Conference 7.286::atarist

> 
> 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.
> 

Interesting that Steinberg announced that Cubase Audio (for ATARI) will be
available in fall. If they would support the Falcon with multi-channel hard
disk recording for...

> 
> Price?  It is rumored that the Falcon 030 will start at under $700.
> 
...this price I could imagine that they would get OUT of trouble real soon.

Thanks for posting, maybe I should get to D�sseldorf...

	Richard

I would like to know, if information are already been delivered by ATARI, 
if the FALCON has stereo audio in and out on the DSP ?

The purpose is to make a program that reads the input and plays with the 
sound in memory and then sends it back to the output, it should be easy 
because the DSP is a very fast CPU.

Patrick

    Bob Brodie said at the Connecticut Atarifest yesterday that Atari
    will start shipping the Falcon in North America in October (maybe
    earlier in Europe, but I wasn't paying much attention to that since I
    live in North America.)

    According to Brodie, the Falcon will be able to produce its impressive 
    graphics on the old Atari color monitors, and TT owners will be able to
    use their VGA monitors.  This means that I would not need to buy a new
    monitor if I bought a Falcon. 

    From his description of Multi-TOS, it appears that the user interface
    will resemble the Mac's Multi-Finder.  He said that Atari is debating
    internally on whether or not to support Multi-TOS for 68000 machines.
    Since that processor doesn't have the protections built into the
    hardware that the 68030 has, there is the danger that unsophisticated
    users who don't know that they have to watch what they do may create
    tasks that clobber their memory. 

    Brodie also hinted rather strongly that David Small is working on an
    on-board Mac emulator for the Falcon.

    He would not say what Atari's strategy will be with respect to the STe
    once the Falcon is released.

    -- Mike

    
    New informations about the FALCON:
    
    Processor           68030 with 16 Mhz
                        DSP with 33 Mhz
    Graphic             all ATARI ST modes
                        320 x 200 in 262000 Colors
                        640 x 480 in 256 Colors out of 262000 Colors
    Sound               Yamaha
                        Atari STE Soundfeatures like PCM 8-Bit Sound
                        8 Channel-Stereosound from DSP
    Build in            2 1/2 Harddisk with 40-100 MB capacity
    OS                  TOS (multiTOS wasn't implemented in the 
                             Testmachine!)
    Price               about $800-900 US
    Delivery            End of year, development machine are now
                        available from ATARI
    Interface           SCSI 
                        Monitor Plug for SM and VGA/EGA-Monitors
                        Two internal slots for expansions
    Memory              2-4 MB 
    
    
    It is possible to load digitized pictures from HD and play
    full Sound at the same time without any problems.
    
    RALF

    
    A blitter-chip is also build in!!! (with 16 Mhz-rate)
    
    The TOS-Version of the TEST-Machine was 2.6 which was
    modified for the extra features.
    
    RALF
    

    I remember a couple of other items from Bob Brodie's session at the
    Connecticut Atarifest.  One is that, at least in the U.S., the Falcon
    will come bundled with several items of software--I think a couple of
    games, and some productivity software as well.
    
    Also, Atari will be providing a CPX similar to Soundmaster on the Mac,
    and I am pretty sure Brodie said that it will even be able to read
    Soundmaster files. Now if that isn't a reason to buy a Falcon, I don't
    know what is.  :-)
    
    -- Mike

     
      Sounds like a great computer, but why the hell didn't they Use SIMMS?
    I can't believe they didn't use them... I read that they said something
    like "Simms too bulky..." that sounds like BS..
    
      (I just upgraded my 1040ste to 2 megs, easy to do, cheap 30.50 a 70ns
    simm, and the old 256k simms are still usable in an Ibm or other Atari)
    
    KR
    

Hi,
	Even just looking at the articles in STREPORT there are many conflicting
details. It has 4 or 8 sound channels, a blitter and no blitter, 24-bit colour 
and not! 2-4 Mb of RAM expandable to 16Mb. No HD but with a HD included...

	Don't forget this is at present a developer-only machine and as such 
just about everything is subject to change... it is already nearing the end of
the year and the machine is only in early development. Why not hold on rather
than getting all excited about things which may not arrive? Remember when
there were rife rumours that the STe would have 256 cols and God knows what
else. When it arrived it was a crock of crap!

	CBM are developing new technology to compete with the Falcon, however
they are being *very cagey* about details. Any rumours that do appear can
almost be disregarded by default. CBM's MD takes the viewpoint as expressed
above - that it is unfair to talk about things that *may not* appear. It IS
frustrating to not know ANY idea of things to come, but I feel /|\ take things
too far, you could surely reel off half a dozen machines that never came to
be from /|\ - I don't think this is the case with the Falcon but I do think
the specs may not appear "on the shelf" in a few months as they appear "on
paper" now.

								- JIM CAD*

    
    The details I've announced are from a ST-magazin in germany, which
    have tested the FALCON 030 official in a BETA-Version.
    (ATARI: The only difference between the endversion of the FALCON and
            the tested machine is the OS, which should be multiTOS instead
            of TOS 2.6)
    
    FALCON 030 is coming...... and all TT software (including UNIX) is
    running on it!!!  :-)
    
    
    RALF
     

    We aren't talking about rumors at this stage; Atari has officially
    released the specs on the Falcon.
    
    -- Mike

    All I know is that this is *very* reminiscent of the TT introduction. 
    Sure, maybe this time it will happen for real and by Christmas I might
    have a Falcon sitting on my desk but I doubt it.  All it really does is
    totally screw up my plans for expansion!  I was looking at a Mega STe
    but now my impulse is to sit and wait rather than spend money on the
    wrong box.
    
    						Brian

Okay, differing views. If the specs are released specs, what are the correct
specs which have been divided between sources? e.g. is the Truecolour mode
a goner, if not is it 262,000 cols or 16.7 mill? What is the top-end RAM, I ask
since I think 4Mb is pathetic for a 8 or 24 bit-per pixel system. Is there a
(separate) blitter? I ask this as I thought the DSP would be using library
routines to do the gfx work.

�CBM...

I think we should all be happy to welcome exciting new "hobbyist" machines, I
was beginning to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat when I had
had a dream about a PC only market! :-) Don't forget that CBM's marketing &
strategy can't have been that bad for the Amiga{whatever} to stifle the ST
as it has, even though it cost more, CBM will know as much about the 030 as
we do so competitive architecture (AA chipset) must be on the way. 
Even in the UK the /|\ has completelty dwindled. Anyway, enough of
that!!!! The STe was arse, the Falcon looks exciting stuff again! :-) The new
Amigas will be too. There is a new low-end Archimedes just launched too! It's
gonna be fun to be different (non-PC) once again!

								- JIM CAD*

    
    The Falcon have a seperated BLITTER with 16 Mhz, and the DSP
    can separatly programmed to run their own programms!!!
    
