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(C) 1993 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt.Type XTX99437,GENIE and press [RETURN]. The system will prompt you for your information.

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Wednesday Night Real Time Conference

April 7, 1993

Host - Brian H. Harvey

Guest Speaker - Bill Rehbock

<[Host] BRIAN.H> On behalf of the Atari ST Roundtable, I welcome all of you to this CeBiT Real Time Conference. Tonight I would like to welcome WIlliam E. Rehbock. Bill is Atari's Technical Director of Software Development. Who is Bill Rehbock?

Bill bought his first ATARI computer at K-Mark, an 800XL, for $99.00. He started selling computers from his basement and finally joined ATARI in the summer of 1990 to replace Charles Cherry. At that time he was responsible for DTP market and was Director of Application Software. Bill went on to the supervising of the software development for the Falcon computers, and development of MultiTOS a

With that out of the way, let us proceed. Welcome Bill, do you have a few words to begin this evening RTC?

<B.REHBOCK> Good evening everyone. I will give you a quick overview of the goings-on at CeBIT, in case you didn't catch my posting in cat. 11. Here is a short overview of what I found to be the highlights of CeBIT. It is certainly not all-encompassing, but I think it does convey the level of excitement in Europe over the Falcon. I personally would like to thank all of the developers that pulled together and produced the fine Falcon software that was shown at the Atari stand. MultiTOS, SpeedoGDOS, Atari Works

Normen Kowalweski from Atari Germany drew large crowds while demoing the latest software offerings from Atari. Many of the developers were displaying their software running with MultiTOS and SpeedoGDOS. People were very excited to hear that the products have been released to the factory and that Falcons would be soon showing up with MultiTOS and Speedo pre-installed.

Blackmail - Digital Optical Analog

DOA is negotiating with several large European distributors (including Compo) for distribution in Europe. Their Falcon-based voice mail system is currently undergoing FCC Certification and is expected to be available publicly by the end of May.

DA's Vektor - Digital Arts Digital Arts is the programming team that produced Retouche and Didot. DA's Vektor is a key-frame animation package that can perform 3D manipulation to 2D vector graphics, type, and bitmapped pictures. It's presentation graphic abilities exceed those of Macromind Director and Micrografix Designer. It retails for less than $200.

Profiler - Application Systems Heidelberg Profiler is Application Systems Heidelberg's new programming tool for their Pure C and Pure Pascal environments. It is a quality application used for debugging and optimizing programs.

TruePaint - HiSoft Falcon-optimized True Color Paint Package that retails for $60.00. It has a huge variety of import and export formats as well as simple animation capabilities.

Diamond Back/Diamond Edge - Oregon Research Bob Luneski's sanity-saving hard disk utilities were shown with full Falcon SCSI and IDE support.

Photo Studio - Eurosoft Photo Studio is a low-cost retouching package from France that is optimized for performing special effects and retouching on previously scanned or PhotoCD images.

Compo announced that it would handle distribution of True Paint outside of France. Chagall - Trade It Chagall is a mid-level true-color painting package from Germany that has a very advanced feature set, including high-end filtering, masking, and tinting. They hope to have the details for North American distribution worked out quickly.

Superbase4 - HiSoft/Oxxi Superbase4 should be ready for official alpha release within two or three weeks. The new version has full SpeedoGDOS support and support for imbedding a wide variety of graphic data formats into your database. It retains compatibility with Superbase Professional and allows importing forms from Superbase Amiga. The report generator is one of the finest I've seen on any platform and has the ability to add graphics to the output such as placing boxes around totals.

Falcon/VME - Rhothron Rhothron showed a VME expansion connector that plugs into the processor direct slot. The cable to the VME connector comes out of the Falcon through the space at the cartridge port. They were showing it working with the TKR Crazy Dots 32-bit true color board.

