Apple II series

The Apple II series (trademarked with square brackets as "Apple ][" and rendered on later models as "Apple //") is a family of home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.), and launched in 1977 with the original Apple II.
In terms of ease of use, features, and expandability, the Apple II was a major advancement over its predecessor, the Apple I, a limited-production bare circuit board computer for electronics hobbyists. Through 1988, a number of models were introduced, with the most popular, the Apple IIe, remaining relatively unchanged into the 1990s.
A 16-bit model with much more advanced graphics and sound, the Apple II, was added in 1986. While compatible with earlier Apple II systems, the II had significantly different hardware, more in league with the Atari ST and Amiga.
The Apple II was first sold on June 10, 1977. By the end of production in 1993, somewhere between five and six million Apple II series computers (including about 1.25 million Apple II models) had been produced. The Apple II was one of the longest running mass-produced home computer series, with models in production for just under 17 years.
The Apple II became one of several recognizable and successful computers during the 1980s and early 1990s, although this was mainly limited to the US. It was aggressively marketed through volume discounts and manufacturing arrangements to educational institutions, which made it the first computer in widespread use in American secondary schools, displacing the early leader Commodore PET. The effort to develop educational and business software for the Apple II, including the 1979 release of the popular VisiCalc spreadsheet, made the computer especially popular with business users and families.
Despite the introduction of the Motorola 68000-based Macintosh in 1984, the Apple II series still reportedly accounted for 85% of the company's hardware sales in the first quarter of fiscal 1985. Apple continued to sell Apple II systems alongside the Macintosh until terminating the II in December 1992 and the IIe in November 1993. The last II-series Apple in production, the IIe card for Macintoshes, was discontinued on October 15, 1993. The total Apple II sales of all of its models during its 16-year production run were about 6 million units, with the peak occurring in 1983 when 1 million were sold.
Hardware.
All the machines in the series, except the //c, shared similar overall design elements. The plastic case was designed to look more like a home appliance than a piece of electronic equipment, and the machine could be opened without the use of tools, allowing access to the computer's internals.
The motherboard held eight expansion slots and an array of random access memory (RAM) sockets that could hold up to 48 kilobytes. Over the course of the Apple II series' life, an enormous amount of first- and third-party hardware was made available to extend the capabilities of the machine.
The //c was designed as a compact, portable unit, not intended to be disassembled, and could not use most of the expansion hardware sold for the other machines in the series.
All machines in the Apple II series had a built-in keyboard, with the exception of the IIgs which had a separate keyboard.
Apple IIs had color and high-resolution graphics modes, sound capabilities and a built-in BASIC programming language. The Apple II was targeted for the masses rather than just hobbyists and engineers, and influenced many of the microcomputers that followed it. Unlike preceding home microcomputers, it was sold as a finished consumer appliance rather than as a kit (unassembled or preassembled). The Apple II series eventually supported over 1,500 software programs.
Apple marketed the machine as a durable product, including a 1981 ad in which an Apple II survived a fire started when a cat belonging to one early user knocked over a lamp.
Software.
The original Apple II provided an operating system in ROM along with a BASIC variant called Integer BASIC. The only form of storage available was cassette tape.
When the Disk II floppy disk drive was released in 1978, a new operating system, Apple DOS, was commissioned from Shepardson Microsystems and developed by Paul Laughton, adding support for the disk drive. The final and most popular version of this software was Apple DOS 3.3.
Apple DOS was superseded by ProDOS, which supported a hierarchical filesystem and larger storage devices. With an optional third-party Z80-based expansion card, the Apple II could boot into the CP/M operating system and run WordStar, dBase II, and other CP/M software. With the release of MousePaint in 1984 and the Apple II in 1986, the platform took on the look of the Macintosh user interface, including a mouse.
Apple eventually released Applesoft BASIC, a more advanced variant of the language which users could run instead of Integer BASIC for more capabilities.
Some commercial Apple II software booted directly and did not use standard DOS disk formats. This discouraged the copying or modifying of the software on the disks, and improved loading speed.
Models.
Apple II.
The first Apple II computers went on sale on June 10, 1977 with a MOS Technology 6502 (later Synertek) microprocessor running at 1.023 MHz, 4 KB of RAM, an audio cassette interface for loading programs and storing data, and the Integer BASIC programming language built into the ROMs. The video controller displayed 40 columns by 24 lines of monochrome, upper-case-only (the original character set matches ASCII characters 0x20 to 0x5F) text on the screen, with NTSC composite video output suitable for display on a TV monitor, or on a regular TV set by way of a separate RF modulator. The original retail price of the computer was US$1298(with 4 KB of RAM) and US$2638 (with the maximum 48 KB of RAM). To reflect the computer's color graphics capability, the Apple logo on the casing was represented using rainbow stripes, which remained a part of Apple's corporate logo until early 1998. The earliest Apple IIs were assembled in Silicon Valley, and later in Texas; printed circuit boards were manufactured in Ireland and Singapore.
An external 5-inch floppy disk drive, the Disk II, attached via a controller card that plugged into one of the computer's expansion slots (usually slot 6), was used for data storage and retrieval to replace cassettes. The Disk II interface, created by Steve Wozniak, was regarded as an engineering masterpiece for its economy of electronic components.
Rather than having a dedicated sound-synthesis chip, the Apple II had a toggle circuit that could only emit a click through a built-in speaker or a line out jack; all other sounds (including two, three and, eventually, four-voice music and playback of audio samples and speech synthesis) were generated entirely by software that clicked the speaker at just the right times.
The Apple II's multiple expansion slots permitted a wide variety of third-party devices, including Apple II peripheral cards such as serial controllers, display controllers, memory boards, hard disks, networking components, and realtime clocks. There were plug-in expansion cards – such as the Z-80 SoftCard – that permitted the Apple to use the Z80 processor and run a multitude of programs developed under the CP/M operating system, including the dBase II database and the WordStar word processor. There was also a third-party 6809 card that would allow OS-9 Level One to be run. Third-party sound cards greatly improved audio capabilities, allowing simple music synthesis and text-to-speech functions. Eventually, Apple II accelerator cards were created to double or quadruple the computer's speed.
Rod Holt designed the Apple II's power supply. He employed a switched-mode power supply design, which was far smaller and generated less unwanted heat than the linear power supply some other home computers used.
The original Apple II was discontinued at the start of 1981, having been superseded by the Apple II+. By 1984, over six million machines had been sold.
Apple II Plus.
The Apple II Plus, introduced in June 1979, included the Applesoft BASIC programming language in ROM. This Microsoft-authored dialect of BASIC, which was previously available as an upgrade, supported floating-point arithmetic, and became the standard BASIC dialect on the Apple II series (though it ran at a noticeably slower speed than Steve Wozniak's Integer BASIC).
Except for improved graphics and disk-booting support in the ROM, and the removal of the 2k 6502 assembler/disassembler to make room for the floating point BASIC, the II+ was otherwise identical to the original II. RAM prices fell during 1980–81 and all II+ machines came from the factory with a full 48k of memory already installed.
Apple II Europlus and J-Plus.
After the success of the first Apple II in the United States, Apple expanded its market to include Europe, Australia and the Far East in 1979, with the Apple II Europlus (Europe, Australia) and the Apple II J-Plus (Japan). In these models, Apple made the necessary hardware, software and firmware changes in order to comply to standards outside of the US.
Apple IIe.
The Apple II Plus was followed in 1983 by the Apple IIe, a cost-reduced yet more powerful machine that used newer chips to reduce the component count and add new features, such as the display of upper and lowercase letters and a standard 64 KB of RAM.
The IIe RAM was configured as if it were a 48 KB Apple II Plus with a language card. The machine had no slot 0, but instead had an auxiliary slot that could accept a 1 KB memory card to enable the 80-column display. This card contained only RAM; the hardware and firmware for the 80-column display was built into the Apple IIe. An "extended 80-column card" with more memory increased the machine's RAM to 128 KB.
The Apple IIe was the most popular machine in the Apple II series. It has the distinction of being the longest-lived Apple computer of all time—it was manufactured and sold with only minor changes for nearly 11 years. The IIe was the last Apple II model to be sold, and was discontinued in November 1993.
During its lifespan two variations were introduced: the Apple IIe Enhanced (four replacement chips to give it some of the features of the later model Apple IIc) and the Apple IIe Platinum (a modernized case color to match other Apple products of the era, along with the addition of a numeric keypad).
Some of the feature of the IIe were carried over from the less successful "Apple III", among them the ProDOS operating system.
Apple IIc.
The Apple IIc was released in April 1984, billed as a portable Apple II because it could be easily carried due to its size and carrying handle, which could be flipped down to prop the machine up into a typing position. Unlike modern portables it lacked a built-in display and battery. It was the first of three Apple II models to be made in the Snow White design language, and the only one that used its unique creamy off-white color.
The Apple IIc was the first Apple II to use the 65C02 low-power variant of the 6502 processor, and featured a built-in 5.25-inch floppy drive and 128 KB RAM, with a built-in disk controller that could control external drives, composite video (NTSC or PAL), serial interfaces for modem and printer, and a port usable by either a joystick or mouse. Unlike previous Apple II models, the IIc had no internal expansion slots at all.
Two different monochrome LCD displays were sold for use with the IIc's video expansion port, although both were short-lived due to high cost and poor legibility. The IIc had an external power supply that converted AC power to 12 V DC, allowing third parties to offer battery packs and automobile power adapters that connected in place of the supplied AC adapter.
Apple II.
The Apple II, released on September 15, 1986, was the last model in the Apple II series, and a radical departure from the prior computers in the line. It featured a true 16-bit microprocessor, the 65C816 operating at with 24-bit addressing, allowing expansion up to 8 MB of RAM. It introduced a palette of 4096 colors and new graphics modes with resolutions of 320×200 and 640×400.
The Apple II evolved and advanced the platform while still maintaining near-complete backward compatibility. Its Mega II chip contained the functional equivalent of an entire Apple IIe computer (sans processor). This, combined with the 65816's ability to execute 65C02 code directly, provided full support for legacy software, while also supporting 16-bit software running under a new OS.