    The max. colors are 262144 not 16,7 millions, the videomemory is in
    the conventional memory area (like the ST) and the max. RAM capacity
    is 16 MB (the Falcon 040 can access 64MB of ram).
    
    All customchips (Blitter, DSP and SCSI-Adaptor) are working with DMA!
    
    Is that the answers you want? 8-)
    
    
    RALF

Thanks!

BTW - this reminds me, I plan to do my 4th year project on custom chips,
co-processors and the theories and thinking behind faster processors vs.
custom chips etc...

If anyone has any input to this re: the DSP chip etc., or even the old ST
architecture - (as I plan to use the Amiga ECS chipset as a "case-history")
then please e-mail me at the above address...

GRrrr... I got into one of those "Yes, but PCs were never intended to use
Windows, and they need HDs that large because, and they batter the CPU because
... " type arguments yesterday... (will people ever be a little adventurous?).

								- JIM CAD*

The following USENET article, dated Aug 18, originated from Gerhard
Bayer. He doesn't mention the source, but it appears to be an Atari
advertisement for its new FALCON 030, and as such makes for interesting
reading. I've corrected several spelling errors and reformatted it to fit
within 72 columns.
                      Don Peters
=========================================================================== 

Made for the Real World: A Personal Media System
------------------------------------------------
 
Most computer manufacturers seem to think that the real world is black &
white, or drawn from a limited palette of colors. That sounds are nothing
more than lo-fi noises. And that the real world consists of people who
don't care about cost, compatibility of new machines with older software,
or "improved" operating systems that cause problems instead of solve them
(and who never need to work on more than one task at a time).
 
At Atari, we know better. Atari's world includes a vision in which
advanced technology meets cost-effective production to create not just a
great computer, but a great personal media system. We built the Atari
Falcon030 as a personal media system for the real world - a world with
vibrant colors, crystal-clear sound, and people who want a computer to
make their lives easier, not harder.  Our personal media system allows
manipulation of video, audio, text, animation and telecommunications -
easily and affordably on a quality home system.  Atari's personal media
system for consumers is what multimedia systems should be for
businesspeople.
 
The Atari Falcon030 is a "musical instrument". A "special F/X optical
bench" for video. A better-than-CD-quality "digital recorder". An
electronic canvas with more than a quarter million possible colors. A
graphics workstation.  An animation studio. A multimedia production
center. An unflagging helpmate around the house. An experience that
you've never experienced before.
 
Simply stated, the Atari Falcon030 is the first system that makes
personal media possible. Here's why.
 
Proven Technology, Proven Software
----------------------------------
 
The Atari Falcon030's heart is a Motorola 68030 processor (the same
blazingly fast chip used in computers other companies sell for thousands
more). It's teamed with a 32MHz Motorola 56001 Digital Signal Processor
and a special Atari custom chipset that delivers state-of-the-art audio
quality for music, speech, or special effects. With most computers, this
kind of extraordinary audio capability is an expensive add-on (if it's
available at all). But in a personal media system, we design in quality
audio from the beginning. The Atari Falcon030 delivers audio power
without the price.
 
For video, the Atari Falcon030 doesn't just offer Super VGA graphics, but
also true color 16-bit mode (up to 640x480 resolution and up to 65,536
on-screen colors). It accepts external video sync for high-quality
genlock, and - thanks to a unique overlay mode - makes titling and
special effects a breeze.  Graphics are fast, too, because of a
dedicated, high-speed graphics coprocessor chip. Unlike computers that
require costly (and sometimes temperamental) optional hardware to do
pro-level video, the Atari Falcon030 already includes what you need.
 
This level of integration and performance is what you'd expect from a
company that has been making personal technology products since 1985.
Yet, as the Atari Falcon030 looks forward to the new generation of
creativity and productivity, it hasn't forgotten the past. It will run
virtually all programs for the industry-standard Atari St (as Europe's #1
computer during the '80's, a vast selection of pro-level ST programs are
already available). But that's not all:  there's standard MS-DOS file
compatibility, and a wealth of ports for communicating with existing
peripherals - as well as optional soon-to-be-released '386 PC emulation,
or, Macintosh emulation, and several other exciting new types of
peripherals planned for the future. In short, Atari has combined all of
the ingredients for a true personal media system for use at home - or at
the office.
 
A Sound Investment
------------------
 
MIDI is the world-wide standard that allows technology products to
communicate with today's musical instruments, recording devices, and
stage lighting. Atari made the first computer to offer a built-in MIDI
interface, which for all other computers requires an extra card or
external box. Now Atari has upped the ante by adding the next logical
step: integrated, high-quality digital audio. Whether you're a musician
in need of digital audio recording or synthesis, a video production, an
executive who saves time with voice mail messages, or a speech therapist
rehabilitating children, the Atari Falcon030's digital audio
capabilities can provide the answer to your needs.
 
Yet even that just scratches the surface. Digital Signal Processing can
produce special effects such as reverberation or echo, and hook into your
home entertainment system to provide options like synthesized concert
hall ambience.  Professional-quality speech compression and
decompression, also available out of the box, are essential tools for
those who need to fit sound to picture. For digital recording, the Atari
Falcon030 handles 8 discrete tracks at a time, without add-on boards or
issues of compatibility. Between MIDI, digital recording, and
multitasking, the Atari Falcon030 provides the same - if not superior
functionality to digital recording systems costing literally thousands of
$ more.
 
A Colorful Sight
----------------
 
Artists can never have enough colors. That's why the Atari Falcon030 can
display more than 65,000 colors from a palette of 262,144 colors, and all
of this can - if needed - be genlocked to professional video equipment.
Corporate presentations take on astounding vibrancy. New vistas open up
for the electronic artist. Programs become more intuitive, thanks to the
sophisticated use of color. And entertainment - well, let's just say
you've never seen this kind of richness before on any system. You no
longer have to settle for anything less than a virtual rainbow of color.
 
The Fun Factor
--------------
 
The best tools should be fun to use, and the Atari Falcon030 is just
that.  Already, major software developers are so excited about this
stunning personal media system that they've committed to providing
programs that take advantage of the Atari Falcon030's ground-breaking
capabilities, we're not just talking ports from other platforms. You
think you've seen flight simulators before ?  Just wait.
 
The Atari Falcon030 finally delivers on the promise of a true personal
media system for the home - that's equally comfortable adding
surround-sound to your VCR, delivering interactive education, running a
home security system, or simply providing entertainment after a day's
work.
 
Power Without the Price
-----------------------
 
Atari is dedicated to bringing high technology into the real world, for
real people. We don't charge more than we need to just because we can get
away with it. Our audience is not pinstripe clones or "blind lemmings",
but those everyday users who want powerful, efficient, cost-effective
tools.
 