ColorDISC PCD - Color Concepts Color Concepts demonstrated all aspects of PhotoCD, including a PhotoCD module for Calamus SL. Phillips, Kodak, and Toshiba were all very impressed and surprised that we had such a full implementation of PhotoCD on the Falcon. No other platform has complete support for interactive/Portfolio PhotoCD yet.

MPEG Decompression - Brainstorm Brainstorm demonstrated 12 frames per second on-the-fly MPEG video decompression using MPEG video clips from Star Wars, Michael Jackson videos, news clips, etc. This is the same company that wrote the JPEG routines for Atari. The JPEG routines (320x200 decompression in less than one second) will be available to developers at the end of April.

VROOM - Lhankor Lhankor showed an extremely fast Gran Prix racing game optimized for Falcon. The game was still running in 16-color mode with PSG sound, but they intend to release it in September with all new 256 and true color artwork and digital sound.

Overscan Titler/Genlock - Overscan/Compo One of the main features of the huge video wall was the Overscan Video Titler. The titler makes full use of SpeedoGDOS and works with all ST's, but is optimized for the Falcon's overscan, overlay bit and color capabilities. The final product will be shipping at the end of April and there will be a NTSC/YC version as well as PAL/YC version.

Papyrus - ROM Software Papyrus shipped the latest version of their high-performance word-processor that now includes advanced table creation and calculation abilities. Papyrus has full color support and is in the same league as Microsoft Word for Windows and WordPerfect for Windows or the Mac. They signed up a yet-to-be announced North American distributor while at the show. The product is scheduled to be available in North America in about 6 weeks.

InShape - Alexander Thomsen With my urging, and the support from Normen, InShape has spent the last seven months rewriting their key-frame video rendering package. It can be used to create photo-realistic animations using CAD 3D objects and multiple light sources and cameras. It allows the user to be the movie director, adjusting the positioning of everything in the scene and directing the movement of objects.

Xenomorph (Phoenix) - Lexicor Lexicor had their German distributor demonstrating Phoenix, Lexicor's scene rendering package. Phoenix is unique in the fact that it integrates with the original Cyber Control desk accessory that was written by Tom Hudson in 1987. Using Cyber Control and Phoenix, a user can write complex scripts to automate the movement of objects in between recording frames. This allows the user to easily create animations of things like roller coasters shot from the perspective of a rider in the first car.

Cubase Audio - Steinberg Steinberg showed Cubase Audio, their Direct-to-Disk recording system that requires only a Falcon. Cubase Audio was the hit of the Frankfurt Music Messe, where Yamaha allegedly were extremely upset because Cubase Audio for Falcon would not require Yamaha's several thousand dollar CBX-D5 as it does on the Mac and PC. Cubase Audio allows the user to integrate CD-quality digital audio along with MIDI data in the familiar Cubase user interface.

Musicom - Compo Another big hit at the Video Wall was Musicom, a consumer-oriented direct to disk recording system. Musicom has many fun-to-use features, including Karaoke. Armin Hirschteter, the author of Musicom (as well as singer and musician) demonstrated the Falcon and Musicom to crowds of well over 200 people at times, completely blocking all four aisles at the corner of our stand.

Digitape - Trade It Digitape is another multi-track direct-to-disk recording system. It has a unique modular approach, much like putting stereo components together. Digitape allows the user to create multi-track master tapes that allow the user to record on to two tracks while playing back mixed-down previously recorded tracks similar to how one creates professional recordings with conventional tape equipment.

Humans, Llamazap, Road Riot 4WD, Raiden, Space Junk - Atari Corp. All of the Atari project games were very well received by show attendees. During the Video Wall demonstrations, members of the audience were allowed to play Llamazap on the video wall using a Falcon Controller that was fitted with a 25 foot long cable. There were also nightly gaming "contests" on the video wall after the show.

PAMS Net/F - PAM Software PAM Software is taking advantage of the improved parallel port and now supporting low-cost parallel port Ethernet adapters with their network.