The new OS eventually included a Macintosh-like graphical Finder for managing disks and files and opening documents and applications, along with desk accessories. Eventually, the II gained the ability to read and write Macintosh disks and, through third-party software, even multitasking (in the form of a Unix-type shell) and TrueType font support.
The GS includes a 32-voice Ensoniq 5503 DOC sample-based sound synthesizer chip with 64 KB dedicated RAM, 256 KB (or later 1.125 MB) of standard RAM, built-in peripheral ports (switchable between IIe-style card slots and IIc-style onboard controllers for disk drives, mouse, RGB video, and serial devices) and, built-in AppleTalk networking.
Apple IIc Plus.
The final Apple II model was the Apple IIc Plus introduced in 1988. It was the same size and shape as the IIc that came before it, but the 5.25-inch floppy drive had been replaced with a 3-inch drive, the power supply was moved inside the case, and the processor was a fast 65C02 processor that actually ran 8-bit Apple II software faster than the II.
The IIc Plus also featured a new keyboard layout that matched the Platinum IIe and II. Unlike the IIe IIc and II, the IIc Plus came only in one version (American) and was not officially sold anywhere outside the US. The Apple IIc Plus ceased production in 1990, with its two-year production run being the shortest of all the Apple II computers.
Apple IIe Card.
Although not an extension of the Apple II line, in 1990 the Apple IIe Card, an expansion card for the LC line of Macintosh computers, was released. Essentially a miniaturized Apple IIe computer on a card (using the Mega II chip from the Apple II), it allowed the Macintosh to run 8-bit Apple IIe software through hardware emulation (although video was emulated in software and was slower at times than a IIe).
Many of the LC's built-in Macintosh peripherals could be "borrowed" by the card when in Apple II mode (i.e. extra RAM, 3.5-inch floppy, AppleTalk networking, hard disk). The IIe card could not, however, run software intended for the 16-bit Apple II.
Advertising, marketing, and packaging.
Mike Markkula, a retired Intel marketing manager, provided the early critical funding for Apple Computer. From 1977 to 1981, Apple used the Regis McKenna agency for its advertisements and marketing. In 1981, Chiat-Day acquired Regis McKenna's advertising operations and Apple used Chiat-Day. At Regis McKenna Advertising, the team assigned to launch the Apple II consisted of Rob Janoff, art director, Chip Schafer, copywriter and Bill Kelley, account executive. Janoff came up with the Apple logo with a bite out of it. The design was originally an olive green with matching company logotype all in lower case. Steve Jobs insisted on promoting the color capability of the Apple II by putting rainbow stripes on the Apple logo. In its letterhead and business card implementation, the rounded "a" of the logotype echoed the "bite" in the logo. This logo was developed simultaneously with an advertisement and a brochure; the latter being produced for distribution initially at the first West Coast Computer Faire.
Since the original Apple II, Apple has paid high attention to its quality of packaging, partly because of Steve Jobs' personal preferences and opinions on packaging and final product appearance. All of Apple's packaging for the Apple II series looked similar, featuring much clean white space and showing the Apple rainbow logo prominently. For several years up until the late 1980s, Apple used the Motter Tektura font for packaging, until changing to the Apple Garamond font.
Apple ran the first advertisement for the Apple II, a two-page spread ad titled "Introducing Apple II", in "BYTE" in July 1977. The first brochure, was entitled "Simplicity" and the copy in both the ad and brochure pioneered "demystifying" language intended to make the new idea of a home computer more "personal." The Apple II introduction ad was later run in the September 1977 issue of "Scientific American".
Apple later aired eight television commercials for the Apple II, emphasizing its benefits to education and students, along with some print ads.
Clones.
The Apple II was frequently cloned, both in the United States and abroad, in a similar way to the IBM PC. According to some sources (see below), more than 190 different models of Apple II clones were manufactured. Most could not be legally imported into the United States. Apple sued and sought criminal charges against clone makers in more than a dozen countries.
Without explicitly stating that they were Apple II clones, many had fruit-related names. Examples were the Pineapple and ACT Apricot. Apple successfully forced the "Pineapple," for instance, to change its name to "Pinecom".
Agat was a series of Apple II compatible computers produced in the Soviet Union between 1984 and 1993, widely used in schools in the 80's. The first mass-produced models, the Agat 4 and Agat 7, had different memory layouts and video modes to Apple II, which made them only partially compatible with Apple II software.
Agats were not direct clones of Apple II, but rather uniquely designed computers based on 6502 CPU and emulated Apple II architecture. That helped developers to port Apple II software titles to Agat. A later model, the Agat 9, had an Apple II compatibility mode out of the box. Soviet engineers and enthusiasts developed thousands of software titles for Agat, including system software, business applications and educational software.
Bulgarian Pravetz Series 8 was an Apple II clone with Cyrillic support.
Basis, a German company, created the Basis 108, a clone for the Apple II that included both a 6502 processor and the Zilog Z80, allowing it to run the CP/M operating system as well as most Apple II software. This machine was unusual in that it was housed in a heavy cast aluminum chassis. The Basis 108 was equipped with built-in Centronics (parallel) and RS232c (serial) ports, as well as the standard six Apple II compatible slots. Unlike the Apple II it came with a detached full-stroke keyboard (AZERTY/QWERTY) of 100 keys plus 15 functions keys and separate numeric and editing keypads.
Another European Apple II clone was the Pearcom Pear II, which was larger as the original as it sported not eight but fourteen expansion slots. It also had a numerical keypad. Pearcom initially used a pear shaped rainbow logo, but stopped after Apple threatened to take legal action.
A Bosnian company named IRIS Computers (subsidiary of an electric company in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Yugoslavia ENERGOINVEST) produced Apple II clones starting in the early 1980s. Their official brand name was IRIS 8. They were very expensive and hard to obtain and were produced primarily for use in early computerized digital telephone systems and for education. Their use in offices of state companies, R&D labs and in the Yugoslav army was also reported. IRIS 8 machines looked like early IBM PCs, with a separate central unit accompanied by a cooling system and two 5.25-inch disks, monitor, and keyboard. Compatibility with the original Apple II was complete. Elite high schools in Yugoslavia and especially Bosnia and Herzegovina were equipped with clusters of 8, 16, or 32 IRIS 8 computers connected in a local network administrated by an IRIS 16 PC clone. The number of IRIS 8s produced is believed to be on the order of 10 or 20 thousand.
An Australian-produced clone of the Apple II was the Medfly, named after the Mediterranean fruit fly that attacks apples. The Medfly computer featured a faster processor, more memory, detached keyboard, lower and upper case characters, and a built-in disk controller.
Until 1992 in Brazil, it was illegal to import microcomputers. Because of that, the illegal cloning industry of Apple II-based computers was strong there. In the early 1980s, there were around 20 different clones of Apple II Plus computers in that country, all of them using illegally copied software and hardware (since the Apple II and II Plus used commonly available TTL integrated circuits). Some of the names include Elppa ("Apple" spelled backwards), Maxtro, Exato MC4000 (by CCE), AP II (by Unitron), and even an "Apple II Plus" (manufactured by a company called Milmar, which was using the name illegally). There were only two clones of the Apple IIe, since it used custom IC chips that could not be copied, and therefore had to be reversed-engineered and developed in the country. These clones were the TK3000 IIe by Microdigital and Exato IIe by CCE. In addition, the Laser IIc was manufactured by Milmar and, despite the name, was a clone of the Apple II Plus, not of the Apple IIc, although it had a design similar to that of the Apple IIc, with an integrated floppy controller and 80-column card, but without an integrated floppy disk drive.
The Ace clones from Franklin Computer Corporation were the best known Apple II clones and had the most lasting impact, as Franklin copied Apple's ROMs and software and freely admitted to doing so. Franklin's response was that a computer's ROM was simply a pattern of switches locked into a fixed position, and one cannot copyright a pattern of switches. Apple fought Franklin in court for about five years to get its clones off the market, and was ultimately successful when a court ruled that software stored in ROM was in fact copyrightable in the US. (See "Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp.") Franklin later released non-infringing but less-compatible clones; these could run ProDOS and AppleWorks and had an Applesoft-like BASIC, but compatibility with other software was hit-or-miss.
Apple also challenged VTech's Laser 128, an enhanced clone of the Apple IIc first released in 1984, in court. This suit proved less fruitful for Apple, because VTech had reverse-engineered the Monitor ROM rather than copying it and had licensed Applesoft BASIC from its creator, Microsoft. Apple had neglected to obtain exclusive rights to the Applesoft dialect of BASIC from Microsoft; VTech was the first cloner to license it. The Laser 128 proved popular and remained on the market for many years, both in its original form and in accelerated versions that ran faster than . Although it was not fully compatible with the Apple II, it was close, and its popularity ensured that most major developers tested their software on a Laser as well as on genuine Apple machines. Because it was frequently sold via mail order and mass-market retailers such as Sears, the Laser 128 cut into the sales of low-cost competitors such as Commodore Business Machines as much as it did Apple's.
While the first Apple II clones were generally exact copies of their Apple counterparts that competed mainly on price, many clones had extra capabilities too. A Franklin model, the Ace 1000, sported a numeric keypad and lower-case long before these features were added to the Apple II line. The Laser 128 series is sometimes credited with spurring Apple to release the Apple IIc Plus; the built-in 3-inch drive and accelerated processor were features Laser had pioneered. The Laser 128 also had a IIe-style expansion slot on the side that could be used to add peripheral cards.
Bell & Howell, an audiovisual equipment manufacturer whose products (particularly film projectors) were ubiquitous in American schools, offered what appeared at first glance to be an Apple II Plus clone in a distinctive black plastic case. However, these were in fact real Apple II Plus units manufactured by Apple for B&H for a brief period of time. Many schools had a few of these Black Apples in their labs.
ITT made the ITT 2020, a licensed Apple II Plus clone, in the UK. It has the same shape as the Apple II but was matte silver (it was sometimes known as the "silver Apple") and was not an exact copy functionally. The ITT2020 produced a PAL video signal for the European market, where the domestic US market used NTSC. Software using the BIOS worked correctly on both the Apple and ITT, but software written to access the Apple's display hardware directly, bypassing the BIOS, displayed with vertical stripes on the ITT 2020. The Apple II itself was later introduced in the UK, and both the Apple II and ITT 2020 were sold for a time, the ITT at a lower price.
Syscom 2 Inc (from Carson City, NV) created the Syscom 2 Apple II+ clone. The case looked nearly identical. It had 48 KB of RAM and the normal expansion capabilities. These clones also supported lower case characters, toggled with a ^O keystroke.
An unknown company produced a clone called the RX-8800. One new feature it had was a numeric keypad.
