Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

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NEWS
Amiga under the
5potlight
After the success of last year's show,
Spotlight '95 returns again between the
10 and 11 of June at the Hammersmith
Novotel hotel. The exhibition is aimed
at the more serious end user who.
while interested in games, wants to get
more out their machine.
With the backing of our good selves
at Amiga Computing, the show is also
being sponsored by various manufacturers
and distributors. The organisers,
Gasteiner Technology, are predicting a
fourfold increase in size, with a wide
variety of companies attending. These
Include Commodore UK. Power
Computing. HiSolt, First Computer
Centre, Meridian Software and more.
For further information on booking.
give Priscilla Bell a call on 0181-345
6000.
Amiga Computing
APRIL 1995
Tahing qour
CDR higher
For owners wanting to make the most out of
their CD32 console. Premier Developments
have released the Combi-Centre 'workstation'
for serious multimedia users. Designed to allow
the CD32. SX1 Expansion, monitor, keyboard,
disk drive and other peripherals to sit on a
special shelving unit, the workstation's
unique feature is the sliding shelf
which allows easy access to the CD32*s
loading bay.
Costing E49.99, phone John
Germany on 01487 823684
for more details, or pay a
.' visit to an Amiga
1 1 — " specialist near you.
Co.rtbi-Centre orit•tation:
Features a slide-out tray for act...
to CO32 loading bay
new wide bag
printer
Seikosha, makers of watches and printers,
have announced the arrival of their latest
addition to the dot matrix range, the
MP-5450. Featuring a 9-pin print head and
a tactility for printing larger than usual
sheets, the company claim that the printer
is capable at 300 characters per second
and can print in colour if required.
The price tag attached to the new model
is a rather substantial E349. While prices
will drop once in the shops, we haven't
seen such an expensive recommended
retail price for a low-end machine in quite
some time. Let's hope it's something really
special.
The company is also releasing the
Speediet 360 Colour at a more reasonable
cost of t279. Featuring a colour print head
with 51 nozzles and the ability to print both
landscape and portrait orientation, more
details can be obtained from Seikosha on
01753 685873_
(ampuSerue head5 for the Internet IF
Taking a major step closer to offering its users the
Internet via their services, CompuServe have acquired
SPRY for approximately $100 million in the largest ever
acquisition in the rapidly growing Internet industry.
SPRY manufacture the number one selling Internet
access product as 'Internet in a box.'
"This move is of tremendous importance to the
industry and offers outstanding opportunities for
CompuServe," said Maury Cox, CompuServe President
and Chief Executive Officer_ it addresses three significant
opportunities available to CompuServe: Internet
access from the CompuServe Information Service; the
creation of future services on the Internet; and the ability
to assist our corporate network customers in
accessing the Internet, This acquisition turns us into
the premier one-stop shop for Net access and
services."
The main benefit being touted for the end user is the
Internet Made Easy feature of SPRY's one-button
installation of their Internet Mosaic software. Internet
access will be offered from 140 countries with more
than 420 points of presence for local dial-up connection.
DEWSg
h
41
Internet 1 begin5
• trading
The First Bank of Ontemet, the FB01 for
short, has announced the initiation of
transaction processing services for the
Internet electronic commerce. Purchases
over the Internet can now be made without
exposing personal credit card
.
I Usually, Internet purchase procedures
nrequire
personal credit card information
fthat
can be monitored by thousands of
opeople
all over the world. It has been
rknown
for users to attempt to either
m
decode the credit card information or
a
impersonate the customer in future
transactions.
t
The new system uses the Automated
i
Teller Machine card which has a cash
o
limit prepaid by the customer. The F1301
n
say the system is sale because access to
.
ATM funds without the possession of
both the ATM card and the Personal
Identification Number Is not possible.
All transactions are handled by the
bank itself with both customer and supplier
going directly through it via the use of
e-mail_ The only downside is that the
FBOI charges five per cent for every
transaction, but if this system points the
way towards a safer security on the
information highway, perhaps it's a price
worth paying.
A complete range of paper and film
specifically designed to give a quality output
from inkjet printers has been launched
by Infotec Supplies. For anyone whose
used one of the temperamental machines
they can be very picky about the paper
they're printing onto.
Bleeding text and images, paper lams
and an assortment of other niggling
details can often make a print out look as
If it just popped Out of a 9-pin dot matnx
machine. Bob Milford, head of Infatec's
Supplies division commented: "Many
inkjet printer users have expenenced serious
problems by using paper not
designed for inkjet printers. We have
designed the lmagejet range solely for the
inkjet market, even down to specific
papers for specific machines, to ensure
that these problems are eliminated."
There a variety of paper types in the
range to suit the needs and wallet of
users, and a technical line has been set
up to aid buyers in making the right
choice for their particular printer. For
more information, contact Infotec UK on
0181-207 2700.