Bionet Falcon - Biodata Biodata showed their network running on the LocalTalk hardware built-in to Falcon.

32 MHz Accelerator w/ram expansion - GE Soft GE Soft showed a very impressive hardware accelerator that plugs into the processor direct slot on Falcon. It enables the Falcon to run at speeds comparable to a TT. The card can accept up to 128 megabytes of TT ram using commonly available SIMMs. When populated with expansion ram, you must use an external keyboard however, as there is not enough room inside the Falcon's case for everything.

Falcon Speed - Compo Falcon Speed was displayed on the Atari stand as well as the Heim Verlag Software Distribution booth. The version they were showing operated many times faster than most PC's running windows, because of the fact that they take advantage of the Falcon's video architecture. During the course of the show, they announced that they got full color support running and would be shipping the color version within a few weeks. (The current version does run in Windows color modes, although it displays in dithered black and white, as on many PC laptops.)

The Video Wall Events There were regular showings at the video wall, hosted by Armin Hirschteter(sp?), author of Compo's Musicom. The demonstrations were produced by Armin, Compo and Team Computer Video Productions of Germany. The show integrated the Falcon's Video Titling, as well as Digital recording and DSP abilities. Klaus Kramer from Team had a remote-controlled camera attached to the stand and was able to direct it at Armin or people in the crowd. Musicom was used to record Armin's guitar playing and then affect it using Flanging, delay and other effects. Next, This One's for You by Elton John was played back from the hard disk and the Karaoke effect was used to remove the vocal. Armin would then sing along with it instead and the audience loved it.

Toward the last half of the fair, as everyone's confidence was built up, small alterations to the script were added. Klaus Kramer from Team had created an little animated character that would comment on Armin's singing during using the titling software from Overscan, which really drove home the Multimedia aspects of Falcon as Armin interacted with the little creature on the video wall. Theo Breurs from Compo also served as a shill in the audience, asking people whether or not they thought it was really Armin singing. When he found someone that said "no," that person was offered the chance to sing instead, with the lyrics being scrolled on the screen using Falcon.

The script to the show was altered slightly after we saw Digital Equipment's Alpha PC demo two booths away, comparing the speed of the 150MHz Alpha against a Mac Quadra and a 66 MHz '486 PC. DEC established that a reliable benchmark of the overall performance of a computer was how fast it could calculate and display a 256 color Mandelbrot set. The Mandelbrot set is the most popular example of a class of mathematics called Fractals. When the data is plotted, beautiful pictures are generated on the computer's screen. DEC showed that the Quadra took 12 seconds to create the display, the '486 took 8 and the Alpha took only 5 seconds. On our video wall, 60 feet away from DEC's demonstration, we showed the same thing being done by a low cost home computer in 4 seconds - in 16-bit true color, to the irritation of Digital Equipment. We can now start the q&a...

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Thanks Bill. I have the first question Well, the question everyone wants to ask. How is the Falcon coming along? When will it be shipping? Are there any problems?

<B.REHBOCK> I can't say I am surprised at that question, Brian. The fact of the matter is that there really are no current problems with Falcon production...

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Any word on the release date?

<B.REHBOCK> the first units are honestly (to the latest knowledge that I got from manufacturing literally minutes ago) are supposed to be on their way. We did make the mistake of jumping the gun on release dates in the time-honored tradition of the computer industry and are suffering because of it now. Right now, I can only hope that we'll see these units within the next week or so. The other problem that we have had (as far as motivation in justifying getting the burners _really, really_ cranked up has been that many (not all) of our dealers have been slow in turning in their new dealer agreements... Bob Brodie has been very frustrated as he's been calling dealers and they've been saying "You mean I really have to send that in?"

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Thanks Bill, up next is Mike Schuetz. Go Mike.