The Atari Falcon030 has been years in the making. It marries the business
experience we've gained with the Mega and TT line, the musical edge that
the ST series has always had, and the incredible color and speed that
remain the hallmark of our video game technology. From these three
apparently divergent sources, we've crafted a platform that's ready for
your most challenging creative tasks - where color and sound blend
seamlessly into a system that can truly be any kind of personal, creative
tool you want.

Some people have already commented on what Bob Brodie said at the
Connecticut Atarifest that took place last weekend. I've just reviewed
the notes I took while he spoke and hopefully I can pass along some new
information.

  - the RAM board holds a max of 14 Megabytes, and is not proprietary
    in its design. Atari used a board since they could squeeze more
    memory on the Falcon than if they had just used SIMMS.

  - There is supposed to be a 1 Meg machine available. But, since the
    operating system takes 2 Meg, I asked how a 1 Meg machine was
    possible. He didn't know the technical details on this.

  - Developer DSP documentation is shipping "this Thursday"

  - Atari hopes to avoid the 3 month long lead time for FCC certification
    by going thru an independent lab. One of their people has said that
    the Falcon030 "should" pass without any problem, and this is why they
    expect to have machines for the USA by mid to late October.

  - 32Mhz operation is not possible, according to Atari. But Brodie did
    say that other developers (e.g., Jim Allen) have surprised them and
    made the hardware perform faster...

  - The SC1224 will be able to handle 16 bit "true color"

  - He gave a hint that later machines might have a 68040 processor.

  - The mouse port is still under the case, as in the 1040 series.

  - Marketing info and price will be announced at the Duesseldorf fair.

  - 75 Falcons are now in the hands of developers.

  - Mac-formatted sound files can be used (they did this with a disk of
    Star-Trek sounds, associating the "transporter" sound with the
    opening of a window!)

  - As to a question as to what would be the new bottom line computer
    after the Falcon was released: "No comment".

  - If anyone wants more technical info on the Falcon030, contact Bill
    Rehbock at Atari (Voice: 408-745-2082, Fax: 408-745-2083).


On other matters:

  - Atari's new policy is to use Bitstream fonts.

  - The ST Book is being redesigned for more memory and a new screen, and
    should be out the first quarter of 93.

  - The GE service deal is still getting going.

    
    the operating system takes 2MB main memory??? How come? I heard that
    MultiTOS will be available by the end of this year in Germany in ROMs,
    and that they use .5 MB ROM for MultiTOS. Also that you can put the
    new ROMs with an adapter in Megas and Mega STEs too. I've seen first
    pictures from the Falcon test machine with the new OS, giving you a
    Windows-like 3D-feeling (or more the lookalike of Motif...). I know 
    that I'll put that into my STE!
    
    Bernd
     

What are BITSTREAM fonts? Are they like the Compugraphic Outline fonts under
AmigaOS 2?

								- JIM CAD*

BitStream is a font foundry in Cambridge, Massachusetts that markets
fonts in various formats, including their own.  I've visited their plant
- they do good work.  They make fonts compatible with the ones in Adobe
Postscript that can be used in Postscript language clones, such as
Ultrascript. 

Article: 51740
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
From: [email protected] (Vinay Julapalli Rao)
Subject: Falcon Resolutions
Sender: [email protected] (News)
Organization: Rice University
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 01:00:08 GMT
 
The following message describes the resolution modes on the Falcon 030:
 
 
Resolutions available on the Atari Falcon030
(c) 1992 Atari Corp. Written by John Townsend
=========================================================================
This document may be re-printed again and again as long as the Atari
copyright remains intact.
=========================================================================
 
A couple of notes: Unlike previous machines, there are just too many
resolutions to give each resolution a name. Therefore, I will do my best to
describe what the resolution is and which monitor it is on.
 
 - NOTE: TV and a Color Monitor are the same.. by Color Monitor, I am
   talking about the standard SC1224. By VGA, I mean a standard VGA
   Monitor.
 
40 column modes ( "column" means the number of x pixels divided by 8)
---------------
   4 color,  normal, TV:         320x200,    4 colors, 2 planes
  16 color,  normal, TV:         320x200,   16 colors, 4 planes
 256 color,  normal, TV:         320x200,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, normal, TV:         320x200,  true color
   4 color,  interlace, TV:      320x400,    4 colors, 2 planes
  16 color,  interlace, TV:      320x400,   16 colors, 4 planes
 256 color,  interlace, TV:      320x400,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, interlace, TV:      320x400,  true color
 
   4 color,  normal, VGA:        320x480,    4 colors, 2 planes
  16 color,  normal, VGA:        320x480,   16 colors, 4 planes
 256 color,  normal, VGA:        320x480,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, normal, VGA:        320x480,  true color
   4 color,  line-doubling, VGA: 320x240,    4 colors, 2 planes
  16 color,  line-doubling, VGA: 320x240,   16 colors, 4 planes
 256 color,  line-doubling, VGA: 320x240,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, line-doubling, VGA: 320x240,  true color
 
80 column modes
---------------
   2 color,  normal, TV:         640x200,    2 colors, 1 plane
   4 color,  normal, TV:         640x200,    4 colors, 2 planes
  16 color,  normal, TV:         640x200,   16 colors, 4 planes
 256 color,  normal, TV:         640x200,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, normal, TV:         640x200,  true color
   4 color,  interlace, TV:      640x400,    4 colors, 2 planes
  16 color,  interlace, TV:      640x400,   16 colors, 4 planes
 256 color,  interlace, TV:      640x400,  256 colors, 8 planes
 True color, interlace, TV:      640x400,  true color
 
   2 color, normal, VGA:         640x480,    2 colors, 1 plane
   4 color, normal, VGA:         640x480,    4 colors, 2 planes
  16 color, normal, VGA:         640x480,   16 colors, 4 planes
 256 color, normal, VGA:         640x480,  256 colors, 8 planes
   4 color, line-doubling, VGA:  640x240,    4 colors, 2 planes
  16 color, line-doubling, VGA:  640x240,   16 colors, 4 planes
 256 color, line-doubling, VGA:  640x240,  256 colors, 8 planes
 
and lastly.. there are compability modes for ST Low, ST Medium, and ST High on
both VGA monitors and SC1224 monitors. (On a color monitor, ST High is
achieved by using the interlace mode).
 
Also, the ST Monochrome monitor (the SM124) will work with Falcon030 as well.
However, it only supports one resolution: ST High Resolution.
 
All modes on a TV can be overscanned. This means multiplying the X and Y
resolution by 1.2. For example, modes with 320 pixels of horizontal resolution
(X res) will become 384 pixels across, and modes with 640 pixels will become
768 across. Overscanning is done in the X and Y resolution. You can't do them
independently. Special Note: On a VGA monitor, overscan is "faked".. since the
video hardware doesn't have the capability to do overscan on a VGA monitor, we
made it so that if a overscan mode is set on a VGA monitor, you still see the
normal size screen, but the screen is a window onto the bigger overscanned
image. Make sense? We did this for compatibility. This way if a game that has
an overscanned starup picture can use the same pic on both the VGA monitor and
the TV monitor. Pretty cool, eh? <grin>
 
BTW.. Overscan can NOT be set from the desktop. The AES and Desktop will work
just fine with it, but because you can't see the parts of the screen, we
thought that that option shouldn't be available from the desktop. We don't
want to confuse people. However, Overscan can be set using a new XBIOS call
(Vsetmode()).. so it is still available.
 
