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![]() Headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida | |
Founded | 2010 |
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Defunct | 2013 |
Headquarters | Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA |
Key people | Barry Altman (deceased) Leo Nigro |
Commodore USA, LLC was a computer company based in Pompano Beach, Florida, with additional facilities in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Commodore USA, LLC was founded in April 2010. [1] The company's goal was to sell a new line of PCs using the classic Commodore and Amiga [2] name brands of personal computers, having licensed the Commodore brand from Commodore Licensing BV on August 25, 2010 [3] and the Amiga brand from Amiga, Inc. on August 31, 2010. [4]
After the 2012 demise of Commodore USA, the claimed Commodore brand license turned out to be invalid, as a court ruled in 2013 that neither Asiarim Corporation nor its subsidiary Commodore Licensing BV ever were in a position to grant such a license. The court found that the Commodore trademarks were held by C=Holdings BV, and held Asiarim liable for trademark infringement. [5] The Amiga brand license too was disputed by Hyperion Entertainment, [6] on the basis of a 2009 settlement agreement between Hyperion and Amiga.
The last news release from the website is dated March 21, 2012. In January 2013, it was revealed that founder and driving force Barry S. Altman died of cancer on December 8, 2012. [7] The last post on Commodore USA's forum came from Leo Nigro (Chief Technical Officer) on the 9th of December concerning the Amiga line. [8] [9]
The Commodore Phoenix was a keyboard computer resembling an updated style of the Commodore 64. [10] It was originally designed and manufactured by Cybernet as a space-saving workstation.
The flagship product for Commodore USA, named the Commodore 64x, was contained in a partially redesigned and updated Commodore 64 form factor. The machine looked like the original Commodore 64, except with a slightly updated keyboard and power supply. The base model has an Intel Atom processor and an NVIDIA Ion 2 graphics card. The top version released on August 13, 2011 was called the "C64x Extreme" and featured an Intel Core i7 CPU with 8 GB RAM and 3 TB hard drive using the Intel Sandy Bridge chipset. [11] There was also a barebones version of the C64x shell without a motherboard, power supply, or optical drive or hard drive, that was meant to encourage hobbyist enthusiasts to install their preferred Mini-ATX motherboard.
The revamped Vic product line [12] [13] is a group of keyboard computers with original Commodore function keys. The Vic Slim had a keyboard that was the same size as most extended keyboards, but used a relatively slow Intel Atom CPU. [14] The Vic Pro was a keyboard computer that also contained a built-in touchpad, memory card reader, and two fans.
A product line of Amiga branded x86 computers based upon the Intel i7 chipset featuring emulation of the classic Amiga systems built-in. [15] [16] The only available Amiga sold so far is the Amiga Mini [17] which was a barebone computer. The Amiga Mio was offered as a refresh of the Amiga Mini, but was discontinued on November 4, 2013. [18]
As of November 11, 2011, Commodore USA has released a beta version of Commodore OS, a Linux Mint-based operating system to be used throughout its product range. It is a media center operating system, bundled with a variety of free open source software. The full version of this beta operating system is available only systems purchased from Commodore USA. [19] It does support emulation of some of the previous Commodore operating systems. [20]
Commodore USA consistently focused [21] on bundling an alternate operating system, preferring Linux. It previously claimed that their machines support every operating system available from Ubuntu specifically, to Windows and even OSx86, [22] but disclaiming that they do not and will not sell Mac OS X. Commodore USA's online store sold Microsoft Windows separately and bundled Linux in their keyboard computers. Later, Commodore USA announced that they would officially support, develop, and ship their computers with AROS, [23] but shifted their focus on redesigning Linux as Amiga Workbench 5, and Amiga Workbench X, but decided to name it Commodore OS and dropped all plans of making it resemble an Amiga-like operating system due to additional legal proceedings. [24]
Examples of announced products that appear to have been cancelled are Invictus [25] and Amigo. [26] [27] The Commodore USA website was redesigned and an interactive forum was launched at the same time. High-end Amiga-PC designs were posted on the website. The company licensed the Commodore brand from Commodore Licensing, BV on August 25, 2010. It licensed the Amiga brand from Amiga, Inc. shortly afterwards on August 31.
