Manosoft has made a mass storage device for the Commodore C64 and VIC-20. His design is based on the SD2IEC project. But the C64SD has a couple of advantages: No external power supply is needed, No IEC cable is needed, JiffyDOS support, Disk change button and more. Visit the Manosoft web page fore more details.

André Fachat is working on a CPU card for the CBM/PET computers. His prototype now works on the 8296 model. The CPU card contains a 65816 processor which runs on 12.5 MHz. It also uses a Xilinx CPLD as logic glue and is has 1 MByte fast RAM and 512k Flash ROM. Take a look at André's web page for more information about this project.

You can take a look at the new case design for the AmigaOne X1000 on the A-Eon web page. The picture are a rendering of the new case, but the case should look the when it is manufactured. Visit the A-Eon web page for more details on the X1000.

Vimfuego is building a new device for the users of datassettes on Commodore computers. This device makes it possible to record the sound of a datassette to a PC. It is also possible to use the sound of the PC to load data to your Commodore computer. The device can be used on PET, VIC-20, C64/128, c16 and the Plus/4. You can read about the progress on the Lemon64 forum.

Jim Brain is working on a new cartridge expander for the Commodore C64. The cartridges can be placed in 3 upright and 1 rear connector. Each cartridge slot can be controlled via 8 DIP switches (GAME, EXROM, IO1, IO2, ROML, ROMH, POWER). The proto-types are tested and the X-pander 3 will be for sale very soon, estimated price will be $30,--.

The web page of A-EON is now online. A-EON is the maker of the AmigaOne X1000. The X1000 is a new generation Amiga computer with the following specifications: Dual-core 1.8GHz PowerISA v2.04+ CPU, Xena 500MHz, ATI Radeon R700, 2GB RAM, 500GB Hard drive, DVD combo drive, Customised case, keyboard and mouse, 7.1 channel HD audio.

Roland Hager from the retro-donald.de web page has developed a USB Joystick-adapter. This adapter makes it possible to use your favourite joystick on your PC. You can buy the adapter as a kit. On the web page you can find a very detailed description of how to build the adapter yourself.

Michael Boehmer developed a new RAM-expansion for Zorro-III Amigas. The card will be sold in the near future by E3B, Individual and AmigaKit. Technical data: Zorro-III card 130 x 55 mm, 128 MB or 256 MB fast SDRAM, 32-bit design, Autoconfig support.

Peter Wendrich released a preview of the Chameleon core for C-One. A 1351 mouse emulation is provided when using a ps/2 mouse. The numeric keypad on the keyboard functions as joystick (2,4,6 and 8 for direction, 0 is fire). As the SID is completely emulated, paddles and real 1351 mice won't work with this core.

Gideon Zweijtzer has revealed a new photo of the 1541 Ultimate II. The first board is made and is working. The new 1541 Ultimate II will be available in the near future. The Ultimate will be available with a custom made (black) casing. Visit Gideon's web page for all the details.

There are two new HardSID products available. Both products (HardSID Uno and HardSID Uplay) are connected via the USB and do not need an external power supply. In both devices there are two SID sockets available. The HardSID Uplay has the extra option to select the SID through software. Prices are HardSID Uno 149,-- Euro and HardSID Uplay 169,-- Euro. The HardSID 4U is available for 399,-- Euro.

Jeff Ledger designed a portable SID player called the SIDstick. This device can play the entire HVSC collection wherever you are. Technical Details: 31kHz Sample rate. 16bit Resolution. Full filter support. Full envelope support. Supports all 4 waveform types. 16 steps main volume. Waveform reset bit works. Ring modulation. Oscillator synchronization. On Jeff's web page you can order a kit to build your own SIDstick.

The company A-EON has announced a new hardware platform for running Amiga OS4. The hardware has the following specifications: ATX Formfactor, Dual-core PowerISA v2.04+ CPU, Xena, 7.1 channel HD audio, 4x DDR2, 10x USB 2.0, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 2x PCIe x16, 2x PCIe x1, 1x Xorro, 2x PCI, 2x RS232, 4x SATA 2, 1x IDE connector, JTAG and Compact Flash. Visit the web page of A-EON for more details.

