This Is Reality Control
As some of you probably noticed, there wasn't a January article. However, I'm pleased to present an exclusive this month on an interesting piece of hardware under development.
If you want to buy a standalone PowerPC based system, you're going to have a real job to find one that isn't Apple-branded. After Apple demolished the CHRP PowerPC market, the only affordable way to get hold of a PowerPC-based machine these days is through Apple. IBM's PowerPC Open Platform (POP) development is on the horizon, but it seems to have been staying there for some time - the demand is around, particularly with a surge in interest in PowerPC on Linux, but the hardware supply isn't. More significantly, there's nothing quite like an A500 or A1200 around - the consoles are slowly getting there, the STBs could be getting there, but it's just not quite the same as yet, there's a niche looking to be filled.
So it's likely to be of great interest to find that a start-up company has taken the initiative in developing an affordable, entry-level PowerPC platform. Better yet, they appreciate the value of open-ness and there's some fringe benefits the Amiga community might want to take serious notice of. The company is Ideas2Reality, and the PowerPC platform under development is the RealityStation.
The RealityStation provides a platform which encapsulates an almost A500-like approach. Compact, affordable, reasonably expandible and with enough processing power to handle everyday tasks and probably a bit more besides. The platform is aimed at being equally at home serving in simple application environments, such as a STB, or as a more general-purpose computer - plus the modular nature allows third-party developers to customise for a broad range of markets. The initial system has a separate keyboard, though I2R are looking into a "docking" system which means the keyboard could be either separate or attached to the case.
The specs are listed below, but remember we're talking an A500-style system:
- PowerPC @ 200 MHz
- graphics system (OpenGL compatible)
- 5x USB ports
- 2x Firewire ports
- 16 MB FlashROM
- DVD drive
- optional hard disk
This is actually a very neat, useful system - and at the expected price of around £300 it provides a valuable and affordable entry-level system. It may also be bundled as part of some broadband ISP or STB packages, lowering or likely negating the cost. It should also be noted this is just an initial version - if all goes well, more powerful and expandible systems will follow.
Operating system support will initially be QNX RTP or a custom multimedia version of Linux, backed-up by SDL API extensions. The SDL API will mean
Latest Articles