I hope I haven't made any mistakes. I triple-checked this document in search
of errors and I couldn't find any. If you do find some, send me Email on GEnie
(to TOWNS) or CIS (70007,1135) and let me know.
 
-- John Townsend, Atari Corp.
 
PS. Anyone would would like to reprint this message, please do so!
    The smaller the number of times I have to type that message, the
    more my fingers with thank you! ;-)
 
    After looking at this one more time.. one point to clear up: By
    saying SC1224 Color Monitor, I mean any Color Monitor that Atari
    have manufactured for the ST/Mega/STE/MegaSTE computers. Clear
    as mud? ;-)
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,
	I hope you hold an interest in Amiga developments as I do in /|\ things!
Not to start an argument, merely FYI - the Amiga4000 is shown publicly on
Sept 12, this DOES have the AA chipset which will no doubt appear in 2 other
new machines in the next few months. First thoughts re: .-1 specs are that
AA will offer similar, "semi-solid" rumours state up to 1280*800 in 256 cols
out of 16.7 million. The difference between CBM & /|\ gfx appears to be in
the use of true colour. This, I must say, is a very nice feature on the Falcon,
the AA provides it's version by a new HAM mode to display 16.7 mill colours.
These "rumours" are borne out by AdPro's support for 64, 128, 256 col modes, and
"HAM8"...
	The crux is that Sept 12 AA details will probably be set, so Falcon030
and "fortchcoming Amigas" can be compared/contrasted. Ahhhh, just like 1986
again! :-)

	Another small FYI - new low-end Archimedes announced but no details 
forthcoming in volume, however apparently no increase in resolutions/colours :-(

	I will post details of AA chipset when they become available FYI, 
moderators - if this is inappropriate let me know! I don't wish to stir, I am
interested in Falcon too! :-)

								- JIM CAD*

Well, I'm sure many of you know anyway, but the details of the AGA chipset for
Amigas became real at the World Of Commodore, Pasadena. In a nutshell:

4X the ECS bandwidth! =

256 colours in ANY resolution: 320*256/512 -> 640*256/512 -> 1280*256/512
HAM8 mode for 256,000+ cols in any resolution as above
New VGA modes 640*480, non-interlaced
800*300/600 mode too.
Full 24-bit palette.
New sprites, now 16/32 or 64 pix wide, unlimited height 16 cols, and resolution
independent of screen mode.

WB3.0! Many, many new features (too many to detail), but OS can handle animation
in any mode at 60fps, i.e. much greater OS support for smooth animation,
apps can "share" portions of the 256 colours on WB... etc... new tools/Prefs.

Also Engineering VP talked of next chipsets, lo-end and high-end. Honestly,
these were PHENOMENAL, 72Hz-100Hz refresh, full 24-bit Truecolour, capable of
using one blitter PER BITPLANE, 4Mb floppy, 8 channel 16-bit sound @ 100KHz !
These are almost in working silicon now... E-mail me for full details if you'd
like.

The AGA chips are currently only in A4000, but cpu is modular so '020/'030
models will probably appear, also low-end '020 AGA planned. 16-bit sound around
the corner, DSP support (proper DSP, not 56K I believe) etc...

My advice on the Falcon would be to wait and see one before you buy, many
feelings are rising that it is not as fast as an '030 should warrant, mainly
because the gfx chips share the same bus as the CPU (:-) ). I will personally
wait a few months to see how CBM, /|\ and Acorn's machines shape up....

								- JIM CAD*

Article: 53231
From: [email protected] (Steven Selick)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Boston Computer Society shows Falcon 030!
Date: 24 Sep 92 02:29:24 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Computer Science Department, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
 
 
Well, I just got back from downtown Boston, where the Boston Computer
Society gave the first public appearance of the Falcon 030 to the public
(me). I forgot a notepad, so these notes are direct from the back of
business cards...please bear with me if I get a name mispelled... :-)
 
Bob Brodie started off the meeting, and immediately introduced Sam
Tramiel after some boring business. Sam spoke for a bit on the history
of Atari, and such, and then brought out Richard Miller, the head of the
Falcon development team. He went into all of the gory details of the
guts of the machine, all of which have already been confirmed numerous
times already on the net.
 
Perhaps the most exciting part of the night was when they announced
several software packages that will be bundled with every falcon...
 
Falcon 2d2 - software from Atari to start using the 8 channel direct to
disk stuff immediately when you get your machine! Yeah Atari!!! We saw a
brief demo of this program...very impressive!
 
System Audio Manager - attach sampled sounds to any system command,
including a different sound for each key (note that these are handled by
the dsp chip and do not detract from normal operations!)
 
Audio Fun Machine - This is a cute dsp program to show the capabilities
of the dsp chip for sound processing. It does reverbs, and a DISTORTION!
Very cool little program.
 
Calapt - calendar/appointment utility
ProCalc - Calculator prog
Talking Clock - you figure it out!
 
2 GAMES especially designed to show off the Falcon!
Land Mines and Breakout!
 
The prices they gave were consistant with net postings...$799 for the 1
meg, and 1,299 for the 4 meg/65 meg version.
 
These items are direct from Sam Tramiel:
 
November - start shipping first units
December shipping in quantity (for x-mas I suppose...)
January - relief quantities for backorders will be shipped.
 
Then came the q/a section, and some interesting facts came out...
 
There are osciliscope programs using the dsp in the works...do fft's and
all on your waveforms in "near real time"
 
They played a Tina Turner video made in Australia of "You're the Best".
3 minute video took 100 meg of hard drive space which included video &
audio. They used a 14 meg machine, and said it would not yet work on a 4
meg machine, but they have a compression algorithm in the works that may
make it work...they also said the video was 24 frames per second.
 
A company called Sack in Germany has a functioning 386sx board ready for
production. 
 
 
Sam Tramiel said that "NeXT developers are coming to us and asking for
developement systems because they expect that we will sell more falcons
in 1 month than NeXT sells in a year! ... We sure hope so!"
 
He also said that Amiga developers, unimpressed with the 4000 are also
coming to Atari for development kits.
 
He said the Jaguar would be out in the summer of 93, and would not
comment on it further because this was a "Falcon meeting"
 
They forgot the multitasking os disk...typical...
 
The roms will have different languages burned right in them to allow
Atari to ship computers to different countries with the same roms. The
disk will be for "minor updates, and language specific material"
whatever that means. The roms will be 4 meg worth!
 