Barry Altman, founder of Commodore USA, died on December 8, 2012. The molds and existing stock for the Commodore C64x were sold to My Retro Computer Ltd in the UK [28] who continue to sell units in a variety of colors and up to date configurations. [29]
Commodore USA has been criticized for altering previously announced plans, [30] [31] threatening legal action against an OS News writer's article, [32] [33] and mistakenly attempting to obtain licensing from a Commodore licensee unauthorised to sublicense. [34] [35] Commodore USA was alleged to have used various images, artwork, and designs without the permission of the original authors. [36] [37] [38] Apparently they chose to do so in some cases because they could not contact the creators to ask permission. [39] Further controversy surrounding the company's image use policy revolved around alleged photographs of the C64x assembly line in China, revealed to have been old promotional images for a facility in Augsburg owned by Fujitsu. [40]
Some of Commodore USA's announced products were cancelled since their announcement due to intellectual property disagreements, most notably concerning the rights of licensor Amiga Inc. with regards to the possible use of AROS in future Amiga systems from Commodore USA. [24] Others have simply been cancelled as the business plan evolves away from their sector of the market.
Lance Ulanoff writing in PCMag criticized the new Commodore 64 as a "none-too-cheap imitation of the real thing", [41] criticizing it for using modern components. Commodore USA has responded to this position by pointing out the high cost of researching and developing original chipsets, and the relative expense and lack of mass-market software support for other CPU ISAs such as Power ISA or Motorola 68000 family. [42]
Commodore USA attempted to address these concerns by announcing Commodore OS, intended to be released with Commodore USA systems. Their new Amiga product line is not compatible with original Amiga systems including the operating system, AmigaOS which is in fact developed by a separate company. Commodore USA originally intended to develop an AROS to be bundled with their Amiga systems, [43] however this plan was later publicly discarded by CEO Barry Altman. [44]
Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 16/32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphics and audio compared to previous 8-bit systems. These systems include the Atari ST—released earlier the same year—as well as the Macintosh and Acorn Archimedes. Based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor, the Amiga differs from its contemporaries through the inclusion of custom hardware to accelerate graphics and sound, including sprites and a blitter, and a pre-emptive multitasking operating system called AmigaOS.
The Amiga 1000, also known as the A1000, is the first personal computer released by Commodore International in the Amiga line. It combines the 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU which was powerful by 1985 standards with one of the most advanced graphics and sound systems in its class. It runs a preemptive multitasking operating system that fits into 256 KB of read-only memory and was shipped with 256 KB of RAM. The primary memory can be expanded internally with a manufacturer-supplied 256 KB module for a total of 512 KB of RAM. Using the external slot the primary memory can be expanded up to 8.5 MB.
Commodore International Corporation was a Bahamian home computer and electronics manufacturer with executive offices in the United States founded by Jack Tramiel and Irving Gould. Commodore International (CI), along with its subsidiary Commodore Business Machines (CBM), was a significant participant in the development of the home computer industry in the 1970s to early 1990s. In 1982, the company developed and marketed the world's second-best selling computer, the Commodore 64, and released its Amiga computer line in July 1985. Commodore was one of the world's largest personal computer manufacturers, with sales peaking in the last quarter of 1983 at $49 million.
The history of the graphical user interface, understood as the use of graphic icons and a pointing device to control a computer, covers a five-decade span of incremental refinements, built on some constant core principles. Several vendors have created their own windowing systems based on independent code, but with basic elements in common that define the WIMP "window, icon, menu and pointing device" paradigm.
The CDTV is a home multimedia entertainment and video game console – convertible into a full-fledged personal computer by the addition of optional peripherals – developed by Commodore International and launched in April 1991.
MorphOS is an AmigaOS-like computer operating system (OS). It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC (PPC) processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale development boards that use the Genesi firmware, including the Efika and mobileGT. Since MorphOS 2.4, Apple's Mac mini G4 is supported as well, and with the release of MorphOS 2.5 and MorphOS 2.6 the eMac and Power Mac G4 models are respectively supported. The release of MorphOS 3.2 added limited support for Power Mac G5. The core, based on the Quark microkernel, is proprietary, although several libraries and other parts are open source, such as the Ambient desktop.