<MIKE.SCHUETZ> Hi Bill, Gruesse aus Wiesbaden,Germany! I have two questions: 1. What are the dates for this years Atari Messe in Duesseldorf? (Word here in Germany is, that there WON'T be one, at least not hosted by Atari.) 2. Is it furthermore true that all European offices will be sized down to pure sales offices with minimum staff, and that there will only be ONE warehouse for all of Europe, in the Netherlands in the future, that will supply all offices?

<B.REHBOCK> Mike, 1) What mag are you working for now? I missed you at CeBIT...

<MIKE.SCHUETZ> As you know, Atari Journal had to go out of business in January... so these questions come purely from a users stand point. I don't have any more money tied up in the Atari market other than the machines here on my desk.

<B.REHBOCK> But ST Journal did get picked up and is on the stands again, no? Anyway... There _is_ a restructuring going on in Europe, definitely not the gloom & doom that you have outlined.

<MIKE.SCHUETZ> St Journal? Never heard of that magazine in Germany before. Our mag, Atari Journal ceased to exist with the 01/93 issue.

<B.REHBOCK> (I'm sorry, I meant ST Computer; that one did go and come back, right?) It will make operations more streamlined and is designed to increase developer and user support. As far as the Messe goes, Atari Germany is working on the details right now; I do hope that dates will be announced very soon.

<MIKE.SCHUETZ> Ok, Thanks, bill.

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Interesting. Thanks Mike. Up to the microphone or terminal is Michael. Ask away Michael.

<M.HILL13> Bill, glad to have you here. When the Falcons do start arriving in the next few weeks (fingers crossed) can you give us an idea of what kind of quantity the USA will see? Im just wondering when the supply will be great enough for all of us who aren't on a waiting list. Secondly does the dealer agreement prevent mail order sales of Falcons?

<B.REHBOCK> The dealer agreement most definitely prevents mail order of Falcons without prior authorization from Atari. Based on the numbers that have crossed my desk, the numbers do look pretty satisfying, but I still encourage you to go spend money at you dealer :-)

<M.HILL13> Thanks Bill, Rising star is our local dealer.

<B.REHBOCK> (The numbers for North America _are_ serious

<B.REHBOCK> quantities to make a real market here!)

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Thanks Michael. Your turn Dave. Go Dave.

<[David] FAIRWEATHER> Aside from Cubase Audio do you know of any Sequencer software that will use the DSP to generate midi-driven sampled sounds? Cubase Audio is out of my price range.

<B.REHBOCK> I think will be seeing several DSP synthesizers in the next few months. Many of these should integrate into low-cost sequencing packages. There are other MIDI/Digital audio solutions being worked on, but I don't believe that the developers have made announcements yet and I'd hate to pre-announce products for them. James Grunke and I are absolutely thrilled with the developer response on the music side of things.

<[David] FAIRWEATHER> That's good news. Will the 1st shipment of Falcons come with Multitos installed? That's all.

<B.REHBOCK> make it, make sure you send in you warranty cards. Yes, the first Falcons will have MultiTOS 1.01 and SpeedoGDOS installed. We are trying hard to have Atari Works inserted here. If it doesn't make it, make sure you send in you warranty cards.

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Thanks Dave. Your turn Steve.

<[Steve@CNotes] S.KIEPE> Atari's credibility seems to be at an all time low. I am surprised that you couldn't FEDEX a big box of Falcon's to a dealership just to rekindle hope. Also, with the limited number of dealerships, how do you expect to crack the market? There isn't a dealership within 100 miles of my current home (Newport, RI) or my old one (San Diego). How will you get these home machines into homes?

<B.REHBOCK> I think that the only thing that will truly rekindle hope is Atari's long-term commitment to the dealer base and developer base. We have been getting a steady stream of new dealer requests and things do look very good. We are realists about the job that is ahead of us and realize that Fed Ex boxes aren't going to do the trick for the long haul. Our plans are a little more structured than that.

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Ok, Andrew is up next. Go Andrew.