The Falcon will actuall display ST monochrome mode on a standard SC1224
color monitor!  In total, they said that the Falcon supports over 130
different screen modes and resolutions.
 
At the end, they played a complete sample of Boston's "Foreplay/Long
Time". Sampled at 50 khz, it took 96 meg of hard drive space. 
 
They also mentioned that Atari was working on software modules to read
and write different floppy disk formats, including the mac GCR! Somebody
asked if Dave Small had spectre working yet, and Sam Tramiel responded
"Well...I saw him in our offices last week..." but did not know what he
had accomplished yet. 
 
When asked why they chose the 16 mhz 68030 instead of a faster one, Sam
Tramiel said that with all of the separate processing centers (68030,
dsp, blitter, optional co-processor, etc) that they felt the machine to
be comprable to machines with faster "workhorse processors that have to
handle everything". He said much faster machines would be appearing
"very shortly".
 
Well, that's enough typing for me for one night...That's all I can
remember. Oh...they gave away a falcon as a door prize, and I didn't
win it...darn!
 
Enjoy,
-Steve <[email protected]>

Steven Selick did an excellent job of reporting on the introduction of the
Falcon 030 at the recent meeting of the Boston Computer Society. I was also
there, and have a few additional comments.

  - there were about 125 in attendance in the hall

  - there was one Falcon in the lobby demoing a MIDI application. The
    fellow using it said he was from Dr. T, and just got the machine
    two days ago. It had 4 meg.

  - there were 3 Falcons near the front stage. All looked like production
    machines.

  - the term "personal integrated media" was mentioned several times, and
    will probably be used many times in the future by Atari

  - speedwise, the Falcon is equivalent to a 25-30Mhz 386 machine

  - a 19.2K bps modem is now being implemented for the Falcon

  - with a box, the Falcon will be able to do CD photo applications
    (nothing on who will make the box or what will be in it)

  - one of the demos shown on the projection screen was a 20 channel
    equalizer. Bill Rehbock was adjusting the channels in real time so
    the adjustment effect could be heard.

  - the two games to come bundled with the Falcon, Land Mines and Breakout,
    will utilize true color mode

  - voice mail (from a NeXT programmer) and video phone applications
    "are coming"

  - James Grunke mentioned that after spending $400 on a monitor and $800
    for an adapter, one could use all 8 stereo channels at once, making
    the cost about $300 per channel. (assumes a $1300 Falcon)

  - why only 16 bits for true color? They felt 16 bits was sufficient and
    challenged anyone to see the difference between it and 24 bits
    in real world images

  - Atari will "definitely" have a US 800 number for user help (didn't
    say when though)

  - a little box to interface the DSP to the phone line is being
    developed, and should be available by the first quarter of 93

  - in many respects the Falcon is more powerful than the Video Toaster,
    containing 98% of its functionality. The cost of the Falcon plus
    any associated software/hardware will be less in cost than the
    Video Toaster itself.

  - a 1 Meg Falcon is a viable system, since the operating system takes
    only a small amount of RAM (from Bill Rehbock) (he didn't say how
    much, but I believe he did use the word "miniscule".

  - 386DX and 386SX boards are now being worked on in Germany (I think
    he said 486 also)

  - the Spectre board will fit within the Falcon, for those who are
    worried about the lack of an external drive

  - the Falcon docs, with DSP info, are available to anyone for $80 -
    just send the check to Atari

  - the Motorola DSP assembler and linker is being shipped to Falcon
    developers

  - video recording will be possible with external hardware (they said it
    would have taken too much extra hardware to include direct video
    input on the Falcon)

  - the audience was generally passive during the presentation, but the
    Tina Turner video was so impressive that it got a round of applause
    (no, you can't get it - its heavily copyrighted we were told)

  - Bill Rehbock, one of Atari's Falcon technical experts, mentioned to
    me that he has a Compuserve account and generally manages to answer
    his mail every nite

At the end of the formal presentation, everyone gathered near the front
stage to see the 3 Falcons doing a slide show in true color. One monitor,
an Atari 1435, looked especially good. One slide of a baby surrounded by
stuffed animals looked so good I was tempted to reach out and touch the
fuzz!

In summary, yes I was impressed, and I plan to buy one when they are
generally available (a developer friend of mine already has his order
in).

And no, I didn't win the Falcon door prize either (sigh...)

Hi folks !

The German (!!!)  KEYBOARDS magazine has a lengthy article (10-15 pages) about
the Falcon and it's MIDI/Audio capabilities for musicians.

Everything sounds very promising. Especially with the 386/486 add-on one could
have the best of both worlds.

	Richard

    Hands-on review of a Falcon from USENET.
    
From: [email protected] (William Magro)
Subject: First Falcon030 impressions
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 09:04:09 GMT
 
WHAT FOLLOWS IS AN EXAUSTIVE REPORT OF MY FIRST HAND DEALINGS WITH A  
FALCON030.  MOVE ON IF YOU DON'T LIKE LONG POSTS!
 
Well, I got my hands on a Falcon030 which I get to keep for two days, so I  
stayed up until 6am, and ran it through all the tests I could think of.  I  
set it up next to my ST and ran some 'real world' benchmarcks against the  
ST.  I tried all the software I could find (mostly PD and shareware and  
demoware, as I don't own much commercial stuff except games). I was able  
to borrow a copy of wordflair and of wordperfect from a friend, and I  
tried out our User Group's copy of PageStream.
 
We first hooked it up to a SC1224 through the 'ST Monitor Adaptor Block.'   
This plug converts the 19 pin monitor out (which is a non-standard pinout)  
to either an SM124 or SC1224 (or other ST monitors).  We were able to do  
640x4?0 or so interlaced (which is icky) in true color.  The machine has a  
nice slide show program which was displaying TARGA 24bit files (in 16  
bits) in interesting ways.  Nice scrolling and unrolling and fade effects  
were used to move from picture to picture.  I think the machine was in  
320x200 true color mode for these displays, but the picture was near photo  
quality.
 
You can see the slowdown of the machine when running the desktop in  
640x4?0 true color, but the machine was still relatively quick.  We were  
able to do all the modes (color and ST 640x480 mono) on the SC1224.  The  
mono mode didn't look all that good, because of 'moiring' apparently due  
to the not-so-fine shadow mask on the SC1224.
 
The sound was impressive as advertised.  There is a program called System  
Audio Manager (or SAM) which allows you to assign keys to all gem events.  
I put opening and closing file drawer sounds on my opening and closing  
windows.  The internal speaker is really LOUD!  I kept waking my wife up  
when the machine said 'Welcome to Atari Falcon oh-thirty' at startup.   
Unfortunately, the Sound control panel didn't save my volume preference  
correctly, so the volume was always set to 14 after a reboot. 
 