Jim Brain has introduced a new web-shop. Jim Brain is well known for his innovating products for Commodore Computers. At the moment the following products are available: The µIEC/SD, a replacement for the 1541 disk-drive that uses a modern memory card for storage. JiffyDOS, the original DOS replacement for serial disk-drives. The µIEC/SD daugther board. The 64NIC, a C64 module with Ethernet connection. The ROM-el, a replacement / adaptor for Commodore ROM chips.

Johannes Eggers made a small interface that makes it possible to connect a PS/2 keyboard to your Commodore CBM or PET computer. You can even reset your PET/CBM by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del on the keyboard. Visit his blog for all the details.

A new cartridge is available for the Commodore VIC-20. The cartridge contains a EPROM, a memory decoding circuit and selection switches. The games can be burned in a EPROM and selected with the 5 switches. This means that you can put 32 games inside the EPROM. For developers all the cartridge connections are available for testing and custom memory decoding is also possible. Visit the web page for all the details.

Nate Lawson has released a beta version of his xum1541. The xum1541 is a device that makes it possible to connect a Commodore 1541 disk drive to a PC with the help of a USB connection. The xum1541 can be made with a Atmel AT90USBKEY developer's kit. Software is available for Windows and Mac OS X.

For the C-One is a new Minimig core (v2.0) available. Tobias Gubener ported Jakub Bednarski's sources of September 2009 to the C-One. The features include: Emulation of four floppy drives (DF0: to DF3:), Emulation of two hard drives (4GB), FAT16 or FAT32 supported for the CF memory card, Long file names for ADF images allowed. Memory 11.5MB: 2MB chipmem, 1.5MB slowmem, 8MB fastmem. For this core you will need a C-One with FPGA extender.

Gideon Zweijtzer release news about the 1541U-II. The new version features are: The PCB is 30% smaller. MicroSD connector, instead of a full-size SD. Real-time-clock function, for correct file time and date. Larger FPGA, which enables the implementation of more features. USB Host port, which can be used to connect USB-sticks. There are plans to make an suitable case for the device. Visit Gideon's web page for more details and pictures of the 1541U-II.

The VIC-20 Final Expansion v3.2 is an cartridge for the Commodore VIC-20. The features are: RAM expansion up to 512 KB. Also available: 3 KB, 8 KB, 11 KB, 16 KB, 19 KB, 24 KB, 27 KB and 35 KB. Each RAM section can be write-protected to simulate a ROM. 512 KB Flash EEPROM memory that can be flashed by the VIC-20. Up to 2 GB mass storage media by using modern SD-cards as a reliable floppy replacement. Real time clock. Connector for an external LCD display. Cartridge Configuration. Reset key.

Christian Krenner has made a web page about upgrading his Amiga 600. His A600 is equipped with: Motorola 68030/40 MHz, 34 MByte RAM, 32 GByte Compact Flash "hard disk", PCMCIA network, USB ports and a Indivision ECS. Take a look at Christian's page for all the details.

A new version of OpenCBM is available for the XU1541. In this update problems with opening the LPT port are fixed. The program is now also Vista compatible. With the XU1514 you can connect a Commodore (serial) disk drive via USB to a PC.

The XU1541 USB Adapter is now available. This adapter is the modern version of the parallel port X1541 cable but now with USB capabilities. Allowing modern PC's and laptops to use the Commodore range of disk drives such as the 1541 etc.

The first NatAmi board is assembled. The goal of this hardware project is to produce a next generation Amiga computer with an up-to-date design. The NatAmi project is designed and developed by Thomas Hirsch. You can follow the progress via the web page and forum.

Jakub Bednarski released new firmware for the Minimig.
ARM firmware: MMC/SD/SDHC cards, FAT16/FAT32 filesystems, Long File Names, Up to 4 virtual floppy drives and 2 hard files emulations.
FPGA: Improved system timing (blitter, CIAs, ROM), Improvements CIA access, INTREQ, Support for two virtual hard disks, Kickstart 1.2 can be used.