<[Andrew] A.STUDER1> Why 16bit RAM? Compatibility? Cost? Is video slowed because of this? Are 16bit HiColor [:) animations feasible? Will Atari offer a Falcon upgrade policy? How about service, support, and marketing. If increased, sales could expand.

<B.REHBOCK> 16-bit ram... Cost and time to market; system slowdown... our video is _really_ fast, the games and animation stuff we've been showing proves that (as well as FalconSpeed from Compo :-) The ram is really 32-bits to the video and memory controller, BTW.

It has not been Atari's policy to offer an upgrade path. There really isn't room in the margin for it. I do see increased service, support, and marketing in the future. We do realize that those are critical elements.

<[Andrew] A.STUDER1> Re CeBit, were Falcon sales active? Do you have numbers of Falcon's sold? The software/hardware lineup is promising. Video is FAST, thanks.

<B.REHBOCK> 1) CeBIT is not a "sales" show for anyone. (I wouldn't give you sales figures if it were :-) It is primarily a showcase show. The magazine interview traffic was excellent, and the dealer inquires were more than we expected.

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Thanks Andrew. John Brenner is next.

<[John B.] J.BRENNER1> 1 I'd like to know if you saw any video packages that resemble Adobe's Premiere software or Newtek's toaster. 2, You mentioned 32 mhz accelerator with RAM upgrade for Falcon, we have heard memory expansion doesn't work on this card. 3 ... <.and do you type with one finger ? ;-0

<B.REHBOCK> DA's Vektor does a jillion things beyond the original specification, many of which are very Adobe "Premierish". There are several other video packages in the works, one or two that will cause NewTek a little bit of grief :-)

Two fingers :-)

<[John B.] J.BRENNER1> Great news thanks!

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Thanks John, up next is another Canadian, Connor from the Can RT. Go Connor.

<[Connor] CAN-ASST> Hi Bill. Has the Canadian pricing for the Falcon been set yet? And what about the Canadian dealer agreement?

<B.REHBOCK> The on-the-fly MPEG decompression will definitely open the door to the desktop video arena.

Connor, I've got to be honest with you... I have no idea. It should have happened during CeBIT, but I haven't had a chance to check since I got back. Bob or I can give you a jingle via e-mail in the next day or two...

Whoops... I've just been told that Canadian dealer pricing _was_ definitely set. Check in the dealer category here on GEnie in the next few days. (You leave for 13 days... :-)

<[Connor] CAN-ASST> Thanks Bill.

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Great news for us Canadians Bill. In the past we were us to getting the equipment before the USA. Up next is John K. Go John

<[John] JKUEHN> Bill, John Kuehn of Rockville Maryland here. My question regards using SCSI II CD-ROM drives on the ST. I realize that CD-ROMs were never officially released in the states. But, will it ever be possible to use them on the ST. That is, is ATARI still supporting the software development efforts required to provide a working version of Metados. I assume that a complete .XFS driver for MiNT/Multitos has been done, but, what about the TOS users? I have been working with two software developers on this since Nov 92. And the current status from both of them is Quote "Waiting on a resolution from ATARI". I mentioned this to Bob Brodie here on GeNIE last month and he replied that he would have to talk to you for the answer. So here I am at the proverbial Equine Oral Orifice. (Waiting for a FALCON.)

<B.REHBOCK> John, the MiNT XFS drivers _do_ work very well with just MiNT. That is the most recommended way of doing it.

John, does that answer your question?

<[John] JKUEHN> The .XFS driver that I have only supports Kodak CD_roms I need one that will read other High Sierra AND ISO 9660 CDs

<B.REHBOCK> John, there is a newer version that we'll get posted in the next week or so. We'll be doing a 100% q/a inspection on the first few hundred F030's that come in and it will be keeping us busy :-)

<[Host] BRIAN.H> GO BRUCE

<B.WELSCH> Hi Bill, What are my chances of talking you into attending the Kansas City Show,June 26th and 27th? I realize you folks have to be busy out there, but as this is a first time show, and the falcon a new computer, they sort of go together. Just think you could ride down in the semi of falcons;-)

<B.REHBOCK> Bruce, I'd personally love to come, but I can't commit right now. I'd be happy to discuss it off-line.

