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I can remember seeing my first calculator in the 1970s. It was shown to us by a teacher in school. Up to then all we had seen were mechanical adding machines. The calculator amazed us, it was silent, instantaneous, and even had a square root key, a function I never saw any adding machine do. The teacher explained that soon every home would have a computer. I couldn't believe it, computers were huge, and filled rooms. Even a home computer would take up a living room. He was right though, by 1977 we had home computers that weren't much bigger than a keyboard.

Recently i-mode was unleashed onto the Dutch and German markets. This internet service is hugely popular in Japan, where it connects over 30 million people to the internet through mobile phones. Read more to get to know its features and see two screenshots of the devices.

Metrowerks is shipping a new set of tools which enables application and content development for Tao Group's intent, a high performance, portable media platform. These tools don't come cheap. However an intent/AmigaDE Software Development Kit costs only 100 dollars is already enough to get you started. And if you want to use powerful dynamic graphic scaling capabilities, you need to sign a SDA with Amiga. Then your software will be able to scale properly from handheld to STB/Desktop resolutions. On TechTV Amiga already demonstrated the technologies' flexibility and performance.

The reporters of a French Amiga magazine called AmigaPower have been so kind to post some pictures of an AmigaOne computer running TurboLinux. Initial AmigaOne ATX motherboards come with a soldered 600 MHz G3 PowerPC CPU, built-in 10/100 ethernet, USB, AGP (2xSpeed), AC97 Soundchip, MC97 modem, UDMA100 IDE controller and costs 600 Euros (ex. VAT). A more expensive version is expected to be released later this year, having a socketed CPU and a 4xSpeed AGP bus, which will allow the installation of one or two G4 processors. Boards can be pre-ordered from Computer City, KDH Datentechnik and Vesalia.

In a live interactive streaming audio/ICQ interview, by UGN at the AmigaExpo in Baltimore, Hyperion released even more interesting details regarding the development of AmigaOS4. Some highlights:

A few months back, I started to read about the new AmigaDE environment, AmigaOne, and the new technology Amiga is using. After Tao released their Intent/AmigaDE ADK on a cover CD bundled with Digital Magazine (and being an old Amigaen), I wanted to dig a little deeper and find out what all the fuss is about. During my search on the web, I couldn't help being a little disappointed.

Just some days ago Apple requested input from PC users or from Mac users coming from the PC world. They asked for some input regarding what a PC user would like to see on Apple's products. While I am already a Mac user, I would like to see the following. If it doesn't happen (as it hasn't), I intend to do it myself with some smart friends.

A former Gateway executive recently testified (NY Times login required) that Microsoft punishes PC clone manufacturers like Gateway for developing rival products. This was i.e. done by reducing discounts Gateway received for the Windows operating system. Gateway at a time was developing a new Amiga computer, but all of the sudden this ambitious project was cancelled, reliable sources (read the comments section of this article I recently wrote for OSNews) have stated Microsoft to be the reason behind this sudden move. My opinion: A good example of how Microsoft stifled technological progress within the computer industry these last 10 years. Hopefully people will start to understand why it has taken the Amiga community this long to get a new Amiga computer onto the market and why PC manufacturers left Amiga technology in the cold when the classic still was clearly superior technology compared to Microsoft's offerings.

The GNU SmallEiffel compiler has been ported to the Intent/AmigaDE operating environment. Also worth checking out is this transcript of Bill McEwen's AmigaDE demonstration for TechTV. You will get a good idea of what this technology is capable of, regardless of it being only a tip of the iceberg of what the AmigaDE developer community is working on.

Sun has released the new Sun Blade 2000 Workstation, featuring either 2x 1GHz or 2x 900MHz UltraSparc III CPU's. They have also launched the XVR-1000 Graphics Accelerator which puts Sgi square in their sites, when it comes to the 3D vizualization market. What's interesting to note, is not only the first more than 1GHz uSparc III processor, but that the XVR-1000 board is based off Sun's new MAJC processor, with 2 VLIW cores, on-board. Let the VLIW/CISC/RISC discussion begin!

Earlier this month some Australian Amiga User groups represented Amiga at Comdex, the biggest Australian IT show. They demonstrated AmigaDE software running binary identical at full speed across various devices, as well as introducing people to the new AmigaOS XL package. Many developers and users were amazed of what the AmigaDE can do, read the full show report here. Tomorrow Amiga Inc's CEO Bill McEwen will demonstrate Amiga products on TechTV's 'Screen Savers'. Also there will be many interesting demonstrations and seminars at the upcoming AmigaExpo, to be held later this month.

A while ago I was reading a comment on Slashdot that indicated that evolution in the human population no longer happens. This isn't actually true as humans have continued to evolve albeit in subtle ways - BBC2 had a very good program about this a while back.

Amiga Inc has announced that it is working with Nokia to integrate AmigaDE technology into Nokia`s new Mediaterminal. The AmigaDE will offer users the ability to download and use AmigaDE applications, MP3, MPEG4, Universal Chat and streaming video, turning the family TV into a multifunctional infotainment center. AmigaDE technology will also be used in a whole scala of upcoming handheld devices and will become fully integrated in a future releases of the Amiga operating system. To get an idea of what future cellphones will look like, take a look these concept pictures of future Nokia phones. Also should be noted that PDA/cellphone targetted AmigaDE 3D games are under development. For instance an AmigaDE version of Hyperion Entertainment`s Warp3D technology was recently demonstrated to me at the Amiga 2001 fair in Cologne. Here`s a Status Report with screenshots of Payback for the AmigaDE, a GTA-clone and this year`s most popular classic 68k AmigaOS game title. If you want to speak to AmigaDE or AmigaOS designers and developers for yourself then be sure to attend the upcoming AmigaExpo show to be held in the US.

Steve was drawing things out, as he is wont to do. We'd seen demonstrations by Adobe, we got to see the iBook's new larger look, he'd prattled on and on about the virtues of iPhoto, we were getting restless. We wanted to see IT. Whatever Steve Jobs had up the sleeve of that black mock-neck we wanted to see it. In all fairness those of us that are rabid weblog addicts had already seen it. Slashdot had broken the news the night before when 'Time Canada' plastered it all over their website. It was the new iMac, and inside the 'reality distortion field' that Steve Jobs projects at every MacWorld keynote, it was insanely great.