EasyFlash is a cartridge for the C64 expansion port. In contrast to traditional cartridges, this one can be programmed directly from the C64. EasyFlash is a 1 MByte Flash EPROM card with multiple configurations and banks possible. It does not use traditional UV-EPROMs, but Flash memory. This makes it possible to "burn" the cartridge using your C64, no EPROM programmer is needed.

Gideon has developed a successor of the 1541 Ultimate. The new version will include: MircoSD instead of SD cards, Tape emulation, Real-time clock, Significantly improved audio output and there will be a case available. The Ethernet option will not be available on the new version. Visit Gideon's web page for all the details.

Matthew D'Asaro has developed a 6540 ROM replacement. The 6540 ROMs are inside the PET / CBM computers. An original EPROM is very hard to get but the 2716 EPROM can replace it. But to make the replacement possible Matthew developed a little adapter, you can build it yourself or order a complete adapter with programmed EPROM.

A new FPGA product is in development. The FPGA board can emulate classic computers from Commodore, Atari, Sinclair and Amiga. At the moment the Commodore 64 / 1541 core is finished. The FPGA makes it possible to improve the C64, for example: 48x42 16 colors sprites, 16 MHz 6510, double SID etc.

Peter Wendrich has compiled a new FPGA-64 version. It has swapped joystick ports and has a workaround that fixes the X/Y pot swap on the C-One PCB. Just as with the latest Chameleon core, with this release 1351 type mouse or paddles can be used with the C-One. It also contains the latest VIC-II emulation code from Chameleon. It needs the NewBoot bootloader, but can work without the extender board.

Jim Brain is working with Mark Fellows to finalize a licensing agreement for JiffyDOS. Next to the hardware ROM Jim Brain will also offer a software version for the 1541 Ultimate, C64DTV and the emulators. Jim is working on a flash ROM adaptor with JiffyDOS that can replace the EPROMs in the computer and disk drive.

Jsaily released JiffyDOS for the 1541-III. Jsaily has been working on it for a couple of weeks with the help of Jan Derogee, Unseen and 1570. There is now a beta-version available for testing, and if you find a bug please send in a bug report.

Jakub Bednarski released new firmware for the minimig. The new features are: Improved compatibility. Support for 2 floppy drives. Hard disk emulation for the ARM mini-board. 28 MHz CPU turbo mode. Fast blitter mode. PAL and NTSC mode selection via OSD menu. support for 2 MB of Chip and 1.5 MB of Slow RAM. Scan-line emulation effect. Jakub also made an article about expanding the RAM of the minimig with 1 Mbyte.

Jim Brain developed a new cartridge for the Commodore 64. The 64NIC+ cartridge is a Retro Replay/TFE compatible ethernet cartridge. You can pre-order a unit at the cost of 50,-- US$.

Jeri Ellsworth is going into the fashion business. Jeri developed a purse with a C64-DTV, LCD-screen and two joystick controllers. You can watch a video about the game-purse on the Engadget web page.

Benjamin J. Heckendorn made a laptop of a Commodore C64. He used a modified C64c motherboard, original keyboard, 15" TFT screen and a 1541-III DTV. Ben also made the case for the laptop. The most work was to get the C64 motherboard and keyboard fit inside the laptop. Take a look at Ben's web page for all the details.

Software Hut is selling GVP products. This are newly made original products. The available items are: GVP 4MB and 16MB 60ns RAM Module, GVP 4060DT, GVP A2000 060 Accelerator, GVP Spectrum Graphics Board and the GVP Typhoon A1200 030 40MHz Accelerator.

Two new products are available from Individual Computers. With the Indivision AGA you can use a modern monitor with the Amiga 4000 and CD-32. Indivision AGA can display PAL at more than 60Hz, flicker-free and 24 bits. The A600 memory expansion has 1M additional chipmem, real-time clock and a clockport. There is also a socket for installing Indivision ECS.

