Mock-up of ZX Spectrum Re-releaseWell, this is great news for fans of retro computers. One of the most prolific original developers for the ZX Spectrum back in the day, Elite, will be reissuing the platform in honor of its 30th anniversary in 2012. Though little known outside of Europe, the ZX Spectrum was one of the most popular computers of the 1980s in the UK, rivaling the worldwide sales leader, the Commodore 64, for overall popularity. While there are few details about what form the new iteration of the computer will take - some say it will essentially just be a bluetooth keyboard for use with emulators - it's still a fascinating experiment in nostalgia, one we hope is successful so additional platforms might follow suit. If you're curious to learn more about the ZX Spectrum, our own Mark Vergeer has recently posted some videos (here and here) for your enjoyment.

I am pleased to announce that I have been given permission to publish an article by Bruno Florindo and Andrew Owen entitled, American Cousins, which features a fascinating interview with Lou Galie, Senior Vice President of Technology at Timex Group USA Inc and former Director of Engineering for the Timex Computer Corporation. The article tells the story of Timex's transition from their successful Sinclair ZX81-based budget computer, Timex Sinclair 1000, to the company's last two personal computing products in the US, the Timex Sinclair 1500, an updated Timex Sinclair 1000, and the Timex Sinclair 2068, an enhanced pseudo-clone of the UK's popular ZX Spectrum. You can read the PDF article originally intended for the fanzine Byte High No Limit by downloading the attachment below or simply clicking here. In the future, I will be providing more coverage of the complete series of Timex and Spectrum computers from my personal collection, so be sure to stay tuned. Many thanks to Andrew and Bruno for the article.

Sir Clive - world famous in at least the UK and Europe - has recently told reporters that he doesn't use any computer in his day to day life. The current generation of computers suffer from bad design flaws and are the absolute opposite of being conservative in their use of internal memory - according to Sir Clive. And he's the man who knows what he is talking about as he is the designer of the Timex1000/ZX80/ZX81 series of machines that came out in 1980 featuring a whopping 1Kb of RAM and a basic interpreter.

All this and more can all be read in a recent interview in the UK paper the Guardian. It seems that even all email correspondence is all printed out by his secretary and handled by him on paper. That would actually cause the bald red-bearded Sir to be somewhat of an environmental hazard, wouldn't it? Oh, by the look of the photograph in the article he actually lost the beard. Well Sir Clive will be celebrating is 70th birthday this year and perhaps it does make him look a little younger. One does tend to get this Gandalfian/Dumbledorian look when sporting a grey/white beard... Sir Clive has an extensive track record when it comes to the ZX Spectrum line of microcomputers that did shape a large part of computer history - at least in Europe, Brazil and Russia.

He's currently devoting his energy to design yet another energy efficient electric car. Let it be noted that his last attempt called the ' C 5 ' bombed! Perhaps he'll be more fortunate this time around. Go Sir Clive!

Canon WarANDRE*** has created another new game for the Sinclair ZX81/Timex Sinclair 1000/1500, entitled, "Canon War", which as the manual states, ""CANNON WAR" is an arcade game like we remember. In the game, you control the left side cannon and the computer controls the right side cannon(s). You lose a cannon every time a cannonball hits your defense line. Beware! You must move closer to the enemy to destroy his cannons. You have two versions to play: Version E1 uses keys 5, 6, 7, 8 and 0 (zero). Version E2 uses keys 1, A, I, P and 0 (zero)."

Check it out here: http://www.zx-team.de/andre or here: http://zx81.ordi5.free.fr/andre

Thanks to Yerzmyey for the heads up on a new ZX81/Timex Sinclair 1000/1500 game, "Ferengi", said to be "a continuation of the classic ZX-81 game 'Klingons'". It looks like the archive contains versions for both unexpanded and expanded systems, with instructions to record to a real tape if you prefer not to play in an emulator. Get the archive file (.rar) here. From the notes:

Even though it's been in my collection for a few years now, I've had little direct experience with the Timex Sinclair 2068 (1983). It was time to inventory everything since someone wished to purchase one of my spare units.

For those interested in the obscure, but very intriguing Sinclair QL from the mid-80's, you can now get a type of turn-key QL environment for use with a modern Windows PC that can be transferred to a USB memory stick (minimum 128MB). This is a great idea and I'd like to see implementations of this for other systems. I personally own a very robust real Sinclair QL setup, but I think this would also make a fine companion for that, particularly in regards to data exchange. More information here.

YOOGOR Screenshot: 16K ZX81, Timex Sinclair 1000/1500This one looks real good for all users of the ZX81 and Timex Sinclair 1000/1500:

"YOOGOR" is an all-graphic, all-animation adventure game featuring Yoo in his first major role. You have previously seen him in "ZXOKO-BAN" and "IZXOLA". If not, go and download the games.

The aim of the game is to guide Yoogor to his lost shield and to bring him back with his shield to his castle. There are 4 major difficulties to do that, 1) the constant threat of falling, 2) the secret of gates opening, 3) the selection of the safest path to go ahead and, 4) the various traps along the way.

Alien Mind for the ZX81/Sinclair/Timex Computers (16K)Thanks again to "ANDRE***" for the heads-up (I hope he'll start selling some of these on real media soon!) on the latest happenings in the world of the ZX81/Timex Sinclair 1000:

The first program of 2007 is.... not from ANDRE*** but from
Xavsnap. "TRAIN RUSH" is available at http://zx81.ordi5.free.fr/.
It is a fast arcade game in which you must cross the USA from east to
west.

"http://www.ts1000.us" has extended the program contest for
another year to include the celebrations for the 25 years of the
Timex-Sinclair TS1000, the ZX81 American cousin. Let's go programmers!