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THE SPECTRUM+ is only going through some minor 'teething problems' according to Sinclair Research, despite the fact that on some machines the keyboard falls to pieces.
Julian Goldsmith, of Sinclair Research, says: "With any new products there are bound to be problems. The suppliers are AB Electronics, Thorn EMI and Timex. If there is a problem and we hear complaints then we just talk to the suppliers and get them to make the glue thicker or add a millionth of a millimetre to the clip-on part of the keyboard. We have had complaints about the keyboard and of course we will take note of them."
Should problems occur with your Spectrum+ you are advised by Sinclair Research to take it back to the place of purchase. "The main responsibility, of course, is with us," Goldsmith admits. "Most retailers do their own QCing and we leave it to them to spot faulty machines.
Retail stores, such as Boots, are moaning because they cannot get enough of the Spectrum+. All the company would say is, "they are selling very well".
WH Smith is also not getting enough of the machines. A spokesman at one London branch commented that despite the slow start they had no problems with returns. They wished only that they could get a few more machines.
The tale at Smiths was repeated at The Buffer Micro Shop. Michael Howard, owner, says: "The only problem we have is getting the Spectrum+. We were late in ordering by one day and chain stores such as Smiths got all of them". That was the first delivery made and, at the time of writing, there had not been another one.
If you are still in a dilemma about what to do if your Spectrum+ keyboard falls to bits then Sinclair Research has had a suggestion passed on. Start chewing a lot of gum.
IF YOU WANT to communicate with ZX-81 users worldwide, now is your chance.
ZX Exchange is a group of users dedicated to the ZX-81 and companion machines TS-1000 and TS-1500. A newsletter, the ZX Broadsheet, is circulated at approximately bi-monthly intervals to users as far away as Hong Kong, Mexico and Australia.
The ZX Broadsheet covers the main areas of interest to ZX-81 users with routines as its main feature. Exchange Profile is a column in which people can talk about themselves, their interests, equipment and exchange information with other users.
If you would like to participate in this international user club you can obtain a trial issue of the newsletter by sending £0.60 (UK) or five International Reply Coupons to Nick Godwin, Scotland.
THOSE microdrives have gained one ally in the form of ICL which has launched a computer called One Per Desk.
The machine uses the QL circuit board, which includes the Sinclair ULA, with microdrives and includes a modem, terminal emulation software and monitor.
ICL is taking the Sinclair Research lead and supplying the Psion XChange software suite, with upgraded versions of Quill, Archive, Abacus and Easel, on in-built ROM in the package which is to sell for £1,200.
Sinclair Research is pleased that ICL has delivered its well-timed pat on the back for its pioneering stance in computing. A spokesman for the company says: "It is nice to see that other people are endorsing our technology."
A NEW RANGE of QL packages from Quest Automation turns the Sinclair machine into a powerful business microcomputer.
The software is headed by a 68K version of the CP/M, specially designed for 68000 processors. The 28.5K operating system is supplied either on 51/4in floppy disc for £49.50 or microdrive cartridge for £79.10. It includes an assembler, co-resides with QDOS and will support 3in, 3½in, 5¼in and 8in floppy discs. It can also be used with a Winchester disc unit.
Quest is also supplying a range of disc drives on which CP/M can be run. Those range from a 200K floppy at £249 to a range of Winchester discs, minimum storage 7.5 megabytes, which starts at £995.If extra internal RAM is required Quest can supply a range starting with 68K for £99 to half-megabyte at £499. All the equipment can be stored in an expansion console costing £109.
To support its new system Quest has released two business packages, collectively called Tally.
The software is compatible with the Psion packages supplied with the QL which means that data can be transferred from the Quest packages to the Psion programs and vice versa. Quest says that it is a deliberate ploy which will be continued.
SOMETHING you would never have thought of in your wildest dreams is renting software on a nightly basis.
A new company calling itself Wildest Dreams came up with the idea whilst discussing the problems of producing and distributing software. The games were to be available for rental in video shops nationwide from November, for the princely sum of around 50p per night.
The games are all new and will be for rental purposes only.
Asked about the subject of piracy, the company says, "Piracy occurs because people are loath to pay around £7.00 for a games tape, whereas 50p is a low enough margin to discourage piracy."
IF THE Duke of Edinburgh's Prestel Account can be broken into, think what fun a hacker could have with the Stock Exchange prices.
The latest exploit to reach the national newspapers and make Prestel tremble in its shoes is that of a hacker claiming to be a freelance writer of Micronet 800 - an information database and, ironically, part of the Prestel system.
Prestel received a telephone call recently asking staff to look at Page 1, Prestel's index page, accessible to only a few members of the Prestel team. INDEX was spelt IDNEX. The hacker had broken in.
Breaking into the system via one of the Prestel Development computers he found the identity number and password of Prestel's Assistant Editor. With that information he had enough ammunition to break into the system, call up anybody's ID and password and access any page on the database.