The SEKON, made in Taiwan, had the same color plastic case as an Apple ][, sported 48 KB of RAM standard, and a lower-uppercase switch, located where the power light indicator was typically situated on Apple II's. Additionally, it featured a 5-amp power supply which supplied ample power for add-on cards. SEKON avoided shipments being confiscated by US Customs, by shipping their computers without ROMs, leaving it to the dealers to populate the boards upon arrival to their private stores. Often these machines would boot up with a familiar logo of the Apple II after the dealers removed E-proms of original Apple ROMs and added them in. The reason for such activity was so that users could obtain a fully Apple-compatible clone for usually around US$600, as opposed to US$2500 from Apple.
Norwegian company West Computer AS introduced an Apple II clone West PC-800 in 1984. The computer was designed as an alarm center allowing use of several CPUs (6502, Z80, 8086, 68000) and operating systems.<ref name="Mikrodata 3/1985"></ref>
Although not technically a clone, Quadram produced an add-in ISA card, called the Quadlink, that provided hardware emulation of an Apple II+ for the IBM PC. The card had its own 6502 CPU and dedicated 80 K RAM (64 K for applications, plus 16 K to hold a reverse-engineered Apple ROM image, loaded at boot-time), and installed "between" the PC and its floppy drive(s), color display, and speaker, in a pass-through configuration. This allowed the PC to operate in a dual-boot fashion: when booted through the Quadlink, the PC could run the majority of Apple II software, and read and write Apple-formatted floppies through the standard PC floppy drive. Because it had a dedicated processor, rather than any form of software emulation, this system ran at nearly the same speed as an equivalent Apple machine. Another company, Diamond Computer Systems, produced a similar card called the Trackstar, that had a dual pair of 6502 CPUs, and ran Apple II software using an Apple licensed ROM. The original Trackstar (and "128" and "Plus" model) was Apple II Plus compatible, while the "Trackstar E", Apple IIe compatible. The original offered 64K of usable Apple II RAM, while the other models 128K RAM (192K is on board, with the additional memory reserved for the Trackstar itself). The original Trackstar also contained a Z80 CPU, allowing it to run both Apple DOS and Apple CP/M software, however the newer Trackstar models did not, and thus dropped CP/M compatibility. The Trackstar also had a connector allowing use of an actual Apple floppy drive, which enhanced its compatibility with software that took advantage of Apple hardware for copy-protection.
Data storage.
Cassette.
Originally the Apple II used Compact Cassette tapes for program and data storage. A dedicated tape recorder along the lines of the Commodore Datasette was never produced; Apple recommended using the Panasonic RQ309 in some of its early printed documentation. The uses of common consumer cassette recorders and a standard video monitor or television set (with a third party R-F modulator) made the total cost of owning an Apple II less expensive and helped contribute to the Apple II's success.
Cassette storage may have been inexpensive, but it was also slow and unreliable. The Apple II's lack of a disk drive was "a glaring weakness" in what was otherwise intended to be a polished, professional product. Recognizing that the II needed a disk drive to be taken seriously, Apple set out to develop a disk drive and a DOS to run it. Wozniak spent the 1977 Christmas holidays designing a disk controller that reduced the number of chips used by a factor of 10 compared to existing controllers. Still lacking a DOS, and with Wozniak inexperienced in operating system design, Jobs approached Shepardson Microsystems with the project. On April 10, 1978 Apple signed a contract for $13,000 with Sheperdson to develop the DOS.
Even after disk drives made the cassette tape interfaces obsolete they were still used by enthusiasts as simple one-bit audio input-output ports. Ham radio operators used the cassette input to receive slow scan TV (single frame images). A commercial speech recognition Blackjack program was available, after some user-specific voice training it would recognize simple commands (Hit, stand). Bob Bishop's "Music Kaleidoscope" was a simple program that monitored the cassette input port and based on zero-crossings created color patterns on the screen, a predecessor to current audio visualization plug-ins for media players. Music Kaleidoscope was especially popular on projection TV sets in dance halls.
Disk.
Apple and many third-party developers made software available on tape at first, but after the Disk II became available in 1978, tape-based Apple II software essentially disappeared from the market. The initial price of the Disk II drive and controller was US$595, although a $100 off coupon was available through the Apple newsletter "Contact". The controller could handle two drives and a second drive (without controller) retailed for $495.
The Disk II single-sided floppy drive used 5.25-inch floppy disks; double-sided disks could be used, one side at a time, by turning them over and notching a hole for the write protect sensor. The first disk operating systems for the were and DOS 3.2, which stored 113.75 KB on each disk, organized into 35 tracks of 13 256-byte sectors each. After about two years, DOS 3.3 was introduced, storing 140 KB thanks to a minor firmware change on the disk controller that allowed it to store 16 sectors per track. (This upgrade was user-installable as two PROMs on older controllers.) After the release of DOS 3.3, the user community discontinued use of except for running legacy software. Programs that required DOS 3.2 were fairly rare; however, as DOS 3.3 was not a major architectural change aside from the number of sectors per track, a program called MUFFIN was provided with DOS 3.3 to allow users to copy files from DOS 3.2 disks to DOS 3.3 disks. It was possible for software developers to create a DOS 3.2 disk which would also boot on a system with firmware.
Later, double-sided drives, with heads to read both sides of the disk, became available from third-party companies. (Apple only produced double-sided 5.25-inch disks for the Lisa 1 computer).
On a DOS 3.x disk, tracks 0, 1, and most of track 2 were reserved to store the operating system. (It was possible, with a special utility, to reclaim most of this space for data if a disk did not need to be bootable.) A short ROM program on the disk controller had the ability to seek to track zero which it did without regard for the read/write head's current position, resulting in the characteristic "chattering" sound of a Disk II boot, which was the read/write head hitting the rubber stop block at the end of the rail – and read and execute code from sector 0. The code contained in there would then pull in the rest of the operating system. DOS stored the disk's directory on track 17, smack in the middle of the 35-track disks, in order to reduce the average seek time to the frequently used directory track. The directory was fixed in size and could hold a maximum of 105 files. Subdirectories were not supported.
Most game publishers did not include DOS on their floppy disks, since they needed the memory it occupied more than its capabilities; instead, they often wrote their own boot loaders and read-only file systems. This also served to discourage "crackers" from snooping around in the game's copy-protection code, since the data on the disk was not in files that could be accessed easily.
Some third-party manufacturers produced floppy drives that could write 40 tracks to most 5.25-inch disks, yielding 160 KB of storage per disk, but the format did not catch on widely, and no known commercial software was published on 40-track media. Most drives, even Disk IIs, could write 36 tracks; a two byte modification to DOS to format the extra track was common.
The Apple Disk II stored 140 KB on single-sided, "single-density" floppy disks, but it was very common for Apple II users to extend the capacity of a single-sided floppy disk to 280 KB by cutting out a second write-protect notch on the side of the disk using a "disk notcher" or hole puncher and inserting the disk flipped over. Double-sided disks, with notches on both sides, were available at a higher price, but in practice the magnetic coating on the reverse of nominally single-sided disks was usually of good enough quality to be used (both sides were coated in the same way to prevent warping, although only one side was certified for use). Early on, diskette manufacturers routinely warned that this technique would damage the read/write head of the drives or wear out the disk faster, and these warnings were frequently repeated in magazines of the day. In practice, however, this method was an inexpensive way to store twice as much data for no extra cost, and was widely used for commercially released floppies as well.
Later, Apple IIs were able to use 3.5-inch disks with a total capacity of 800 KB and hard disks. did not support these drives natively; third-party software was required, and disks larger than about 400 KB had to be split up into multiple "virtual disk volumes."
DOS 3.3 was succeeded by ProDOS, a 1983 descendant of the Apple ///'s SOS. It added support for subdirectories and volumes up to 32 MB in size. ProDOS became the DOS of choice; AppleWorks and other newer programs required it.
Legacy.
Industry impact.
The Apple II series of computers had an enormous impact on the technology industry and expanded the role of microcomputers in society. The Apple II was the first personal computer many people ever saw. Its price was within the reach of many middle-class families, and a partnership with MECC helped make the Apple II popular in schools. By the end of 1980 Apple had already sold over 100,000 Apple IIs. Its popularity bootstrapped the computer game and educational software markets and began the boom in the word processor and computer printer markets. The first spreadsheet application, VisiCalc, was initially released for the Apple II, and many businesses bought them just to run VisiCalc. Its success drove IBM in part to create the IBM PC, which many businesses purchased to run spreadsheet and word processing software, at first ported from Apple II versions.
The Apple II's slots, allowing any peripheral card to take control of the bus and directly access memory, enabled an independent industry of card manufacturers who together created a flood of hardware products that let users build systems that were far more powerful and useful (at a lower cost) than any competing system, most of which were not nearly as expandable and were universally proprietary. The first peripheral card was a blank prototyping card intended for electronics enthusiasts who wanted to design their own peripherals for the Apple II.
Specialty peripherals kept the Apple II in use in industry and education environments for many years after Apple Computer stopped supporting the Apple II. Well into the 1990s every clean-room (the super-clean facility where spacecraft are prepared for flight) at the Kennedy Space Center used an Apple II to monitor the environment and air quality. Most planetariums used Apple IIs to control their projectors and other equipment.
Even the game port was unusually powerful and could be used for digital and analog input and output. The early manuals included instructions for how to build a circuit with only four commonly available components (one transistor and three resistors) and a software routine to drive a common Teletype Model 33 machine. Don Lancaster used the game I/O to drive a LaserWriter printer.
Modern use.
Today, emulators for various Apple II models are available to run Apple II software on macOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows, homebrew enabled Nintendo DS and other operating systems. Numerous disk images of Apple II software are available free over the Internet for use with these emulators. AppleWin and MESS are among the best emulators compatible with most Apple II images. The MESS emulator supports recording and playing back of Apple II emulation sessions, as does Home Action Replay Page (a.k.a. HARP).
In addition, an active retrocomputing community of vintage Apple II collectors and users, continue to restore, maintain and develop hardware and software for daily use of these original computers. There is still a small annual convention, KansasFest, dedicated to the platform.
In 2017, the band 8 Bit Weapon released the world's first 100% Apple II based music album entitled, "Class Apples." The album featured dance-oriented cover versions of classical music by Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart recorded directly off the Apple II motherboard.