This German-language web page gives a complete overview of the MMC2IEC and SD2IEC devices. These devices are a replacement for the IEC disk drive and store the data on a memory card instead of a diskette.

A new interface cable is developed for the Commodore disk drives. Besides the IEC disk drives (1541) this cable also supports the parallel IEEE-488 bus (8050). The XS-1541 is connected to the serial or USB interface of a PC. All commands are send with a terminal program on the PC. You can use any operating system (Linux, Amiga, Windows, DOS) as long you can use a terminal program.

OmniFlop is a 'universal' floppy disk reader, writer, and tester for the PC which can handle floppy disk formats not normally supported by DOS, Windows and Linux. With OmniFlop it is possible to read and write Commodore 1581 diskettes. Omniflop can read more than 100 other floppy formats like: CMD FDD, Atari ST, Tandy CoCo, etc. The program is available for Windows from NT to Vista. Also a version for MS-DOS and Win-95 is available (OmniDisk).

A major problem with collecting old computers is that the computers get yellow. Many people tried to remove the yellow but without success. Last year a solution was found. The colouring can be removed with a mix of chemicals. Take a look at the web page for the details and examples.

Jim Brain released new firmware for his uIEC. The uIEC is a very small replacement for a Commodore IEC disk drive. In this version: Drive mapper, EXOS V3 fastloader support, Dreamload emulation, Copy command, Final Cartridge 3 freezed file fastloader support, D71/D81 support, Partial REL file support and more.

Version 1.29 of the Minimig core for the C-One is available. With this version the hard disk option is now working for the Minimig. Tobias Gubener also improved the sync behaviour of the bridge between the C-One board and the extender card. This fixes start-up problems of the Minimig. Peter Wendrich made a technical document for the C-One. Peter is also working on the Chameleon project. Chameleon will be a cartridge for the Commodore 64 with: VGA, REU, Turbo, MMC/SD and disk drive emulation.

Old ICs are harder to get. The sollution would be to make new ones. But now there is a alternative. The web page FPGA Arcade has developed an 28 pin module with an FPGA. This FPGA can be programmed to simmulate hardware. Arnim Läuger makes programs for this module and has now made a PLA for the Commodore C64. You can buy a programmed module or buy an empty one and program it yourself. You can find lots of other FPGA information on this web page too.

Nate Lawson is working on a X1541 cable that has a USB connection. With the xum1541 and the OpenCBM software it is possible to transfer data to and from a 1541 disk drive and a modern PC. It supports high-speed parallel cables, so you can use nibtools and make low-level images from a diskette. The xum1541 is based on a Atmel developers board and a small pcb for connecting the 1541 disk drive.

The Mega-Cart is a collection of games (179), handy utilities (24) and a software-configurable 32K RAM expansion. It can be used with the Commodore VIC-20 (PAL and NTSC).
The Mega Cart is in production and shipping starts in February. You can order it for USD 99.95 from the web page.

For the owners of the C-One there is another update for the Minimig core. Version V1.21 makes use of the large memory chip on the FPGA extender: In addition to 2M Chipmem and 1M fake-fast memory, there's now another 8M fastmem usable from any program, resulting in a total of 11 megabytes of usable memory. The update also fixes a few memory-timing problems, so any startup-problems should finally be a thing of the past. You will need the FPGA extender card if you want to use the Minimig core.

There is a new version of the C-One available. This new version has the FPGA extender card. The FPGA extender card has a Cyclone3 FPGA, 16MByte SD-Ram, Audio converter and a VGA connection. The extender card is also available for the owners of the "standard" C-One. With this extender card you can now run the minimig core (by Tobias Gubener) on your C-One. Other news things: New boot system, which is much faster. Support for stereo SID (by Peter Wendrich). Take a look at the C-One web page for all the details.

After the introduction of the USB Competition Pro another classic joystick is now available with a USB connection. This Atari style joystick can be used with many emulators on Windows, Apple Mac OSX and Linux. It even can be modded to have 10 additional fire buttons.