The machine I am using is supposedly an 'engineering sample', with German  
keyboard and PAL RF modulator (so I couldn't use my TV).  It is loaded,  
with the 65meg internal hard drive and 14Meg of RAM.  I wanted to open it  
up to see how everything is laid out, but it isn't mine, so I didn't.  The  
machine has an internal fan and the hard drive is quite quiet.
 
The external SCSI-II connector is a standard 50 pin mini 'Honda'  
connector, found on SUN and DEC and NeXT equipment.  So, neither your  
current SCSI cable nor a Mac SCSI cable will work.  Unfortunately these  
cables cost $250 from Sun and $80 from third party vendors.  I happened to  
have an extra DEC cable at work, so I borrowed it for the night.  I took  
an extra Seagate ST577N 65 meg drive I have and formatted it with ICD  
utilities on my ST.  I changed the address to SCSI 0 (the manual says your  
SCSI hard disks MUST be in order starting at zero), and booted the falcon.   
The memory test came up, the IDE driver recognized the internal drive and  
identified it as an ST9077A drive, the SCSI driver recognized my ST577N  
and printed its name, then said 'SCSI 1 not responding...' and booted the  
desktop.  The drive came up fine, and I was able to try out various  
programs.
 
I first ran QuickIndex (which was on the internal drive) and got the  
following results:
 
Test                      Machine compared to
                     STe           TT            ST
=====================================================
CPU Memory           471%          66%           471%
    Register         402           49            402
    Divide           504           49            504
    Shifts          1737           49           1737
DMA 64k Read        3533         6099           3996 <-this test looks
                                                       wrong!
Gemdos files        3575         3575           3575
 
TOS Text             118           53            127
    String           145           69            153
    Scroll           158           59            210
GEM Dialog           130           72            186
=====================================================
 
I have never used QuickIndex before, so I don't know whether these numbers  
seem reasonable.  The DMA read certainly looks incorrect.
 
Next, I wanted to check out the new keyboard controller that is supposed  
to be quick enough for 300dpi mice.  I plugged in my Golden Image 300dpi  
mouse and moved it quickly; the pointer still goes crazy on the screen.   
Evidently, this early machine does not have the new chip or the new chip  
still isn't fast enough for my mouse.
 
Other notes of interest:  The machine was running the new TOS 4.01 with  
three dimensional buttons and 'animated' icons--icons change when you  
select them instead of inverting.  Often, when I rebooted after a crash  
using control-alt-delete the machine would get confused and make LOUD  
repeating key click noises until I hit a key.  The floppy activity light  
now lights when either the internal HD or the floppy is in use.  I had no  
trouble reading and writing floppies from my ST or from an IBM.  The case  
cutout for the 1.44 meg floppy is now rectangular, so drive swapouts  
should be easy.  The machine was labeled as a german falcon, with german  
keyboard and 240 Volt input.  I plugged it into a 120V outlet, though, and  
it worked fine.  Either it has an autoswitching supply (like macs) or  
someone replaced the power supply with a US model.  Support for all  
international keyboard layouts was in ROM.  I was able to click on 'US'  
and have my keyboard mapped the QUERTY way instead of QUERTZ, which is how  
the keys were labeled.  I was disappointed that the keyboard is very  
similar to the original ST keyboard.  It is slightly improved over the  
ST's 'mushy' feel, but it is a long way from the feel of sun/next/mac  
keyboards, which I prefer.  The computer came with a 220 page user manual,  
which was extremely well written, considering Atari's flyers for the ST  
Book and MegaSTe which contain spelling and grammatical errors as well as  
typos (VERY unprofessional).  It seems they hired a new, more careful  
technical writer.  The manual is fairly complete and includes pinouts for  
all the back side ports except the television port.  Surprisingly, there  
are no instructions for connecting a TV in the manual.
 
I have a multisync, but the machine did not come with the required 'VGA  
adaptor block', so I couldn't plug it in.  I tried using my multisync->ST  
cable, but it didn't work.  Some experimentation revealed that the problem  
was in the composite sync.  The problem is in my multisync, not the  
falcon, I believe.  
 
I only have an SM124 at home (which the Falcon handled perfectly), so all  
the following information applies to a Falcon030 running from an ST577N  
(~570k/sec) drive on the SCSI-II bus (except where noted), on a mono  
monitor.  The other machine is a 1040STf TOS 1.4 with a slloooww maxtor  
mfm drive (~370k/sec).
 
 
Here are programs that I tested that functioned correctly:
==========================================================
Calamus 1.09 demo
AKS (a beer barrel warehouse game)
Freeze Dried Terminal
Invision Elite (demo) (cool startup screen went by so fast i couldn't see
                       it)
Mono 'Shifter demo' (old demo.  ran much faster than on my ST!, but hung
                     the machine on the last bit)
Uniterm
Sticker3 diskette label program
Sudden View (demo)  (wow! this one surprised me.  It worked perfectly and
                     was FAST!)
1st word
Infocom games
CAD 3D
PuzzlePuzzle puzzle game
Printmaster
Psion Chess
Megaroids (timing was still correct!)
Pagestream 2.2 (still painfully slow at four times faster than an ST!)
CSTeX
WordFlair
 
 
These programs failed (usually hanging the machine):
====================================================
Spectre 3.0 (didn't even make it to the main setup screen, handing after
             the 'Hard disks do not match saved info...' message.)
Redacteur (demo) (half works then hangs the machine)
Patience (solitaire cards)
 
 
I did various timings on the kinds of operations I do frequently: file  
copying, TeX, and archiving/unarchiving.  I found some a few surprising  
results.  In general the falcon was much faster at graphics (such as  
screen redraws) and comparable or slower in disk operations.  The slow  
desktop copy time may be due to settings of the hard disk driver.  The  
Falcon030 was using Atari Hard Disk Driver 6.0.3.  I don't know whether a  
cache was enabled or not.  On my ST I use ICD software with fairly large  
read and write caches.  The slowness in the Falcon seemed to be due to FAT  
lookups on the nearly full 65 meg SCSI drive (one partition).  Here are  
some tests and some timings:
 
 
Test                            Time in US units (I don't know metric)
                                    Falcon030               ST TOS 1.4
=======================================================================
initex latexg.ini and dump           2:20                      2:05
latexg.fmt file
 
latex atari.tex document from        1:30                      1:55
CSTeX distribution
 
Copy CSTeX directory                30:00                      7:15
(6.1 Meg in 714 files).
Falcon had 'fast' ST577N, ST had
'slow' mfm drive.
 
Scroll Calamus demo document         1:03                      2:29
(with space shuttle graphic) from
top to bottom at 500% magnification.
 
Scroll same document a screen at a   0:08                      0:19
time (using scroll bar) at 999%.
 
