| news |
SINCLAIR RESEARCH refuses to give a date when the long-awaited Microdrive is expected to be available. It is understood, however, that production was to begin before the end of April. Managing director Nigel Searle said:
NIGEL SEARLE |
"We have learned from experience not to give launch dates until we are sure. We cannot say when the Microdrive will be available."
He added that development was at a late stage with the custom-designed chips having been sent to a semiconductor manufacturer.
As a way of thanking people for their patience with the company in the last year, the first Microdrives will be available only to customers who ordered Spectrums before they were being sold retail last October.
"We are particularly concerned about all the people who were inconvenienced by having to wait so long. We think they should be given the opportunity to buy it first," Searle says.
The price of the drive is expected to be about £40, with another £30 for the interface which will allow up to eight drives to be attached to the Spectrum. The interface will also permit an RS232 printer to be added.
Searle says the drive will contain a removable "element" - as Sinclair User revealed, a floppy tape which will be made available to software houses so that pre-programmed "elements" can be sold in the same way cassettes are sold at present.
THE SPECTRUM is entering the export market. By the end of April it was expected to be on sale in 30 countries.
Initial sales of 15,000 a month are anticipated, rising sharply throughout the year. Large advance orders have already been received from South America and the Far East but the company is concentrating first on European markets. Eventually it is hoped to open new markets in the Middle East and the rest of the third world.
A NEW SERIES of courses for Spectrum owners who would like to learn more about their machines will be launched in August.
The courses are non-residential and will take place on the Wirral. There is room for 20 students and you do not have to own a Spectrum to join.
The courses cost £35 and each student will be provided with a machine.
OWNERS of the 16K Spectrum can have their machines upgraded to 48K by Sinclair Research for £60. It involves returning the machine to Sinclair, which then upgrades the chips on the PCB.
It was announced that the facility would be possible when the Spectrum was launched a year ago but it has only just become available.
To ensure fair treatment, the company is making the service available in order of purchase and has already written to people who bought the machine early last year. No orders can be taken at present from more recent buyers.
People ordering the upgrade are being offered a free Sinclair 48K cassette of their choice and the chance to buy the ZX printer at a special price of £39.95 against the usual £59.95.
THE FORMATION of a trade association of software houses may not be far away. Many companies are beginning to see a need to pool resources and to standardise opinions on such issues as software libraries, piracy of software and trade links overseas.
MIKE JOHNSTON |
The man behind the attempt to form the group is Robert Brenchley, of R and R Software. He says:
"At the moment there is a good deal of apathy in the industry. People are interested in forming a group but they do not have the time to do so."
Finding the companies willing to enter a group is not the only difficulty being experienced by Brenchley. "We are looking for a president who will chair meetings. That has proved the major sticking point. It is best to have someone who is an independent and unconnected with any of the member companies."
Several people have been suggested for the chairmanship. Mike Johnston, organiser of ZX Microfairs, is one who has been asked. Brenchley is also in contact with Dr Ian Logan, author of several books on Sinclair machines. He says:
"Logan is ideally suited for the job. He is well-respected in the software market and is an authority on Sinclair machines."
The association is still only an idea of Brenchley's but he hopes software manufacturers will contact him to discuss the subject.
SINCLAIR RESEARCH has dropped plans for a Prestel/Micronet adaptor for the Spectrum. The company has split with Martochoice, which won a competition run by British Telecom last year to design a cheap Prestel interface for the ZX-81.
The company was co-operating with Sinclair Research, which was to manufacture the device.
Nigel Searle, managing director of Sinclair Research, says its plans for telesoftware are "now in abeyance". He says the company is still interested in the transmission of software over telephone lines but he could not say when it would renew its involvement.
Martochoice would not comment on its dealings with Sinclair Research regarding the adaptor.
Despite these problems Micronet 800 still plans to launch its Spectrum adaptor on May 1.
A NEW MAGAZINE for the owners of Timex/Sinclair machines in the U.S. has been launched by ECC Publications, the publishers of Sinclair User.
Timex/Sinclair User was launched in April and includes much the same mixture of reviews, projects and articles for which Sinclair User has become known.
Terry Cartwright, managing director of ECC, believes that there is a massive market for the magazines in the States. He says:
"There are three-quarters of a million Timex/Sinclair machines there at the moment and we expect it to grow to two million in the next year."The print run on the first issue of the magazine is 100,000 copies, a large amount by any standards for a new magazine. Cartwright is confident of a massive response.
The first issue includes hardware reviews, book reviews, how to build your own EPROM blower and a four-part series on programming in Basic.
The American magazine has a separate editorial and advertising staff but members of the British Sinclair User team have been in the U.S. to co-ordinate the launch. They include John Sterlicchi, who acts as editor-in-chief, and John Ross, advertisement manager of Sinclair User.
Readers of the British Sinclair User may subscribe to the new magazine. Anyone wishing to do so should write to Sinclair User.
TIMEX is planning to introduce a new Sinclair/Timex machine to the American market in the near future. It will be an upgraded version of the T/S1000, of which Americans have been critical since it was introduced last year.
The T/S1500 will be introduced on June 1. It will have a regular typewriter-style keyboard with movable keys and also an on-board 16K RAM.
Timex claims that the machine will have the simplicity of the T/S1000-ZX-81 look-alike - and will retail for approximately $100. Timex says that the new keyboard and 16K RAM are free add-ons.
CLIVE SINCLAIR has been named Young Businessman of the Year by The Guardian. The award is made for the thirteenth time and goes to the person who has made the most significant contribution to business.
The award was presented at a Mansion House luncheon in March.
A MICROFAIR with a difference is being held in September. It is called Electronic Aids for the Handicapped and is funded by the Department of Industry.
The exhibition will be mobile and will try to show what is being done in the field of microelectronics to help disabled people.
For further information, contact Ed Wilson at the Handicapped Persons Research Unit, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The Golden Sundial of PI |
AUTOMATA is still looking for a winner of its adventure competition, Pimania. The prize is a golden sundial and to win it you must finish the game. Automata says that no one has managed to do so and will not even reveal if anyone has been close to winning the prize.
Neither has a winner been found for the Krakit competition being run by Artic Computing in conjunction with International Publishing and Software. The prize is £10,000 if you can answer the questions posed on the Artic Krackit tape.
The PSS competition also closes this month. The company is looking for a good program written using a Spectrum or ZX-81 compiler. The winning program will be marketed by PSS.
SEVERAL months ago Sinclair User contained advertisements on behalf of Pretorious Systems, a manufacturer of ZX-81 RAM packs. Some readers have experienced problems with the firm, which is run by R U Ekam.
Ekam has stated that both he and his business are almost bankrupt and that he is no longer trading. Sinclair User has pursued the matter and has taken what steps it can to prevent Ekam from trading. The advertising department can now assure readers that no more advertisements for Pretorious Systems goods will appear in the magazine.
The magazine suggests that readers have no dealings with Pretorious Systems in future.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||