Conference hydra::amiga_v1

3883.0. "The Amiga CDTV" by KAHUNA::SUMNER () Thu Jun 28 1990 14:38

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 Edition : 2097             Thursday 28-Jun-1990            Circulation :  8308 
VNS COMPUTER NEWS:                            [Tracy Talcott, VNS Computer Desk]
==================                            [Nashua, NH, USA                 ]

 Commodore - Shows Amiga-based CD ROM interactive system
	{InfoWorld, 11-Jun-90, p. ?}
	{Contributed by: Wes Plouff}
   The first interactive CD ROM-based system for home and educational use was
 shown here last week by Commodore International at the Consumer Electronics
 Show.
   The CDTV player contains an Amiga personal computer, minus the keyboard and
 floppy disk drive, which will be available as options, Commodore said. CDTV
 will be available September 1 for under $1,000, said Nolan K. Bushnell,
 general manager of Commodore's recently formed interactive consumer products
 division.
   Enthusiasm for CDTV came from developers of Compact Disc-Interactive
 (CD-I) applications, which have been frustrated by the protracted rollout of
 CD-I machines from Phillips and Sony.
   "Other personal computer makers will have to enter this market, and this
 will be there a year before CD-I," said Peter Black, president of Xiphias
 Corp., which is porting its Macintosh CD ROM, _Time Table of History_, to
 CDTV. Apple has sold only 1,500 to 2,000 Macintosh CD ROMs so far and has
 failed to create the mass market or momentum necessary to spawn CD ROM titles,
 Black said.
   Although multimedia experts such as consultant Tony Bove dismiss mass
 market, read-only CD ROM technology as too inflexible for business training
 applications, Commodore officials stress the low cost of CDTV, as well as
 Commodore's recently introduced Amigavision multimedia development system.
   Bushnell expects more than 100 titles, ranging from on-line encyclopedias
 and foreign language dictionaries to games. CDTV connects directly to a
 television set and home stereo unit. A hand-held remote control operates the
 player, and commodore will offer additional controls including a cordless
 mouse. CDTV will also accept a video genlocking card for mixing computer
 graphics with live video. The CDTV player is also compatible with conventional
 CD audio discs.
   Commodore International, 1200 Wilson Drive, West Chester, PA; (215) 431-9100.


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    Neat things are a happening!!!!!!!
    
    Ray