Both systems running MiNT:           0:45                      0:51
zoo a paula.zoo paula/*
 
Still under MiNT:
zoo xp paula.zoo > /dev/null         0:07                      0:13
 
Under MiNT, archive my whole MiNT   16:45                     24:02
directory.
zoo a mint.zoo mint/*
=======================================================================
 
My overall impression of the machine is very positive.  The all in one  
case design was not so annoying since the hard drive was internal.  I  
would still prefer a separate keyboard with a better feel.  It is a shame  
the machine isn't black (but grey).  A friend of mine says that there is a  
law/rule in Germany against buying black computers with state funds.  It  
sounds pretty far-fetched that would be true, but if so, that might  
explain the abandoning of the black case.
 
I am sure that the hard drive speed could be improved with the right  
sofware.  Overall the machine feels quite snappy.  I will have a hard time  
going back to my ST tomorrow.  The sound improvements are wonderful, but  
of limited usefulness to the average user.  They will make games amazing  
though.  The biggest improvement is in the graphics modes and the new 3D  
buttons on the desktop.  Otherwise, it's just a quicker ST.
 
I will happily buy one of these for $800.  I was hoping for something  
closer to a four times speed improvement instead of the two to three times  
improvement I observed.  But any extra speed and expanded memory are  
enough to please me.
 
I hope my long long long post wasn't too much.  If the length bothered you  
please tell me in e-mail.  Any other questions are welcome, as well.
 
--Bill

    There was another online conference with Sam Tramiel this past Monday
    (16 Nov.).  This was live from COMDEX and the same old spiel was out,
    except Sam did say dealers will have prices NOW (quick, call Toad!).
    
    Brief tidbits:
    
    Basic configurations/list prices:
    
    	1 meg, no HD		$699
    	4 meg, no HD 		$1099
    	4 meg, 65 meg HD	$1299
        (no price for full 14 meg version)
    
    More assurances that MultiTOS *will* ship with all machines.
    
    Mega/STe production will continue "as demand warrants".  Depending on
    how many are at dealers or the Atari warehouse, maybe there'll be some
    blowout prices.
    
    Shipment "in quantity" in Dec/Jan (does that mean Dec 1 or Dec 31?).
    
    More rumors about big-time software vendors delivering new packages,
    but nothing substantiated.
    
    							Brian

>    Shipment "in quantity" in Dec/Jan (does that mean Dec 1 or Dec 31?).

It means April 1st :-)

    
    re .27.
    
    Multi-Tos
    
    The reports in UK magazines (ST User/ST Review) suggest that it will
    NOT ship with the system, but will be "made available to purchasers
    of Falcon systems".
    
    

    From USENET.  I sent mail to this guy and he says he has VIDEOTAPE of
    this.  As of last week, Toad still had no price or delivery info.
    
    							Brian
    
From: [email protected] (Flip)
Subject: Falcon's sighted in USA
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1993 01:20:29 GMT
 
 
Toad Computers in Severna Park, MD, has four Falcons but I didn't get to see
the actual CPUs.  The boxes were sitting right out in front of their sales
desk and one box contained two "engineer's samples" and the other box had no
distinctive markings to differentiate it from a production model....
 
This seems to imply the machines did trickle out... to SOME dealers....  anyone
else heard anything in the USA?
 
 
-- 
   ----        ---  /| /| |\
  /-- /| /  o / _  / |/ | |_\   Software
 /   / |/  / /__/ /     | |  \
 -------------------------------->

    The latest poop (believe it or not as you like) from Bob Brodie at
    Atari is that Falcons will *definitely* be at U.S. dealers in
    March...is that March 1 or March 31?
    
    Current bundled software with HD units: Atari Works (WP, spreadsheet,
    database), MTOS operating system, SpeedoGDOS (with some fonts), D2D
    hard disk recorder, a calculator, some games.  Non-HD units get no
    Works, D2D, SpeedoGDOS.
    
    Memory add-ons will *NOT* be SIMMs as there is no room in the box.  You
    have to buy the Atari memory board or a third party equivalent (if one
    is sold!) to get to 14M.  Memory options are still 1, 4 or 14 Meg.
    
    Well, let's see if they make good on *this* promised date <grin>
    
    						Brian

    
    First time I hear of "Atari Works". Will this piece also run on TOS
    2.05 and how much does it cost? (HD no problem)
    
    Bernd
    
    

    Atari Works will be sold separately as will MTOS.  No word on price. 
    Every time the word "price" is brought up to Atari spokesmen, the
    answer is "dealers will be notified".  ????
    
    Atari Works is said to run under all TOS versions.  MTOS can run on any
    machine but multitasking with less than 4 meg is said to be "not
    recommended".
    
    See everybody next month....
    			
    							Brian

    Is MTOS real GEM multitasking or is it just basic TOS multitasking like
    Mint?
    
    Could I start up NOTATOR, then start a synth librarian and switch
    between them at will??
    
    Tony I

    Re: .34
    
    I haven't seen MTOS so I can't comment with any authority, but the word
    from Atari suggests it is true GEM multitasking.  
    
    							Brian

    
    I have seen MTOS on a Falcon. They say it is based on MinT and done
    by the same programmer. It seems to be real multitasking from what
    I have seen, run different applications in different windows the 
    same time. Processes continue also in the background-windows (demos
    were fractals, clocks, even formatting a floppy, etc)
    
    Bernd
    
    
    
    

re .34

   I wouldn't go right out and buy a falcon with the intention of running
notator on it.  From what I've heard, notator doesn't run on the falcon.

bill powers

    I was thinking more of the possibility of putting MTOS on my current
    ST. Some notes have suggested that it will be available separately for
    upgrading older machines. 
    
    I doubt I will ever buy a Falcon until they start showing up on the
    second hand market. Atari are (in my opinion) being left way behind by
    the progress being made in the PC area. If I save up to buy a new
    computer it'll probably be some form of PC. Then I *know* I would be
    able to run, say, Cubase for Windows as well as a synth librarian and a
    notepad and be sure they would all multitask correctly together.
    
    [Disclaimer: I've not actually *seen* a Falcon, I'm going by things
    I've read and heard about them!].
    
    
    Tony I

    Well, it finally happened.  I saw a Falcon, in the flesh, running
    software.  Maybe Atari really will be able to get some out to dealers. 
    I just don't know if I would buy one.

    The sighting was at my user's group meeting.  A member of a nearby
    group happens to be a developer, had a Falcon and agreed to show it
    off.  The box he had was a 14/65 configuration, and he demoed with both
    a SVGA monitor (looked like 14", didn't notice brand) and a 1224.  He
    showed the bundled programs he had, namely the Calendar, Calculator,
    MTOS, Landmine.  He had neither AtariWorks or D2D.  

    Yep, MTOS seemed to work although he didn't push it very hard.  He
    pulled up Calamus and did some moving of a color image around the
    screen and it was satisfyingly quick.  The interlacing needed for
    hi-res modes on the 1224 will drive you crazy in text-oriented apps. 
    However, like the old STs, the mono tube will still only support ST
    hi-res, so if you're a mono person (like me) there is an SVGA in your
    future if you get a Falcon.

