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My heart will always lie with the classic systems, though, and I'm a sucker for spending any money on those that I can. When's that Prisma card coming out, again? Also, I sure would like a nice '060 for my A2000! :lol:
Yes, wake me when we get there.
Chris
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Well said. Certainly a valid opinion, as most of them are. I think the last, best chance for your final point came and went with Natami. :( My copy of OS 4.1 FE awaits time to play with it under some form of emulation, but I don't have time for the hardware I already own, let alone another system, right now. My heart will always lie with the classic systems, though, and I'm a sucker for spending any money on those that I can. When's that Prisma card coming out, again? Also, I sure would like a nice '060 for my A2000! :lol:
OK, you might have me on the A2000 (after all, I keep one of those indestructable beasts myself).
And I wouldn't mind a better cpu than the '020 card I have in it.
But I'm not investing money in that.
And no matter how you cut it, legacy Amigas suck at web browsing (which is lately my primary use for a computer).
That said, if it was cheap enough, I'd probably play around with enhanced legacy hardware.
With the stipulation that that was exactly what I was doing, playing.
Its never going to be able to be brought up to even close to competitive with modern hardware.
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And no matter how you cut it, legacy Amigas suck at web browsing (which is lately my primary use for a computer).
Funny that you said that. I just rolled my chair over from browsing on my Amiga to my PC, just a moment ago. Have been tweaking some of the settings on my IBrowse and was considering posting a thread about it. I actually didn't even notice today's Google Doodle (for Sally Ride's birthday) until I opened up Google on my Amiga. I guess 'cause it is a little slower, forced me to actually look at it instead of just typing in my search query and away-I-go. ;)
I would pay good money for even a minor update to IBrowse. Yup, I've got SUCKER written all over my face, but I love it. It's my fun computer, worth every dime to have it here in my office next to all my work machines. :D
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Funny that you said that. I just rolled my chair over from browsing on my Amiga to my PC, just a moment ago. Have been tweaking some of the settings on my IBrowse and was considering posting a thread about it. I actually didn't even notice today's Google Doodle (for Sally Ride's birthday) until I opened up Google on my Amiga. I guess 'cause it is a little slower, forced me to actually look at it instead of just typing in my search query and away-I-go. ;)
I would pay good money for even a minor update to IBrowse. Yup, I've got SUCKER written all over my face, but I love it. It's my fun computer, worth every dime to have it here in my office next to all my work machines. :D
I would also pay good bucks for IBrowse Update... After 4 days, I just got my A1200 1B Mobo back in the case, everything buttoned back in & screwed together. This has been my Internet Miggy for years & sits on my desk in my bedroom - she's what I use each evening. Needed an emergency fix so I ripped the guts out of my old AT-A1200, transplanted the old Indi MKI into her and and I'm happy again. Just made this post from her. I'm Back Baby! LOL. NOW, I can get back to my beloved A2000... Yeah!
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I don't know about most but many are happy with UAE.
Indeed, so your statement..
Without cheap low end Amiga hardware, there will be fewer and fewer Amiga users and developers wanting high end hardware similar to what they are familiar with. That's game over for the Amiga.
is bogus, because we all, and many more with us, are keeping Amiga alive on UAE. If cool 68k hardware shows up, it is awesome, but emulation works fine too!
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I would also pay good bucks for IBrowse Update... After 4 days, I just got my A1200 1B Mobo back in the case, everything buttoned back in & screwed together. This has been my Internet Miggy for years & sits on my desk in my bedroom - she's what I use each evening. Needed an emergency fix so I ripped the guts out of my old AT-A1200, transplanted the old Indi MKI into her and and I'm happy again. Just made this post from her. I'm Back Baby! LOL. NOW, I can get back to my beloved A2000... Yeah!
That IS a seriously nicely expanded A2000.
I wish I could get my hands on a few of those pieces (since some of them are pretty rare, like that sound card).
Still, since flash ain't happening (in the Amiga world), I have to stick with Odyssey under MorphOS so that I can at least use HTML5 (funny, if I spoof an iPad I can usually get anything to run).
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is bogus, because we all, and many more with us, are keeping Amiga alive on UAE. If cool 68k hardware shows up, it is awesome, but emulation works fine too!
UAE is cool and I've even purchased and use Amiga Forever, but I really prefer a native system from a hardware hacker's veiwpoint. Much the same reasons I run linux on it's own platform instead of using something like cygwin. While I concede any serious Amiga "market share" out side of hobby is slim, I'd like to pursue options that might do more than just keep it alive. With so many options out there for developers, pulling in a lot interest for an older hosted OS seems limited. No harm intended, just my 2c.
Plaz