Sigma DP3 Merrill

The Sigma DP3 Merrill is a high-end compact digital camera made by Sigma Corporation. It features a 46-megapixel Foveon X3 sensor (4704 × 3136 × 3 layers) and a 50mm f/2.8 fixed lens (75mm in 35mm equivalent focal length).
Software.
Sigma Photo Pro.
Post-processing of RAW X3F and JPEG of all digital SIGMA cameras
Version 6.x is free Download for Windows 7+ und Mac OS ab Version 10.7 (6.3.x). Actual Versions are 6.5.4 (Win 7+) and 6.5.5 (MacOSX 10.9+).


Badblocks

badblocks is a Linux utility to check for bad sectors on a disk drive. It creates a list of these sectors that can be used with other programs, like mkfs, so that they are not used in the future and thus do not cause corruption of data. It is part of the e2fsprogs project, and a port is available for BSD operating systems.
When run as a standalone program, badblocks gives a list of blocks with problems, if any. This makes it a good option for checking whether the disk drive is healthy, independent of SMART data and file system checks.
e2fsck's "-c" option.
A more common use case is the invocation of badblocks as part of e2fsck when passing the option codice_1 to scan for bad blocks and prevent data from being stored on these blocks. This is done by adding the list of found bad blocks to the bad block inode to prevent the affected sectors from being allocated to a file or directory. The test can be done using a read-only (codice_1) or non-destructive read–write (codice_3) test method.
dumpe2fs.
Running codice_4 will display the list of bad blocks recorded by codice_5 or codice_6.
Examples.
 badblocks -nvs /dev/sdb
This would check the drive "sdb" in non-destructive read–write mode and display progress by writing out the block numbers as they are checked.
 badblocks -wvs /dev/sdb6
This would check the sixth partition of the drive "sdb", in destructive read–write mode (-w = write-mode), which writes 4 different patterns on the whole partition and verifies each by reading back. It displays progress by writing out the block numbers as they are checked (-s = show, -v = verbose). All data on the partition will be overwritten at the block level.
 badblocks -wvsb 4096 /dev/sdb
This does the same as above, but to the entire drive, with a block size of 4096. This destroys MBRs, partitions and data alike. Modern disk drives will probably not show any defective sectors because they silently remap bad sectors to spare tracks, but running the program with a new drive for several days will test the whole surface, and when reading it afterwards S.M.A.R.T. data will eventually show reallocated sectors.
Using the codice_7 option on a device containing an existing file system erases the data on that device.


Digital Classic Camera Leica M3

The Digital Classic Camera Leica M3 is a miniature replica camera made by Minox with the outward appearance of a Leica M3 viewfinder camera. It came delivered in a massive wooden box. It had a digital camera processor made by Zoran. The body was made of metal, covered with leatherette. Some of the metal levers were movable but without function. The camera was very small and light. A special flash in retro style was available for the Minox series of classic analog and digital replica cameras. Two buttons and as 2 digit display comprised the user interface. A special USB-cable had to be plugged in as a computer interface. Despite the image quality, it could also be seen as a toy- or, more accurately, as a "model"- camera. In webcam mode it had only a resolution of 320x240 pixels.
Specifications.
Digital Classic Camera Leica M3 5.0.
Thwas was the first version with a LCD Screen and a SD slot.


Superior Software

Superior Software Ltd (also known as Superior Interactive) is a video game publisher. It was one of the main publishers for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in the 1980s and early 1990s. It currently releases games for Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android; mostly updates of its original games.
History.
Superior Software was established in 1982 by Richard Hanson and John Dyson, two graduates of the University of Leeds, England. They had previously programmed software published by Micro Power, and they wrote Superior's first four-game releases for the BBC Micro: three were written by Hanson and one by Dyson. Describing the early days, Hanson commented:
Superior mostly focused on the machines of Acorn Computers Ltd and also published software for other platforms including the Oric-1 and Commodore 64. Key management personnel have included Steve Botterill, Chris Payne and Steve Hanson.
Major software developers Peter Johnson, Tim Tyler, Martin Edmondson, Nicholas Chamberlain, Kevin Edwards, David Hoskins, Matthew Atkinson, Chris Roberts, Tony Oakden, Peter Scott, Gary Partis, Peter Irvin, Jeremy Smith, David Braben, Ian Bell, Geoff Crammond, Jonathan Griffiths and Nick Pelling have all produced software published by Superior, sometimes released under the joint Superior Software / Acornsoft brandname.
Releases.
Their best-known games are the "Repton" series of games, which have sold over 125,000 units in total. Other notable Superior Software games for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron include "Overdrive", "Citadel", "Thrust", "Galaforce", "Stryker's Run", "Ravenskull", "Codename: Droid" (sequel to "Stryker's Run"), "Palace of Magic", "Bonecruncher", "Quest", "Pipeline", "Exile" and "Ricochet". They also published the seminal "Zarch" for the Acorn Archimedes, as well as follow-up games using the same engine, "Conqueror" and "Air Supremacy".
As well as their high quality original games, Superior released a number of official Acorn conversions of big games from other systems including "Barbarian", "The Last Ninja", "Predator", "Hostages" and "Sim City".
Superior also published a number of educational and utility software titles including the speech synthesis program "Speech!".
The "Play It Again Sam" series of compilations included re-releases of their old titles, with four games for the usual price of one. The original "Play It Again Sam" featured four Superior games which had each made No. 1 individually ("Citadel", "Thrust", "Ravenskull", and "Stryker's Run"), while subsequent compilations increasingly featured games licensed from other software houses such as Micro Power or Alligata. These compilations also occasionally included some new games that were thought to be not quite up to the standard of their full price games. The series eventually ran to 18 issues for the BBC Micro, although the latest ones were released on disc only, well into the demise of the 8-bit scene with lower sales as a result.
Superior, under the brandname Superior Interactive, now mainly develops and publishes software for computers and devices running Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android; and they have released several updated versions of some of their popular 1980s hits for these systems. This includes the original three "Repton" games, additional "Repton" levels, "Galaforce Worlds", "Ravenskull", "Pipeline Plus" and "Ricochet".


List of Amstrad CPC games

This list contains game titles released for the Amstrad CPC home computer series. This number is always up to date by this .


ICL DRS 400


Sharity

In computing, Sharity is a program to allow a Unix system to mount SMB fileshares. It is developed by Christian Starkjohann of Objective Development Software GmbH and is proprietary software. , the current version is 3.9.
Linux (using or ), and FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OS X (using ), can mount SMB natively. Most other Unix and Unix-like operating systems cannot. In the proprietary Unix world, Sharity is a common solution to mounting SMB shares, as the usual recommended workaround — to run Services for UNIX on the Windows file server and make the share available via NFS — is frequently unreliable in practice.
Sharity works by making an external SMB share appear to the kernel as an NFS-mounted file system. (Compare to from Samba, which either provides an FTP-like interactive shell or sends commands to the Windows file server to be executed remotely.)
The program runs on the following Unix and Unix-like operating systems: OS X, IRIX, Solaris, HP-UX, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, BSD/OS, Tru64, AIX, NEXTSTEP, OpenStep, UnixWare, SunOS 4, and Linux.
Sharity is a rewrite of an earlier program, Sharity-Light, which is free software under the GPL (having been derived from in Linux) but is limited in capabilities and is no longer developed. Sharity-Light was originally called Rumba (a pun on "Samba"), but the name was trademarked to another company. Sharity-Light runs in user space rather than kernel space.