<B.WELSCH> in e-mail or voice? if voice give me a number and time to call you please

<B.REHBOCK> Voice... 408-745-2082 in the afternoon after 2:00 CA time. Bruce, by the way... Our factory rep base is being expanded rapidly and we can try to have a rep attend at the very least.

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Thanks Bruce, up again is John B. Go John.

<[John B.] J.BRENNER1> Sorry to ask this again but I think it is important. Is it true that the memory upgrade does _not_ work on the GE soft card

<B.REHBOCK> John, I'm sorry that that slipped through. When I saw it, it was working great. There were working out some BLiTTER problems, but none insurmountable. Who started the rumor that it didn't work anyway? :-( I don't think GESoft would appreciate it.

<[John B.] J.BRENNER1> I have read the memory board doesn't work, only the clock speed up

<B.REHBOCK> The GESoft board is not just a clock speed-up, it has a 68030 on it. The CPU and Memory both work. Definitely.

<[John B.] J.BRENNER1> Thanks for the Truth.....seing is believing. :-)

<B.REHBOCK> (There was another board that cranked the F030's CPU up to 32+ MHz.) A little on the scarcy and not Atari recommended side :-)

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Thanks Bill and John. Up next is Bill Jones

<[Bill Jones] B.BILLJONES2> How important is New England to Atari? As far as I know, not a dealer to be found. There was a dealer here in Portland ME a few years back, so there are some Atari familiar folk here. How to tap that well? I guess I'll visit Canada!

<B.REHBOCK> We have hired a very qualified rep firm in New England that is just getting up to speed. We expect to see action in the next few months. Ask your dealers to carry Atari and we'll make sure that the rep beats them up :-)

<[Bill Jones] B.BILLJONES2> Good news! Thanks!

<B.REHBOCK> PLEASE do send us dealer names! We'll forward them to the rep firms and get this boat moving!!!

<[Steve@CNotes] S.KIEPE> Will we see a real advertising push for Atari or will it be another small scale job? I ask because the Lynx, unquestionably the best handheld video game on the market, gets little name recognition = low sales (comparatively), even though it got great marks from consumer reports (zillions) and is ridiculously low priced. The other 2 competing units are everywhere with much name recognition, but the 2 Lynx's my kids have got get stares of 'what's that." Will Falcon be left to the same fate? Please be specific on plans. really

<B.REHBOCK> re: Lynx, there is a wide-scale promo that will be showing up in the next few weeks in all of the game mags. We do want to do the same or bigger with Falcon. The more dealer area we have in the wings, the larger the scale it will be. Sorry Steve, the dealers will get the details first.

<[Steve@CNotes] S.KIEPE> It seems like a vicious circle - require dealers for Atari to mount a large ad campaign, but there won't be dealers without a market.

<B.REHBOCK> Ah, but you are wrong... we are signing up dealers right now.

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Thanks Steve, up next is Jonesy

<[Jonesy] M.JONES52> Welcome, Bill, and thanks. I'm curious about the DEC/Alpha thing, more specifically, as to whether anyone from DEC strolled over to the Atari stand to talk.

<B.REHBOCK> Ho, you bet they came over. The fractal thing is a loaded benchmark anyway you cut it. We just called their bluff.

<[Jonesy] M.JONES52> That's all for now, thanks.

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Up next is Die Hard ATARI!!!!!

<[Die/!\Hard] D.VICHA> Last Friday, somebody mentioned Autodesk Animator in conjunction with the Falcon at CeBit. Are they signed? And are there any disgruntled NeXT devs in Germany looking to change gears for the Falcon?

