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SIR CLIVE SINCLAIR |
SIR CLIVE SINCLAIR received a knighthood in the Queen's birthday honours. He continues to be a leading figure in the world of computing and microelectronics and his company has sold more than one million computers world-wide.
At present his company is developing a flat-screen television and an electric car.
The names for the honours list are submitted to the Queen by the Prime Minister, who selects outstanding figures in industry and the arts. Margaret Thatcher is known to be an admirer of Sir Clive's enterprising ability. She presented the Japanese Premier with a Spectrum on her tour of Japan last year.
Sir Clive is very happy about the award and says: "The award of a knighthood is a truly great honour and one I value very highly. It was completely unexpected and a wonderful surprise. More than ever I feel committed to achieving success, in and for Britain."
TWO MAJOR STEPS have been taken by Sir Clive Sinclair towards fulfilling his ambition of manufacturing the first mass-produced electric car. He has negotiated an option on the De Lorean car plant at Dunmurry, Ulster and has created a new company, Sinclair Vehicles Project.
Sinclair Research is quick to point out that this is Sir Clive's venture and has nothing to do with it. The new company has taken complete control of the car manufacturing idea.
The team which runs the company says that De Lorean's former factory would be ideal for manufacturing. It is one of the most advanced plants in the country and has the proper assembly-line equipment to produce the electric car. It contains equipment for plastic welding, which would be ideal.
Sir Clive has talked to the Industrial Development Board of Northern Ireland about the use of the facilities at Dunmurry.
THE EIGHTH ZX Microfair is to be held at Alexandra Palace, London on August 20 from 10am to 6pm. The previous show at that venue in June was the most successful to date. It attracted more than 8,500 people, according to organiser Mike Johnston, compared to the show held last August which attracted almost 7,000 visitors.
Johnston expects an even bigger attendance at the next show and hopes that the Microdrives and RS232 will be on display.
A NEW SECURITY system has been introduced on Micronet 800, the database system to which users of microcomputers can link by telephone.
The system will enable Micronet to select which software can be listed or copied once it has been downloaded on to a user's computer.
It will mean that some programs can be run on a computer, such as the Spectrum, but cannot be SAVEd. Robin Wilkinson, a spokesman for Micronet, says:
"Users will be able to download a game on to a Spectrum by telephone but will not be able to LIST it or COPY it on to tape. It will be like paying 20 pence for an arcade game every time you want to play it. When you switch off the computer the game will be lost."
Several software companies are interested in putting software on to Micronet but will not consider such a move until some form of protection is given.
One such company is Silversoft and Douglas Berne, a spokesman for the company says:
"We would not consider putting software on to Micronet unless we could be given a guarantee that the software would be protected."
INTELLIGENT Software and Sinclair Research are offering a prize of £5,000 to the first person who can write a chess program to beat the Cyrus-IS Chess in a series of games.
Sinclair Research has acquired the game recently for its Spectrum software library. The program is based on Cyrus chess which won the second European Microcomputer Chess Championship.
Its features include cursor movement of pieces, replay and take-back options and the ability to function as a normal two-player game board. A spokesman for Sinclair Research says:
"We have made no plans for matches yet. We are waiting for people to contact us."
THE NATIONAL ZX Users' Club, run by Tim Hartnell, has been disbanded after two years of operation. The reason, according to Liz North, an organiser of the club, was "because of the rising number of computer publications on the market." Another reason was that the club was providing difficulties for the organisers because of its size.
The club used to send a magazine, Interface, to its members but because of the number of machine-specific computer publications on the market recently, Interface no longer served a useful purpose. North said:
"Interface was the first specialist magazine for Sinclair computers. Now Sinclair User and ZX Computing have started and our magazine is no longer as useful as it was."
The club had a membership of thousands. The members were informed of the closure by a letter in Interface and those who still had outstanding subscriptions were offered books from a range of Interface publications.
TIMEX has revealed its plans for two new microcomputers, the 1500 and 2048, in the States. The specifications of the new computers were shown for the first time at a computer show in Chicago.
The 1500 will be an upgraded version of the TS1000, the U.S. version of the ZX-81, which has attracted some criticism in the States. The upgrade will have a keyboard which resembles that of the Spectrum.
Unlike the ZX-81, the 1500 will have 16K RAM as standard and an extra 32K RAM module can be fitted to provide 32K. A software cassette, similar to the Horizons tape which is included with Spectrums, will be supplied with each package.
The TS-2048 is the Timex version of the Spectrum. The specifications show the machine to be slightly superior to the Spectrum, although nobody has yet been able to benchtest it.
There are extra commands on the machine according to the specifications. They include FREE, which usually checks memory size; STICK, to control two joysticks; ON ERR, to cope with errors in a program without making it crash; and SOUND, which is like BEEP in every respect except that the volume can be controlled.
The computer is longer than the Spectrum and seems to incorporate a cartridge port into which ROM cartridges can be slotted. No firm release date has been given for the machines but it is hoped that they will appear by the end of the summer.
THE JRS AWARD for Programming has gone to David Prigmore of Derbyshire. The winning entry was a ZX-81 game called Star Defence which JRS Software is marketing.
Its author is studying for A levels which include computer science. He hopes to enter the computer industry when he leaves school. John Stubbs of JRS says of the competition: "We were looking for games, utility and business programs. Star Defence was by far the best piece of software submitted."
COMPUTER COURSES with a difference are being held in and around Weston-super-mare. The courses are given by Dr Roger Stenner and can be taken at the home of the student or at a centre. Group or individual tuition is available and fees range from £4 to £7.50 an hour.
SEVERAL RECORD companies have moved into the software business by including microcomputer programs on their latest record releases.
The move was started by EMI when it produced a single called Camouflage, while side B contains the ZX-81 programs. A spokesman for EMI says: "You could say that the state of play at the moment is healthy. We have had a very encouraging response from dealers."
Another computer single has been released by record company Mainframe. It has put programs on side B of the disc. The programs on the record are for the ZX-81, Spectrum, BBC microcomputer and Apple II.
Genetic Records Ltd has put a Spectrum program on to a new album, called XL1, by Peter Shelley. The program needed five months to perfect and will work on a 48K Spectrum.
The album was released in June and features 10 musical tracks as well as the program. The graphics displayed on the screen by the computer are synchronised with the music.
One difficulty which has arisen about the use of the records occurs when people try to record the computer tracks on to tape using a stereo system. The reproduction of computer programs using stereo is not good because of phasing problems. It is recommended that only one channel of a stereo is used and the other should be turned down.
EMI says that no complaints have been made about reproduction difficulties, although no information about the use of the computer tracks has been given on record sleeves. The company will, however, be examining the problem closely.
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