Pole Position

 is an arcade racing simulation video game that was released by Namco in 1982 and licensed to Atari, Inc. for US manufacture and distribution, running on the Namco Pole Position arcade system board. It is considered one of the most important titles from the golden age of arcade video games. "Pole Position" was an evolution of Namco's earlier arcade racing electro-mechanical games, notably "F-1" (1976), whose designer Sho Osugi worked on the development of "Pole Position".
The game was a major global commercial success. After becoming the highest-grossing arcade game of 1982 in Japan, it went on to become most popular coin-operated arcade game internationally in 1983, including North America where it was the year's highest-grossing arcade game, before again becoming the highest-grossing arcade game of 1984 in the United States. It was the most successful racing game of the classic era, spawning ports, sequels, and a Saturday morning cartoon, although the cartoon had very little in common with the game. The game established the conventions of the racing game genre and its success inspired numerous imitators. "Pole Position" is regarded as one of the most influential video games of all time, and is considered to be the most influential racing game in particular. Its sequel, "Pole Position II", was released in 1983.
Gameplay.
In this game, the player controls a Formula One race car, and has to complete a time trial lap within a certain amount of time (between 57 and 120 seconds) to qualify for an F1 race at the Fuji Racetrack. After qualifying, the player races against seven other CPU-controlled cars in a championship race (but if they do not qualify, the car will stay on the track until the timer runs out). The player must also avoid going off the road so that they will not crash into the billboards. Play continues until either time runs out in any lap and/or complete four laps of the race, which ends the game.
"Pole Position" was the first racing video game to feature a track based on a real racing circuit. It was also the first game to feature a qualifying lap, requiring the player to complete a time trial before they can compete in Grand Prix races. Once the player has qualified, they must complete the race in the time allowed, avoiding collisions with CPU-controlled opponents and billboards along the sides of the track. The game's publisher, Atari, publicized the game for its "unbelievable driving realism" in providing a Formula 1 experience behind a racing wheel. The game's graphics featured full-colour landscapes with scaling sprites, including race cars and other signs, and a pseudo-3D, third-person, rear perspective view of the track, with its vanishing point swaying side to side as the player approaches corners, accurately simulating forward movement into the distance. While earlier three-dimensional arcade driving games emphasized staying on the road while avoiding crashes, "Pole Position" gives a higher reward for passing rival cars and finishing among the leaders.
Cabinet.
"Pole Position" was released in two configurations: a standard upright cabinet, and an environmental/cockpit cabinet. Both versions feature a steering wheel and a gear shifter for low and high gears, but the environmental/cockpit cabinet featured both an accelerator and a brake pedal, while the standard upright one only featured an accelerator pedal.
Development and release.
"Pole Position" was created by both Shinichiro Okamoto and "Galaxian" designer Kazunori Sawano. Namco electro-mechanical game engineer Sho Osugi also assisted with development. Based on Namco's experience with producing coin-operated electro-mechanical driving games in the 1970s, notably "F-1" (1976) designed by Sho Osugi, Sawano showed Okamoto rough sketches of his idea, who liked the idea and began production of a video racing game. Okamoto wanted the game to be a true driving simulation game that allowed the player to execute real-world techniques, and for it to use a 3D perspective. He also chose to add the Fuji Speedway into the game to make newer players recognize it when they first played. Music was jointly composed by Nobuyuki Ohnogi and Yuriko Keino.
Development of the game lasted for three years. Okamoto recalls the most challenging part of development being to produce the hardware needed to run it, as the game was too "ambitious" to run on older hardware. The development team used two 16-bit processors to power the game, which Okamoto says was an unheard of concept for arcade games at the time — for a while, it was the only video game to use a Z8000 CPU. "Pac-Man" creator Toru Iwatani chose the name "Pole Position" as he thought it sounded "cool" and appealing, and shortly after filed a trademark for it. The controls also posed to be a challenge, as Okamoto wanted them to feel realistic and to match up with the gameplay — Osugi remembers Namco president Masaya Nakamura becoming frustrated with them, having difficulty keeping the car moving in a straight line.
The game's arcade cabinet, a sit-down "environmental" machine, was chosen due to their popularity at the time. The development team had long fights over how fast the gear-shift should be, until it was ultimately decided to simply be either high or low speed. "Pole Position" was officially released in Japan on September 16, 1982. It was licensed out to Atari Inc. for release in North America, where it made its debut at Chicago's 1982 Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) show, held during November 18–20, before receiving a mass-market North American release on November 30, 1982, while Namco themselves released the game in Europe in late 1982. After its release, Osugi stated that all of Namco's older electro-mechanical driving games were discontinued, as the company saw the future of arcade racers in the form of video games.
Advertising.
The game is an early example of product placement within a video game, with billboards around the track advertising actual companies. However, some billboards were specific to the two versions, such as those of Pepsi and Canon in the Namco version, and those of 7-Eleven, Dentyne, "Centipede", and "Dig Dug" in the Atari version, which replaced such billboards as those of Marlboro and Martini & Rossi, who (although they were prominent motorsport sponsors at the time) would be found inappropriate in the American market for a game aimed towards children. Other billboards appeared in both versions.
The game was also featured in a TV commercial shown only on MTV. It was part of a series of TV spots that Atari created in the 1980s exclusively for MTV.
Ports.
Atari, Inc. released "Pole Position" for the Atari 8-bit family, Atari 2600, and Atari 5200. Ports for the Commodore 64, VIC-20, Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, and ZX Spectrum were released under the Atarisoft label. Though the original used raster graphics, GCE published a version for the vector-graphics Vectrex system.
Reception.
In Japan, "Game Machine" magazine listed "Pole Position" as the second highest-grossing arcade game of 1982. "Game Machine" later listed it in their June 1, 1983 issue as the second top-grossing upright arcade unit of the month, before it returned to being the top-grossing game of the month in October 1983.
Internationally, "Pole Position" was the most popular arcade game of 1983. In the United States, it sold over 21,000 arcade cabinets for an estimated ($ adjusted for inflation). In addition, US coin drop earning averaged ( adjusted for inflation) per week ($450 weekly per machine). On the US "RePlay" arcade charts, it topped the upright cabinet charts for seven months in 1983, from March through August and again in December. It also topped the US "Play Meter" arcade charts for six consecutive months from March through August 1983, and then topped the street locations chart in November 1983. It ended the year as the highest-grossing arcade game of 1983 in North America, topping America's annual "RePlay" and "Cash Box" arcade charts, and again became the highest-grossing arcade game of 1984 in the United States.
In Europe, it was also a top-grossing arcade game in 1983. The console version also topped the UK sales charts in late 1983.
Reviews.
Upon its North American debut at AMOA 1982, it was reviewed by "Video Games" magazine, which listed it among the show's top ten games. They compared it favorably with Sega's "Turbo" (1981), referring to "Pole Position" as "Turbo Deluxe" in "a speedway, not a cross-country race." They called "Pole Position" the "ultimate test of driving skill for only the very best video game roadstars." "Electronic Games" reviewed the arcade game in 1983, writing that it "keeps the action on track from start to finish" with "challenging play", noting that the gameplay is "reasonably faithful to real life" Formula One races. They also praised the sound effects and "solid, realistic graphics", stating it has "very rich color images" and "dimensional depth to the graphics". They gave it the 1983 Arcade Award for Coin-Op Game of the Year, praising the racing gameplay, "beautiful graphics" and "breathtaking" scenery as well as "the two-heat format for the race itself".
"Computer and Video Games" reviewed the arcade game in 1983, writing that it "is simply the most exhilarating driving simulation game on the market". They compared it favorably with "Turbo", stating that, while "Turbo" "featured better landscapes", it "can't match the speed, thrills and skill behind this new race game". They said "Pole Position"s "graphics are sophisticated and believable", noting that cars "turning corners are shown in every graphic detail of the maneuvre", and praised the gameplay, concluding that "trying to hold a screaming curve or overtake" offers "thrills to compare with the real racetrack". It was considered the all-time best racing/driving game by "InfoWorld" in 1983 and "Computer Games" in early 1985.
When reviewing the Atari 8-bit version, they called it "by far the best road-race game ever thrown on a video screen" with "bright and brilliant" graphics, but said the Commodore 64 version "looks like a rush job and is far from arcade-game quality". "Computer Games" magazine criticized the Commodore conversions for lacking various features from the arcade original, giving the C64 version a mixed review and the VIC-20 version a negative review. When reviewing the Atari 5200 version, "Hi-Res" in 1984 found "the playability of the game to be limited and the graphics to be the strongest aspect of the game". The magazine preferred Adventure International's "Rally Speedway" to both "Pole Position" and Epyx's "Pitstop".
In 2007, "Eurogamer" gave it a mixed retrospective review, calling it "a simulation down to the core: those dedicated will eventually reap success but most will be deterred by the difficulty." "Entertainment Weekly" called "Pole Position" one of the top ten games for the Atari 2600 in 2013.
Impact.
"Pole Position" is regarded as one of the most influential video games of all time. Bill Loguce and Matt Barton listed it as one of the 25 most influential games of all time, calling it "arguably the most important racing game ever made". In 1984, "Electronic Games" stated that, for "the first time in the amusement parlors, a first-person racing game gives a higher reward for passing cars and finishing among the leaders rather than just for keeping all four wheels on the road, thus making driving an art". In 2015, "Pole Position" topped IGN's list of The Top 10 Most Influential Racing Games Ever. They stated that it had "a drastically better-looking" third-person "chase cam view" than "Turbo", was "the first racing game based on a real-world racing circuit (Fuji Speedway in Japan)", "introduced checkpoints, and was the first to require a qualifying lap", and that its success, as "the highest-grossing arcade game in North America in 1983, cemented the genre in place for decades to come and inspired a horde of other racing games".
Legacy.
It was the most successful racing game of the classic era, spawning ports, sequels, and a Saturday morning cartoon.
The game spawned a number of clones. For example, "Top Racer" from Commodore International, which led to a lawsuit from Namco against Commodore Japan that led to the seizure of "Top Racer" copies.
Re-releases.
In the mid-1990s "Pole Position" made a comeback on Windows PCs when it was included as part of "Microsoft Return of Arcade", and later appeared on the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast systems in "Namco Museum Volume 1". Since that time, "Pole Position" has been included in many subsequent "Namco Museum" releases. Fuji Speedway was renamed to "Namco Speedway" in the "Museum" releases and the plug-n-play versions, except in "Namco Museum Virtual Arcade" which renamed it to "Blue Speedway", and the 2004 "Ms. Pac-Man" plug-and-play TV game released by Jakks Pacific and developed by HotGen Studios, which changed the billboards to advertise the four other featured games.
A version of "Pole Position" was released for the iPod on January 21, 2008.
A modified version of "Pole Position" was released as an easter egg for certain Tesla vehicles in 2018 which changed the setting to the surface of Mars and vehicles to Tesla vehicles.
Sequels.
"Pole Position II" was released in 1983, and featured three additional courses in addition to the original Fuji track. It features slightly improved graphics, as well as a different car color scheme and opening theme. Several new billboards were also introduced.
While many considered the three-screened racer "TX-1", released in 1984 by Atari and designed by Tatsumi to be a sequel to "Pole Position II", the true sequel arrived in 1987 with the release of "Final Lap" - which may be considered an unofficial "Pole Position III". "Final Lap" would later spawn a racing-RPG spin-off for the TurboGrafx-16 video game console called "Final Lap Twin" in 1989 - as well as three directly-related arcade sequels, "Final Lap 2" (in 1990), "Final Lap 3" (in 1992), and "Final Lap R" (in 1993).
A version of "Pole Position" was released for iOS devices called "Pole Position: Remix" in September 14, 2008. The game features upgraded graphics and several different control methods, but remains similar in content to the original. This version of "Pole Position" also features the tracks from "Pole Position II" and a new track called Misaki Point. The game has since been removed from the App Store.
Other media.
The title spawned a Saturday morning cartoon of the same name.
"Pole Position" is played by the characters Daryl and Turtle in the motion picture "D.A.R.Y.L." and is one of the first times in the film where Daryl — a seemingly normal boy who is actually an android — displays some of his superhuman abilities by earning an amazingly high score in the game.
The game is featured in the music video of the 1984 heavy metal song "Freewheel Burning" by Judas Priest.