<B.REHBOCK> We have been signing up a good number of NeXT devs, but they are taking a while to get their feet wet. The NeXTstep (software-only) devs will be ok with the '486, but those that liked the hardware are taking a good look at Atari.

AutoDesk U.S. is not officially doing anything active currently. There still is some CyberPaint Falcon activity (so I've been told.)

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Thanks Die Hard ATARI Up next is John. Go John.

<[John] JKUEHN> Bill, What is new on the Kodak Photo CD front? And who are the current players/developers doing PCD?

<B.REHBOCK> PCD Developer material is ready to go.

<[John] JKUEHN> The PCD Toolkit is done?

<B.REHBOCK> The cost of the development kit is $700 (same as the Kodak kits) and we are taking orders as of today. The kit comes with Pure C, GCC, bindings and Lattice bindings are being reved and will be ready in about a week.

<[John] JKUEHN> ST or Falcon or both?

<B.REHBOCK> It will work for all TOS Systems. BTW, I do want to mention on the animation front that Meridian from Lexicor is looking really good and should give users a lot of flexibility

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Great Bill. Thanks for the questions John K. The last question for the night was from Jim Ness but...

but he left to post it in the BBS: Rumour is that Atari will not ship US Falcons unless more dealers are signed up! Any truth in this rumour??

<B.REHBOCK> Errrrng! Wrong, Jim Ness! Thank you for playing our game. :-) Is that clear enough?

<[Host] BRIAN.H> For me it is. Thanks for clearing up the rumour. Thanks Jim for asking it. We're drawing to a close for the formal portion of the CeBit RTC. Before I put the room into Frenzy Mode, do you have any closing words, Bill?

<B.REHBOCK> Once again, I do wish to especially thank the developers that have been working with us on Falcon030 software. There is a boatload of great stuff in the wings from _many_ U.S. developers that will knock everyone's sock off. Yamaha U.S. has been working with us closely on promoting the Falcon and CBX-D5 direct to disk recording system with pro-audio A/D's-D/A's, and I can hardly wait for some of the apps from our old stand-bys! Thanks again!

<[Host] BRIAN.H> Great news Bill. I wish to thank you Bill for attending tonight RTC. I also wish to thank all the attendees for their questions and patience. In frenzy mode ...now!

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<[James] B.ABELL> James Grunke - Any news on Notator Audio for the Falcon?

<JAMES-GRUNKE> Re: You'd have to ask them directly for an official announcement on Logic Audio. EMAGIC has a machine and they are pretty excited about the hardware.

<G.ZEPKA1> Bill, what is the price for dev docs on falcon

<B.REHBOCK> G.Z. please contact 408-745-2022 for dev kit details.

<B.REHBOCK> We will run as lean and mean as we have to to make Falcon work world-wide! Jack and Sam really do believe in the product, but they do realize that the market is rough and that margins are really, really tough nowadays. That's going to mean even more belt tightening if necessary, but we _will_ be here.

<[Rob] R.ANISKO> Atari has the "luxury" of some pretty loyal users which helps out in times like these...

<B.REHBOCK> Jack made a strong commitment to me during CeBIT regarding Falcon Software development, and he definitely doesn't intend to roll over.

REAL TIME CONFERENCE SCHEDULE - All RTC's begin at 10:00 p.m. --------------------------------------------------------------- April 12 - Pradip Fatehpuria - author of Atari Works April 14 - Dateline Atari! with Bob Brodie and James Grunke Win a free subscription to Atari Explorer. April 19 - Nathan Potechin - Outline Art 3.0 Win a FREE COPY of OL3 or equal value fonts! April 21 - Purple Mountain Computers (PMC) RTC- Oscar, Darek, Don April 28 - ABC Solution RTC May 5 - Missionware RTC with John R. Trautschold DOOR PRIZE FLASH II 2.1 ------------------------------------------------------------