Amiga, Inc. is a company that used to hold some trademarks and other assets associated with the Amiga personal computer.
The Amiga is a family of home computers that were designed and sold by the Amiga Corporation from 1985 to 1994.
AmigaOS is the proprietary native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. Since its introduction with the launch of the Amiga 1000 in 1985, there have been four major versions and several minor revisions of the operating system.
Minimig is an open source re-implementation of an Amiga 500 using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).
Workbench is the desktop environment and graphical file manager of AmigaOS developed by Commodore International for their Amiga line of computers. Workbench provides the user with a graphical interface to work with file systems and launch applications. It uses a workbench metaphor for representing file system organisation.
Intuition is the native windowing system and user interface (UI) engine of AmigaOS. It was developed almost entirely by RJ Mical. Intuition should not be confused with Workbench, the AmigaOS desktop environment and spatial file manager, which relies on Intuition for handling windows and input events. Workbench uses Intuition to produce displays and AmigaDOS to interact with filing system: AmigaDOS is built on Exec.
AmigaOS 4 is a line of Amiga operating systems which runs on PowerPC microprocessors. It is mainly based on AmigaOS 3.1 source code developed by Commodore, and partially on version 3.9 developed by Haage & Partner. "The Final Update" was released on 24 December 2006 after five years of development by the Belgian company Hyperion Entertainment under license from Amiga, Inc. for AmigaOne registered users.
Zune is an object-oriented GUI toolkit which is part of the AROS project and nearly a clone, at both an API and look-and-feel level, of Magic User Interface (MUI), a well-known Amiga shareware product by Stefan Stuntz.
AROS Research Operating System is a free and open-source multi media centric implementation of the AmigaOS 3.1 application programming interface (API) which is designed to be portable and flexible. As of 2021, ports are available for personal computers (PCs) based on x86 and PowerPC, in native and hosted flavors, with other architectures in development. In a show of full circle development, AROS has been ported to the Motorola 68000 series (m68k) based Amiga 1200, and there is also an ARM port for the Raspberry Pi series.
AmigaOS is a family of proprietary native operating systems of the Amiga and AmigaOne personal computers. It was developed first by Commodore International and introduced with the launch of the first Amiga, the Amiga 1000, in 1985. Early versions of AmigaOS required the Motorola 68000 series of 16-bit and 32-bit microprocessors. Later versions were developed by Haage & Partner and then Hyperion Entertainment. A PowerPC microprocessor is required for the most recent release, AmigaOS 4.
The Amiga 1200, or A1200, is a personal computer in the Amiga computer family released by Commodore International, aimed at the home computer market. It was launched on October 21, 1992, at a base price of £399 in the United Kingdom and $599 in the United States.
The Commodore 64x is a replica PC based on the original Commodore 64, powered by x86 Intel processors ranging from the Intel Atom to the Intel Core i7. It was sold by Commodore USA starting in April 2011. Because Commodore USA went out of business after the death of its founder, Barry Altman, this machine as originally intended to be configured with Extreme and Ultimate models was not readily available with Commodore branding for a period of several years until it was publicly relaunched in June 2022. The Kickstarter was hit with a cease and desist letter from Italian Commodore Engineering who have since apologized with the result being the crowdfunding campaign going back online and achieving Kickstarter's Project We Love status.
Commodore OS is a community driven free-to-download Linux distribution for Commodore enthusiasts purchasing Commodore licensed computer equipment. First developed by Commodore USA, it was intended for use on their range of PCs, particularly the Commodore 64x and Vic Slim computers. The first public beta version was released on 11 November 2011. It was based on Linux Mint, and used the GNOME 2 desktop environment. The company became defunct in 2013 before version 1.0 of the OS could officially come out of beta.
Barry S. Altman was the founder and CEO of Commodore USA from 2010 until his death in late 2012. Prior to founding Commodore USA, Barry worked for over 20 years in the satellite and communications industry. During his time at Commodore USA, the Commodore 64x was announced and put up for pre-sales. On December 8, 2012, Barry died from a prolonged battle with cancer.
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