Kodak DCS 400 series

The Kodak DCS 400 series was a series of Nikon based digital SLR cameras with sensor and added electronics produced by Eastman Kodak. It was part of Kodak's DCS (Digital Camera System) line.
The cameras in this series include the 1.5-megapixel DCS 420 (introduced in August 1994), the 1.5-mpx DCS 410 (introduced in 1996), and the 6.2-mpx DCS 460 (introduced in March 1995). In addition, Kodak sold a version of the back from the DCS 460 adapted for medium format bodies as the DCS 465. Kodak also made a camera especially for Associated Press. It was called NC2000 (based on the Nikon N90/F90), later upgraded to NC2000e (based on the Nikon N90s/F90x) using many of the same components as were used for the DCS 400 series. Kodak also used the imaging component and electronics of the DCS 420 to produce a digital version of the Nikonos underwater camera, which was produced in limited numbers for military and scientific applications as the Kodak DCS 425.
In addition to the standard colour version, Kodak made monochrome and infrared versions of the DCS 420, which were made to order as the 420m and 420IR respectively. There were also monochrome versions of the DCS 460 and DCS 465, with the same nomenclature. The non-colour versions are very rare and tend to collect high prices at auctions and second-hand brokers.
The DCS 400-series were based on the Nikon N90s 35 mm film camera (called F90x in Europe). The DCS 410 and some early versions of the DCS 420 and 460 were based on the Nikon N90/F90 body. After the Nikon N90s/F90x was introduced in late 1994, Kodak started using that model as basis for the DCS 400-series. The camera body could be converted back to a film camera by removing the digital component, and replacing the digital back with a standard back.
All cameras in the series used a 12 bit/channel CCD. The 1.5 Mpx sensor used in the DCS 410 and DCS 420 measures 9.2x13.8 mm (2.6x crop factor compared to the 35 mm film format). The 6.2 Mpx sensor used in the DCS 460 and DCS 465 measures 18.4x27.6mm (1.3x crop). The 1.3 Mpx sensor used in the NC2000 and NC2000e measures 16.4x20.5mm (1.6x crop) with an unusual aspect ratio (5:4).
In 1995, the DCS 460 was the highest resolution digital camera available and its list price was US$35,600. When it closed out in November 2000, the price had dropped to US$2,500.


IOS 5

iOS 5 is the fifth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 4. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6, 2011, and was released on October 12, 2011. It was succeeded by iOS 6 on September 19, 2012.
iOS 5 revamped notifications, adding temporary banners that appear at the top of screen and introducing the Notification Center, a central location for all recent notifications. The operating system also added iCloud, Apple's cloud storage service for synchronization of content and data across iCloud-enabled devices, and iMessage, Apple's instant messaging service. For the first time, system software updates can be installed wirelessly, without requiring a computer and iTunes. iOS 5 also featured deep integration with Twitter, introduced multitasking gestures on iPads, and added an easily accessible camera shortcut from the lock screen.
iOS 5 was the subject of criticism for iPhone 4S users, as the initial release had poor battery life, failures of SIM cards, and echoes during phone calls. These problems were fixed in subsequent releases.
History.
Introduction and initial release.
iOS 5 was introduced at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6, 2011, with a beta version available for developers later that day.
iOS 5 was officially released on October 12, 2011.
System features.
Notifications.
In previous iOS versions, notifications popped up on the screen as dialog boxes, interrupting the current activity. In iOS 5, notifications are revamped, and show up as a temporary banner at the top of the screen. Recent notifications can also be accessed by pulling a "Notification Center" down from the top of the screen. Users who prefer the old notification system can keep it by choosing the appropriate option in the Settings menu.
iCloud.
iOS 5 introduces iCloud, Apple's cloud storage service. The new service allows users to synchronize their music, pictures, videos, and application data across all of their iCloud-enabled devices.
Wireless updates.
iOS 5 enables wireless system updates on supported devices, meaning a computer and iTunes aren't necessary to update devices. Both activation of new devices and updates can be done wirelessly.
Twitter integration.
iOS 5 features deep Twitter integration. Users are able to sign in to Twitter directly from the Settings menu. Photos can be "tweeted" directly from the Photos or Camera apps, and users are also able to tweet from the Safari, YouTube, and Google Maps apps.
Multitasking.
Multitasking gestures debut on iPad with the release of iOS 5. Multitasking allows users to jump between apps without double-tapping the home button or first going to the home screen. Multitasking gestures were only available on the iPad 2.
Keyboard.
The iPad keyboard could be undocked from the bottom of the screen, and could be split into two half-keyboards.
App features.
Photos and Camera.
The first iOS 5 release allowed the Camera app to be easily accessed from the lock screen for the first time. Users double-clicked the home button, a camera icon would appear next to the "Slide to unlock" message, and users would click on it to directly access the camera. The iOS 5.1 update streamlined the process, dropping the home button double-click procedure, but requiring users to swipe up the camera icon. For security purposes when the device is locked with a passcode, this method of accessing the camera only allows access to the Camera app, and no other features of the device.
Pressing the volume-up button allows the user to take a picture.
Messages.
iMessage, a new instant messaging service built into the Messages app, allowed anyone with an iOS 5 device to send both basic and multimedia messages to anyone else with a compatible iOS 5 device. In contrast to SMS, messages sent through iMessage use the Internet rather than regular cellular texting, but also in contrast to regular SMS, Android and BlackBerry devices are not compatible with the service. iMessages are synchronized across the user's devices, and are color-coded blue, with regular SMS in green.
Mail.
The iOS Mail app included rich text formatting, better indent control, flagging of messages, and the ability to drag addresses between To, CC, and BCC lines.
Reminders.
Reminders allows users to create lists of tasks with alerts that can either be date-based or location-based.
Newsstand.
Newsstand does not act as a native app, but rather a special folder. When selected, it shows icons for all of the periodicals that the user has subscribed to, such as newspapers and magazines. New issues are downloaded automatically.
Music and Videos.
The iPod app was replaced by separate Music and Videos apps.
Problems.
Initial upgrade issues.
The initial October 2011 release of iOS 5 saw significant upgrade issues, with errors during installation and Apple server overload.
iPhone 4S battery life.
Following user complaints, Apple officially confirmed that iOS 5 had poor battery life for some iPhone 4S users, and stated that an upcoming software update would fix the issues. The iOS 5.0.1 update fixed bugs related to battery issues.
Wi-Fi connectivity drops.
In November 2011, "Engadget" reported that the iOS 5 update caused Wi-Fi connection drops for some users. The report also wrote that "The recent iOS 5.0.1 update certainly hasn't fixed the matter, either", and questioned whether the events were unrelated or part of a larger issue.
SIM card failure.
Some iPhone 4S users reported issues with the SIM card in iOS 5, being given error messages about "Invalid SIM" and "SIM Failure". Apple released a second software build of the 5.0.1 update designed to fix SIM card issues.
Phone call echo.
Some iPhone 4S users reported the random appearance of echoes during phone calls made with earphones in the initial release of iOS 5. The other party in the call was sometimes unable to hear the conversation due to this problem.
Reception.
Many aspects of iOS 5 received positive reviews, including the new notification center, the ability to sync and update wirelessly, iMessage, and more. Richmond Shane of "Telegraph" said "iOS 5 is a brilliant upgrade to an already brilliant operating system. Different people look for different things in a mobile operating system. That's why some people prefer BlackBerry, Android or Windows Mobile. I value ease of use and attention to detail in design. With iOS 5, Apple continues to deliver the best user experience available."
Richard Goodwin of "Know Your Mobile" said "All in all, we reckon iOS 5 is everything it needs to be a more. We can't wait to get our teeth stuck into it as soon as it's released in the Autumn of 2011."
Supported devices.
With this release, Apple dropped support for older devices, specifically the iPhone 3G and the second-generation iPod Touch.


Agfa ActionCam


Odra (computer)

Odra was a line of computers manufactured in Wrocław, Poland. The name comes from the Odra river that flows through the city of Wrocław.
Overview.
The production started in 1959–1960. Models 1001, 1002, 1003, 1013, 1103, 1204 were of original Polish construction. Models 1304 and 1305 were functional counterparts of ICL 1905 and 1906 due to software agreement. The last model was 1325 based on two models by ICL.
The computers were built at the Elwro manufacturing plant, which was closed in 1989.
Odra 1002 was capable of only 100–400 operations per second.
In 1962, Witold Podgórski, an employee of Elwro, managed to create a computer game on a prototype of Odra 1003; it was an adaptation of a variant of Nim, as depicted in the film "Last Year at Marienbad". The computer could play a perfect game and was guaranteed to win. The game was never distributed outside of the Elwro company, but its versions appeared elsewhere. It was probably the first Polish computer game in history.
The operating system used by the Odra 1204 is called SODA. It was designed to work on a small computer without magnetic storage and
can run simultaneous loading and execution of programs.
An Odra 1204 computer was used by a team in Leningrad developing an ALGOL 68 compiler in 1976. The Odra 1204 ran the syntax analysis, code generation ran on an IBM System/360.
Up until 30 April 2010 there was still one Odra 1305 working at the railway station in Wrocław Brochów. The system was shut down at 22:00 CEST and replaced with a contemporary computer system.
The Museum of the History of Computers and Information Technology ("Muzeum Historii Komputerów i Informatyki") in Katowice, Poland started a project to recommission an Odra 1305 in 2017.
References.


Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37 is a digital camera by Panasonic, released late in 2008. The highest-resolution pictures it records is 10.1 megapixels, through its 25 mm ultra wide-angle Leica DC lens. It is Panasonic's first compact digital camera to support 720p video at 30 fps.


Personal information display

A personal information display is any device that displays user-configured information, which can be a combination of static and dynamically-generated data. Unlike a full-blown computer, it is a small, simple Internet-connected device which consumes little power, runs silently, is highly reliable, and provides little or no opportunity for real-time user interaction.
Examples of data.
Dynamically-generated data.
Most, if not all, of the dynamically-generated data comes from RSS and other XML-based sources.
Examples of devices.
The Chumby fits many of these criteria, but the Pertelian and WidgetStation displays are simpler and come closer to meeting the low-interactivity requirement of a personal information display.


