As a result of this co-operation, the BoXeR system will be shipping with a PowerPC expansion slot, on which a PowerPC-based accelerator can be installed, which will be fully software compatible to the PowerUP accelerators from phase 5 digital products. "We are pleased that our co-operation will further support the migration of the Amiga towards the PowerPC, and that we can provide a unified interface for software developers and for the users. By use of a compatible API (Application Programmers Interface) it ensures that software developed for PowerUP will work on the PowerPC accelerators for the BoXeR, making it even more attractive for Amiga software vendors to support this standard. This co-operation helps strengthen an emerging standard which will allow a wide range of breathtaking new products." says Wolf Dietrich of phase 5 digital products. He points out that the PowerUP technology which will be used in the PowerPC accelerators for the BoXeR is the base for a new generation of high-tech products, such as CPU cards with multiple PowerPC processor and full multiprocessing software support, which will be appearing later in 1998.
Additionally, the BoXeR will also incorporate a graphics card expansion slot which is compatible with the one that is available on phase 5's CyberstormPPC and MkIII accelerators. This will allow the availability of powerful and inexpensive high-resolution 3D graphics card for the BoXeR, too. "By jointly choosing a common performance level for the next generation of GFX cards, together we can set a unified minimum standard which software developers can rely on" adds Wolf Dietrich. "This will quickly increase the number of applications using highest resolution and the hardware 3D acceleration, including quite a number of fascinating new games."
Also closely involved in the co-operation is Blittersoft, the worldwide distributor of the BoXeR system. "Whilst the BoXeR is very much a product to provide a diverse range of Amiga systems, we feel it is important to maintain compatibility with the leading edge peripherals. phase 5 products are very much in that category, and we hope this co-operation will be the first of many, to allow the Amiga community to receive the BoXeR design with even more confidence" says Paul Lesurf of Blittersoft.
"We are very pleased to announce the ongoing work to increase the flexibility of the BoXeR and the work with phase 5 will allow us to deliver a wider range of performance options to the customer", said Mick Tinker of Index. "BoXeR systems will be available with performance starting at the 68040 25MHz, through all the speed options up to the 68060 66MHz and on to single and multiprocessor PowerPC systems with enormous performance levels. All this will be available at time of purchase or as user upgrades. The modern design of the BoXeR motherboard will allow the full benefit of the PowerPC to be utilised by providing a 64-bit path to onboard memory."
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