He decided to aim for the top, accessed the Duke of Edinburgh's Prestel account and had the time of his life sending messages from people who, at the time, were fast asleep - it being the early hours of the morning.
One message was sent from the Duke of Edinburgh to the General Manager of Prestel congratulating him with, "The household is very impressed with your work."
Another area cracked was Homelink - Prestel's home banking system where users holding accounts at the Nottingham Building Society and the Bank of Scotland can access accounts from home.
Two weeks after Prestel was bugged, Homelink sent out a message reassuring its customers that though Prestel had been hacked, the Homelink database was unbreachable. "Rubbish", came back the reply, "the Homelink database was broken into". It was signed by The Hacker using the Bank of Scotland ID.
Two weeks after the Prestel incident Homelink still had not changed the ID numbers and passwords.
Prestel got the message immediately, and has made all the necessary security changes. One wonders, though, when and where the hacker will strike next.
THE QL has been greeted with mixed reactions by the retail trade. While stores such as WH Smith and Boots are pleased with sales, smaller outlets are not so happy.
A spokeswoman for WH Smith says: "The QL is selling out fast. We are having no problems with the machine but would like to see more software for it."
The same is true of Dixons. Dave Gilbert, a spokesman for the company, says: "We can't get enough of them. It is selling very well. We have had no problems with orders and get all that we need."
Smaller shops are having a limited success with the QL. John Arundel of The Silica Shop in Kent says: "We have the QL, and some people have bought them. They are slow to move though."
Michael Howard of the Buffer Micro Shop reports a similar story. "We are getting all the QLs that we need. They are not going in vast numbers but we are selling them."
Sinclair Research is confident that the slow start will turn into a rush when more people realise that the machine is in the shops.
A spokesman says: "Dealers are happy with the QL. Word is out that it is in the shops now and sales will increase accordingly."
NORDIC KEYBOARDS, the company which has acquired the Fuller range of products after it went into liquidation a few months ago is trying to make amends to frustrated customers owning Fuller keyboards.
John Gray of Nordic Keyboards says he is delighted with the opportunity to market the products and adds, "but we aim to offer our customers a better deal and to be faster on both service and delivery."
A problem has arisen over faulty keyboards returned to Fuller before they went into liquidation.
"It is a knotty problem," says Gray, "because of Fuller's records. We have a lot of keyboards awaiting repair but without any attached documentation. As we come across keyboards with the owners' names and addresses we'll repair and return them."
On a more optimistic note, Nordic have launched the FDS Executive, a replacement keyboard for the Spectrum. The Executive allows the user to plug his Spectrum straight into the keyboard without having to unscrew the Spectrum case and at only £59.95, Nordic believe it will be a winner.
AGF are anxious that some early customers who purchased Protocol 4 joystick interfaces may have sub-specification pre-production units.
The problem with those units is that they have an erratic or unreliable Kempston operation mode and the way to check this would be to type in the following program line with the Protocol 4 attached to the Spectrum, its mode switch in the down position and with the Kempston card inserted: PRINT IN 31, press ENTER.
If anything other than 0 is printed, the unit should be returned to AGF for a free replacement.
THE FIRST true compiler for the QL has been launched by Bristol-based software house Metacomco.
The compiler runs BCPL, Basic Combined Programming Language, which is widely used as the systems programming language on many different minis and micros.
BCPL is ideal for writing utilities, applications programs and even games. The package also supplies routines which will make the QL graphics and window facilities easier to use.
Metacomco is to sell BCPL for £59.95 and is also releasing a version of LISP for the same price.
A FIGHTING fund has been established by the Guild of Software Houses which will be used against piracy.
Contributions to the fund will initially be made by the group's 34 members but Paul Duffy, General Secretary of GOSH, states that anybody can put money into the pool. "We would also like to get publishers and other people connected with the industry involved."
Duffy went on to say that GOSH wants to bring a major case against a software pirate. "That involves a lot of money, perhaps as much as £100,000. Even if we lose that will give us good grounds to go to MPs and say that the law does not stop piracy.
"We are writing to local councils telling them that if school equipment is used for piracy then we will hold the school responsible and prosecute them."
A £25,000 prize is being offered to the first person who can crack Eureka!, a five part arcade/adventure game for the Spectrum.
The scenario for the adventure, featured in Software Scene this month, was penned by games wizard Ian Livingstone and the product is being marketed by Domark, a company run by Dominic Wheatley, grandson of the novelist Dennis Wheatley, and Mark Strachan.
Domark claims that the game was the result of 10,000 man hours by a Hungarian programming team behind the Iron Curtain. The team of 20 includes four graphic artists, two musicians, a professor of logic and an Oscar winning cartoonist.
The competition ends on 31 December 1985 and Domark believes that it could take 15 months to solve.