Dock connector

A dock connector is a connector used to attach a mobile electronic device simultaneously to multiple external resources. The dock connector will typically carry a variety of signals and power, through a single connector, to simplify the process of docking the mobile device. A dock connector may be embedded in a mechanical fixture used to support or align the mobile device or may be at the end of a cable.
The dock connector was originally associated with laptops, but other mobile devices use the concept.
Laptops.
Classic docking connectors for laptop computers are usually embedded into a mechanical docking station and port replicator devices that supports and aligns the laptop and sports various single-function ports and a power source that are aggregated into the docking connector. Docking connectors would carry interfaces such as keyboard, serial, parallel, and video ports from the laptop and supply power to it.
Current docking connection options usually can be defined as a USB-C port with optional additional functionality.
Mobile devices.
Many mobile devices feature a dock connector.
Dock connectors can be used to interface with accessories such as external speakers, including stereo systems and clock radios. Automotive accessories for mobile devices include charging cradles, FM transmitters for playing audio through the car's speakers, and GPS receivers. There are dock connector cables that offer additional capabilities such as direct integration with the car's audio system and controls.
Apple dock connectors.
30-pin dock connector.
Apple's proprietary 30-pin connector was common to most Apple mobile devices (iPhone (1st generation, 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S), 1st through 4th generation iPod Touch, iPad, iPad 2, and iPad 3rd gen) from its introduction with the 3rd generation iPod classic in 2003 until the Lightning connector was released in late 2012. Originally, the Apple dock connector carried USB, FireWire, some controls and line-level audio outputs. As the iPod changed, so did the signals in the dock connector. Video was added to the connector. FireWire was phased out of the iPods, which led to a discontinuity in usage of the dock connector.
As a result of the popularity of Apple's iPod and iPhone devices using the connector, a cottage industry was created of third-party devices that could connect to the interface. With the discontinuation of the sixth-generation 160 GB iPod Classic and the iPhone 4S, the last Apple products to feature the original 30-pin connector, the connector was discontinued in September 2014 but the production of 30-pin connectors in India and developing markets still continued until February 2016.
Lightning connector.
Apple introduced an 8-pin dock connector, named "Lightning", on September 12, 2012, as replacement of the 30-pin dock connector. The iPhone 5 and later iPhone models, iPod touch 5th generation and later, seventh generation iPod nano, every iPad mini, iPad (4th generation) and later, iPad Air and the first two generations of the iPad Pro all use the Lightning connector, as do several Apple accessories. Apple Lightning connector pins can be accessed from both sides of the connector allowing insertion with either side facing up.
Samsung 30-pin dock connector.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note 30-pin dock/charging connector is very similar to - although not identical with - the non-proprietary PDMI connector. It is unrelated to the Apple 30-pin connector.
Korean standard cellular phone 24-pin and 20-pin dock connectors.
The 2001 Korean Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) "Standard on I/O Connection Interface of Digital Cellular Phone" defined a 24-pin electromechanical interface specifications for cellular phone charging, wired data communication, analog audio, etc. The 2007 updated version has only 20 pins but added composite video output support among other changes.
Portable Digital Media Interface (PDMI).
The Portable Digital Media Interface (PDMI) is a 30-pin interconnection standard for portable media players. It was developed by the Consumer Electronics Association as ANSI/CEA-2017-A, "Common Interconnection for Portable Media Players" in February 2010. The standard was developed with the input or support of over fifty consumer electronics companies worldwide.


Turbo Outrun

Turbo OutRun (ターボアウトラン) is a 1989 arcade racing game released by Sega. A follow-up to 1986's "Out Run", it was released as a dedicated game, as well as an upgrade kit for the original "Out Run" board.
Like its predecessor, "Turbo OutRun" has players driving a Ferrari, this time a Ferrari F40. Players now traverse a set route across the entire continental United States from New York City to Los Angeles instead of the branching paths of the first game. In addition to a time limit, "Turbo OutRun" also adds a computer-controlled opponent driving a Porsche 959. The "Turbo" in the title also plays a factor as players can now press a button to receive a brief turbo boost of speed. Various power-ups which increase the vehicle's attributes can now be chosen at various stages of the game.
Ports of "Turbo OutRun" were released for home computers as well as Sega's own Mega Drive.
Overview.
In "Turbo Outrun" the player controls a male driver sitting alongside his girlfriend in a Ferrari F40, racing against the clock and a computer-controlled opponent in a silver Porsche 959 in a race across the United States. The goal is to reach Los Angeles from the starting point of New York City. Unlike the original "Out Run", there are no branch roads to choose from. Instead, there is only one path that can be taken to reach the goal.
A notable feature of the game is that the player can increase speed by using turbo boost by pressing a button on the side of the console-mounted shifter; the engine temperature will increase in kind on the on-screen gauge. When the gauge reaches "OVERHEAT!" turbo boost cannot be used until the temperature decreases.
Another notable difference is that police cars occasionally appear that try to stop the player. They have to either be outrun by using the turbo boost or destroyed by the player by ramming them off-road and into an object on the side of the road.
Unlike the original Out Run, Turbo Out Run offers the player a choice between automatic transmission or two-speed manual transmission.
At every sub-goal (reached after passing through about four cities), a power-up can be chosen, the three being: Hi-Power Engine, Special Turbo, and Super Grip Tires. If the CPU opponent reaches the sub-goal before the player, at the next race, the driver's girlfriend will move to the opponent's car. He can still win the girl back if he beats the CPU opponent to the next sub-goal. If the player beats the opponent with the girl in hand, a 1,000,000 point bonus is given. Also, the girl kisses the driver in front of his CPU opponent. If the player reaches the final checkpoint, in the process, the player will pass the CPU opponent and the ending scene is played.
It was available in a stand-up cabinet, and a sit-down cabinet with decals giving it an appearance of a Ferrari F40, the car featured in the game. There were also conversion kits available to convert original "Out Run" machines to "Turbo OutRun".
Computer ports of the game were received with varying degrees of enthusiasm. While the Commodore 64 version was widely seen as a good game, the 16-bit conversions got very negative reviews.
Stage order.
The courses are raced straightforward in 4 sections consisting of 4 stages each with no fork roads:
Aside from the reduction in length (the 9000 km route would take approx 80 hours, the game can be finished in 15 minutes), some of the stages are not accurately portrayed to their real life counterparts. For example: Atlanta is nothing more than a field covered in snow (more resembling Stone Mountain Park) and Dallas looks like the Gobi Desert.
Music.
Unlike the original 1986 game "Out Run", the music cannot be selected. Instead, the game's background music plays in a predetermined order, depending on region:
Japan & US Layout:
European Layout:
In the 1993 arcade game "Daytona USA", a song from "Turbo Outrun" can be played on the name entry screen by entering the initials TOR. The result is the opening couple of bars of "Rush A Difficulty".
Commodore 64 soundtrack.
The Commodore 64 home version soundtrack, composed and arranged by Jeroen Tel, was well received. The soundtrack won the "Best music on 8-bit computer 1989" award on European Computer Trade Show. The title track is a remix of "Magical Sound Shower" from "Out Run", featuring sound samples from Jeroen Tel himself; due to sampling quality, he was actually saying "One, two, "tree"... hit it, Out Run" while recording, instead of "three", to avoid it sounding like "free".
Reception.
In Japan, "Game Machine" listed "Turbo Outrun" on their March 15, 1989 issue as being the third most-successful upright arcade unit of the year.
"Turbo Outrun" received positive to mixed reviews, depending on the version. The arcade and Commodore 64 versions were well received. "Commodore User" reviewed the arcade version and scored it 8 out of 10. The C64 version was awarded 93% from "C+VG" and 97% in "Zzap!64". The Spectrum version of the game received 70% from "Your Sinclair", 78% from "Sinclair User" and 79% from "Crash".
"Mean Machines" dismissed the Mega Drive version with an overall rating of 42%. The only aspect of the game to receive genuine praise was the high-scores screen design. The review pointed to "hopeless, mega-jerky 3-D graphics, juddery scrolling, dreadful tunes, naff sound effects, and badly drawn sprites", and concluded it to be a "clapped out Robin Reliant of a race game". "Mega" placed the Mega Drive version at #3 in their list of the 10 Worst Mega Drive Games of All Time.


Eve V

The Eve V is a 2-1 detachable personal computer manufactured by Finnish technology company Eve-Tech, released on 4 December 2017.
The computer itself is notable for its status as the first computer developed, designed and manufactured in collaboration with the local community through crowdsourcing. Subsequently, it was successfully crowdfunded through Indiegogo. It was designed to compete with other 2-in-1 detachables like the Microsoft Surface Pro through a community effort, promising users no bloatware attached.
History.
According to the company's website, Eve-Tech was founded in December 2013. Their first product, prior to the V, was the Windows 8.1-based tablet computer Eve T1, which was announced on 2 December 2014 and released on 8 December.
Over the course of time, the V was developed in an open online community with more than 1,000 members collaborating globally with Eve-Tech. The computer was announced in October 2016 and a pre-order campaign was initiated on the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo one month later. The campaign went successfully, as the company reached their funding goal in a matter of 4 minutes and sold out all 500 units.
Features.
Hardware.
The Eve V shares some of its design features with those of other hybrid devices such as Microsoft Surface Pro. The device, however, features an aluminium body which is 0.89 cm thick. The device comes with a base kit that includes a stylus pen and an Alcantara-covered keyboard and ships worldwide.
The device boasts a 12.3-inch, 2880x1920 Sharp IGZO liquid-crystal display with a 1:1500 contrast ratio and 400 nits brightness and an anti-reflective coating for visibility and clarity. Eve V runs an Intel Core m3, i5, or i7 (up to 3.6 GHz) processor with a 16 GB LPDDR3 RAM and a 512 GB solid-state drive, in the high-end version of the device. The device's kickstand can be extended from the back end to allow the V to stand in a variety of angles as adjusted.
Along the sides of Eve V are two USB 3.0 ports, two USB-C 3.1 ports, with one having Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. Furthermore, the device has a standard 3.5mm audio jack and a microSDXC reader. The battery is 48 Wh, with the developers claiming up to 12-hour active usage life. A fingerprint scanner is situated within the power button, located on the right-hand side, making it compatible with Windows Hello and a quadrophonic speaker system. A recent software update has caused Windows Hello to cease working and there does not appear to be any active progress being made to resolve the issue.
Software.
The Eve V is shipping with Windows 10 operating system across all devices globally. An upgrade to the Pro version of 10 is also available as an option.
Release.
The Eve V was released to the public on December 4, 2017.
Currently, it can only be purchased direct from Eve-Tech online, which have been promoted by periodic flash sales. However, Eve-Tech has experienced difficulties fulfilling orders, drawing complaints from customers who have not seen orders or refunds delivered 18 months after purchase.
Reception.
Eve V received positive reviews from critics. Many noted, and even acclaimed, the collaboration between the community and Eve-Tech, as well as its range of I/O ports, hardware, inclusion of a smart keyboard and active pen, build quality and affordability. Many critics were impressed with its value; Upon comparison with the Surface Pro, the V was often favorably received.
Many diverse issues were noted by critics. This includes, but is not limited to, various issues with the keyboard, such as the backspace key — reading "oops!" instead of conventional design, connection issues and its Alcantara design, the speaker system, the flash sale purchase model and the use of Intel Y-series CPU's compared to the Surface Pro's U-series.
Whilst generally well received at launch, there has been widespread concern over Eve-Tech's ability to fulfill its orders due to the long delays faced by many customers. As of April 2021, not all orders from December 2017 have been delivered.