    The most impressive demo was of a slide show in true color.  This had
    some really nice animation effects and looked killer on the 1224,
    somewhat less impressive on the SVGA due to no ability to overscan
    (left a stupid white border on the bottom of the screen).

    As a user of a twin floppy TOS 1.0 1040, this thing looked ridiculously
    fast and the much improved desktop was wonderful.  Users who have
    upgraded their stuff to newer TOS revs, more memory, hard drives, etc.
    will likely be less impressed.

    The biggest disappointment: the appearance.  Psychologically, it's
    weird thinking of  this thing as being more than a 1040.  I recall a
    Mega STe demo I saw two years back and that machine *looked* impressive
    in its redesigned case and separate keyboard.

    I'd have to say overall, the machine is impressive.  It's still
    probably too expensive to capture much market share, especially now
    with the new lower priced Macs just announced.   
    
    						Brian

    The latest from the on-line magazines is that March 1st is the
    official release date for the Falcon.  That's next Monday.  We'll
    see...I'm on Toad's waiting list (they're not taking orders or deposits
    yet because they want to wait until they see the boxes come off the UPS
    truck).
    
    The word on Atari Works is that the standalone package will be $120
    U.S.
    
    						Brian

    OK, forget March 1st.  Now it's "third week of March".  Hopefully
    March 93.  Ya know, I could get to *like* Intel machines 8^(
    
    						Brian

    Want to bet on which ships first, Falcon or Windows NT??
    
    8*)

SLOUGH, BERKSHIRE, 1992 MAR 10 (NB) -- Atari UK has announced that the
Falcon 030, the company's first ever personal multimedia system, is
now shipping in the UK. Pricing on the 68030-based machine has been
set at UKP 599.

According to Atari, the Falcon 030 is a powerful and versatile
computer that runs at four million instructions per second (MIPS).
This power, the company claims, allows the computer to convert all
analogue data, including picture and sound, into "software code."

The idea of the Falcon is similar to the Commodore Amiga CD-ROM unit
of a couple of years -- bridging the computing and serious games
environment with a multimedia computer with every conceivable bell and
whistle. Judging from the features list, Atari has achieved
this with the Falcon 030.

Atari is touting the Falcon 030 as a personal integrated media machine
that combines text, video, graphics and sound. Perhaps the best way to
describe it is that it is a low cost computer that allows home users
to become home video and music producers.

The heart of the machine is the 68030 microprocessor, which interfaces
with the a digital signal processing (DSP - the Motorola DSP 56001)
chip for high quality audio and video effects. It's possible, for
example, to use the computer as a video telephone, with the DSP
manipulating the audio and video signals.

As supplied, the shipping versions of the Falcon 030 come with a
variety of I/O ports, including a MIDI interface, a high-speed serial
(RS232) port capable of supporting 250,000 bits per second, a 
bidirectional parallel printer/scanner port, an Appletalk/Localtalk
compatible network port, a cartridge port, and stereo input/output
sockets.

Other connections include an HF video connector for plugging straight
into a VCR, a SCSI (small computer systems interface) 2 connection,
for linking to SCSI peripherals, and a DSP connection, effectively
opening the processor up to the outside world, with up to eight
channels of sound.

According to Darryl Still, head of Atari's marketing department, three
versions of the Falcon 030 are available. The entry level system with
1 megabyte (MB) of RAM costs UKP 599; the 4MB system costs UKP 799 and
the 4MB system with a 65MB hard disk costs UKP 999.

The Falcon 030 was first show at the Atari Glendale computer show last
September. The machine appears to have advanced since then, although
the 14MB "developers" version has been discontinued.

(Steve Gold/19930310/Press & Public Contact: Atari UK - Tel: 0753-
533344)

    
    I cannot speak for the UK, but I know that the Falcon is in the
    mailorder cataloques in Germany since a couple of weeks. I don't
    know anybody personally, though, who received one.
    I have seen one in a shop and had the chance to play around a while...
    
    Bernd
    
    

I just called System Solutions/Atari Workshop - they are taking orders for
Falcons, but cannot quote prices or delivery yet because they haven't got
anything to quote from Atari. They think the price for the 1Meg no HD version
will be about 599 pounds, but this is not confirmed by atari!

I've also bee enquiring about Atari-works for STE via HiSoft. At the computer
show on 20 Feb - they said call in 10 days... then another 7 days...... now
they'll call me when they have info!  Atari Workshop have no info either.

Looks like we have to keep on waiting...............


Ian

According to this months ST Format magazine:

	"Atari are expected to announce the "consumer version" of the Falcon
at the CeBit Show in Hannover at the end of this month. UK availability should
be shortly afterwards".


/Ian

    .45�I've also bee enquiring about Atari-works for STE via HiSoft. 
    
      You should have asked HiSoft about a Falcon!  They were selling a few
    last week.  There are a few around but from what I hear, there aren't
    yet a large number available at dealers.

    
    over the weekend I saw the Falcon (more than one) in the stores. They
    price the machine (4MB, no HD) for 19xx.- DM (about 1200 $). Mailorder
    cataloques also show it now with prices (not "upon request" anymore)
    in Germany. In one of the mags there was a inteview with Tramiel, where
    he stated that they first want to serve the German market (which seems
    to be the biggest for Atari) and then the US...
    
    Bernd
    
    
    

    For those not plugged into the Internet, a number of larger US delaers
    now have Falcon demo units and are taking orders to be filled (in a few
    weeks".  Going price for a 4meg Falcon with 65 meg HD seems to be about
    $1200.  Some Internet posts have confirmed orders have been placed, but
    no units have actually been delivered to normal customers yet.
    
    						Brian

    Latest story is that dealers have Falcons and can sell them but NOT by
    mail by order of Atari.  So the big M.O. dealers like Toad are
    restricted to over-the-counter sales.  
    
    If there is no local dealer with any units (can you say Massachusetts,
    I knew you could), there is no way to obtain a Falcon until Atari lifts
    the M.O. embargo.
    
    The Computer Bug in Hadley expects units around September!!! %^&*&^%
    
    						Brian

    There is a way to get a Falcon shipped mail order to you.  If there's
    no dealer close (150 miles?) and you want to buy from Toad Computers 
    there's  a form they have that you fill out and send to Atari and then
    Atari might send you back something that says you have their permission
    to get a Falcon M.O. from Toad.  Talk to Toad to get the details.
    

You might want to try another possibility too. I went to the Connecticut
AtariFest and saw that Kurlan's Music of Worchester was there with
Falcons! I didn't ask if they had them in stock or not but they were
taking orders.

Dan

    Someone else mentioned Kurlan's.  I won't go into details about my
    general displeasure of dealing with those folks on *music* gear. 
    Surprised they have Falcons as their Atari presence has always been
    small (never saw a Mega STe or TT in there).  Guess I'll have to trot
    on over.
    
    							Brian