Planet Miners

Planet Miners (sometimes The Planet Miners) is a game published by the Microcomputer Games division of Avalon Hill for the TRS-80 Level II microcomputer in 1980. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit family, Apple II, and Commodore PET. The game is written in BASIC.
Plot summary.
"Planet Miners" is a game that depicts a struggle for control of mining concessions on the nine planets of our solar system between four rival corporations.
Reception.
Joseph T. Suchar reviewed "Planet Miners" in "The Space Gamer" No. 32. Suchar commented that "Overall I found it tedious. I would not recommend it."


Action camera

An action camera or action cam is a digital camera designed for recording action while being immersed in it. Action cameras are therefore typically compact and rugged, and waterproof at surface-level. They typically use CMOS image sensors, and can take photos in burst mode and time-lapse mode as well as record high-definition video (as of 2019, mid-range to high-end action cameras can record 4K video at 60 fps). Slow-motion video recording at 120 or 240fps is also a common feature.
Overview.
The camera is typically worn or mounted in such a way that it can shoot from the point of view of the shooter. Some examples of common places to mount an action camera are on a hat or helmet, on the chest, or on the handlebars of a bike or similar vehicle. They may also be mounted on a tripod or on a monopod for handheld use. An action camera is usually designed to require minimal interaction once recording has begun, as this allows continuous capture of the action without having to interact with the camera. A typical action camera records onto a micro SD card, and has either a Micro-USB or a USB-C connector.
Action cameras are associated with outdoor sports, and, often attached to helmets, surfboards or handlebars, are an integral part of many extreme sports such as base jumping and wingsuit flying. Sometimes several cameras are used to capture specific perspectives, such as a helmet camera that sees the perspective of the actor in combination with a second camera attached to the environment of the rider, such as a board, wing, handlebar or wrist, that looks back onto the rider and records their reactions.
The category commonly is associated with the GoPro range of cameras, and many action cameras come with a GoPro mount adapter to take advantage of the accessories available for these cameras. However, there are many GoPro alternatives which are entering the market of action cameras in recent times.
In 2014, worldwide action camera sales increased by 44 percent from the previous year and half of them have the capability to shoot Ultra High Definition at 4K resolution. Action camera sales have surpassed traditional camcorder and compact camera sales, and it is predicted that in 2019, action camera sales will surpass all types of cameras due to the sales of other camera types declining or stabilizing.
By 2021, the Ultra HD category of the action camera market is expected to reach $3.3 billion. The Full HD category, meanwhile, is expected to reach $2.2 billion, with the surveillance/security industry driving growth.
In 2018 Sony launched a shock and waterproof camera with a 1" sensor in a body size similar to an action camera. However, Sony is not marketing it as an action camera; rather, as a video professional camera with the capability to shoot with up to 15 cameras at the same time.
Besides the GoPro line, other models of action cams include the:


Camputers Lynx

The Lynx was an 8-bit British home computer that was first released in early 1983 as a 48 kB model. Several models were available with 48 kB, 96 kB or 128 kB RAM. It was possible to reach 192 kB with RAM expansions on board. John Shireff designed the hardware and Davis Jansons the firmware.
The machine was based around a Z80A CPU clocked at 4 MHz (6 MHz for the 128/192 kB models) and featured a Motorola 6845 as video controller. It was possible to run CP/M with the optional 5.25" floppy disk-drive on the 96 kB and 128 kB models.
The machine was quite advanced for its time. A 48k machine cost £225, a 96k machine £299 and a 128k machine £345. When compared to its competitors, such as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and the Oric 1, it was also fairly highly priced. Camputers rebranded and relaunched each machine on several occasions, with the 48k machine renamed the Leisure, and the 128k machine renamed as the Laureate.
The machine had very little software available, and survived only until Camputers ceased trading in June 1984. It is believed that approximately 30,000 Camputers Lynx units were sold worldwide.
Anston Technology took over in November 1984 and a re-launch was planned but never happened. In June 1986, Anston sold everything - hardware, design rights and thousands of cassettes - to the National Lynx User Group. The group planned to produce a Super-Lynx but was too busy supplying spares and technical information to owners of existing models, and the project never came into being.
Unique features of this computer (compared to other home computers at the time) includes:
Compared to, for example, the Commodore 64, the BASIC was more extensive and faster and resolution of graphics was better; but computer games on the other hand suffered from the special implementation and lack of hardware for sound and sprites.
Reception.
After seeing a preview of the Camputers Lynx at the Personal Computer World Show, "BYTE" in January 1983 stated that it "offers more computing power for the money than any other machine I saw there". "Computing Today" in June 1983 criticized the manual as "put together in something of a hurry ... confusing" and criticized the computer for not meeting published specifications and having manufacturing defects. It concluded that the Lynx "could be seen as a flawed jewel ... If the less satisfactory aspects can be put to rights, it could prove to be a very popular machine. That, however, could entail some sacrifices."


WSFN (programming language)

WSFN (Which Stands for Nothing) is an interpreted programming language for controlling robots created by Li-Chen Wang. It was designed to be as small as possible, a "tiny" language, similar to Wang's earlier effort, Palo Alto Tiny BASIC. WSFN was first published in "Dr. Dobb's Journal" in September 1977.
The language consists primarily of single-letter commands to tell a robot to move in certain directions, while other commands perform tests or basic mathematical operations. These can be grouped into named macros to produce more complex programs. The original version also included code that simulated the robot as a cursor on the VDM-1 display, or graphically on a Cromemco Dazzler display. This is similar to the turtle graphics added to the Logo programming language in 1969.
Extended WSFN is an implementation created for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers written by Harry Stewart and published by the Atari Program Exchange in 1981. In addition to supporting turtle graphics, it adds a number of commands to control the graphics and sound capabilities of that platform. It was offered as a "beginner's language with emphasis on graphics".
Syntax.
WSFN consists of a number of single-letter commands to control the movement of a turtle or robot. Any of these commands can be repeated by prefixing it with a number. For instance, moves the turtle Forward one step, while moves 25 steps. and make the turtle turn one unit to the Right or Left, respectively, and it can also be reset to point orth. The step sizes and turn units are defined by the robot hardware, but are set to one pixel and 45 degrees in the turtle graphics versions. Missing in the robot versions, in the computer versions returns the turtle Home in the center of the screen and Clears any previous drawing. Thus, one can draw a square with the string:
 BCWHN25F2R25F2R25F2R25F
These instructions set the drawing color to Black, Clears the screen (which fills with the current color), sets the color to White, Homes the turtle, resets the turtle to point North, then draws a series of four lines 25 steps long, rotating 90 degrees between each one. The result is a white square with its lower-left corner in the center of the screen.
Lists of commands can be surrounded with parentheses to create macros. For instance, the same square can be drawn by placing the code to draw one side of the square inside the parentheses, and then calling it four times:
 BCWHN4(25F2R)
Macros can be called within other macros. For instance, this code draws a series of eight squares, each offset by 45 degrees, rotating around the center of the screen:
 BCWHN8(4(25F2R)R)
Macros can be assigned a name using the efine command (Extended WSFN used instead). This code defines a macro named "X" to clear the screen and reset the drawing, and another "Z" that draws a square. It then uses these to draw the same rotating square as the example above:
 DX(BCWHN)
 DZ4(25F2R)
 X8(ZR)
WSFN has rudimentary math capabilities consisting of a single accumulator that can be incremented and decremented with and . The letter can be placed anywhere a number could appear. One can make the series of squares grow larger by incrementing the accumulator 5 times between each step:
 DX(BCWHN)
 25A
 DZ4(AF2R)
 X8(Z5+AR)
A side-effect of the syntax is that would set the accumulator to zero, because it performs the decrement instruction by the number in A. Likewise, doubles the value in the accumulator.
Program control is equally rudimentary, consisting of a number of commands that handled IF/THEN/ELSE structures. The most basic form is the est command, which follows one of two paths if the accumulator was greater or equal to zero. For instance, this command causes the turtle to turn 90 degrees left if the accumulator is non-zero, or 45 to the right if it is zero:
 T(2L)R
Variations on the branching construct include , which randomly jumps to the first or second branch 50% of the time, and ensor, which tests if the contact sensor on the robot has been triggered. Extended WSFN modified the to return the color in front of the turtle, allowing hit detection on previous drawing, and added the dge test, which jumps to the right side macro if the turtle hit the edge of the drawing area. The original WSFN lacks an equivalent of , and instead wraps the drawing area so the turtle re-appears on the opposite side of the screen. Extended WSFN supports this style of playfield wrapping as an option.
Because it uses one-letter commands and recursive syntax, WSFN code is exceedingly cryptic. For example, this is a WSFN program to draw Sierpiński curves:
 DIT(-I2FI5RG5RI2FI+)2R
 DG4F
 DY (HN63F2R61FRC4 (2FI))
Note that the definition of the macro "I" includes calls to I within it. This is a key aspect of the WSFN concept; the language is highly recursive in nature, which makes programming self-similar patterns like fractals easy to accomplish in a few lines of code.
A key concept of Extended WSFN is that the keyboard is always active, even while macros are running. This allows keyboard input to interrupt running programs. Using this technique, one can make macros for moving the turtle in certain ways, assign them to letters on the keyboard, and then perform these movements by pressing different keys in succession. This can be aided by adding the ait command in places to give the user time to respond as the drawing takes place.
Keywords.
From the original "Dr. Dobbs" article.
From the Extended WSFN manual.