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THOSE OF A certain generation will remember the Commodore 64. The device was for many their first introduction to computers and games.
Now the 1980s device is making a return in a more portable format, specifically a mid-range smartphone, called the Commodore PET, a name shared with one of Commodore’s other iconic PCs.
According to WIRED, the smartphone was the work of two Italian entrepreneurs, Massimo Canigiani and Carlo Scattolini, who registered Commodore Business Machines Limited in the UK and are using it to launch a smartphone.
The specs for the device are decent. Running on a custom version of Android Lollipop, it has a 5.5-inch screen (think of the Samsung Galaxy Note series and you’re on the right track), a 1.7 GHz processor and a 3000 mAh battery. The basic version comes with 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM, increasing to 32GB and 3GB of RAM, and has a 13MP camera.
But the biggest draw is something you can’t do with other phones (legally): play old Commodore 64 and Amiga games on it. The smartphone comes with two pre-installed emulators allowing you to play titles from the two classic computers.
While they’re not officially finished yet, the company released two videos showcasing demos of them in action: Turrican II on the Amiga 500 and Ghosts n’ Goblins for the Commodore 64.
And that’s only touching the surface of it. While it’s aimed at a niche market, for many, the thought of playing Lemmings, Sensible Soccer, Xenon II, or Lotus Turbo Challenge II (just for the theme tune) while on the go will certainly be tempting for those who grew up with either .
According to WIRED, the PET will initially be available in Italy, France, Germany and Poland, but there are plans to add more countries in Europe in the near future. The two versions of the PET will cost roughly $300 and $365 (€273 and €332) respectively.
Wouldn’t surprise me.
Gaddaffi was a lovely man until he wanted to introduce the gold dinar for the sale of oil.
Then the eu and the usa shat themselves.
The eu/usa murdered tens of thousands of Libyans for oil and is murdering people on a daily basis with the bullshit “arab spring”.
Nothing would surprise me about the eu.
Gadaffi was a lovely man?? Whatever your views on western foreign policy in the region, thats nonsense!
Re Side View Bob.
You are spot on.
Re Mattoid.
Gaddafi was loved by his people.
Libya under Gaddafi was a beacon of light compared to present day and was the envy of the African continent until NATO ransacked and pillaged the country.
B Lowe I didnt know you knew what people in Libya thought of Gaddafi. Actually you dont my familyare Libyan and they live in Libya (fought in the uprising as well) and they will tell you it was know shining light it hardly had lights let alone enough food. Yes the U.k France and America wantedhim out for the oil but the people wanted him out because he was an evil dictator
Jamie,
“uprisng”
no Libyan could call what happened in Libya an “uprising” the brits/yanks used bastardized forces to gain control of the oil.
The brits/yanks will tell you that al Qaeda/taliban are there evil enemies but they have no problem arming them when it suits them.
Libya was a beacon of light.
You Jamie, are a bullshytter
The awkward moment when someone makes a derisive comment citing someone else’s spelling mistake and then makes a silly grammar mistake..
Their their, it’s not so bad! :-)
So your’e saying my father isnt Libyan,and didn’t fight? You are talking about somethimg you know nothing about, Im left wing mate but just because the west got involved doesnt mean it was all a western plan. Yeah they did jump on board and took advantage of it for there own personal gain. But Libya was no beacon of hope. Libya is in a awful way at the moment whatever notion of calm and government control in the media is lies it lawless my father has compared to Somalia where the warlords roamed in the 90s
Gadaffi may have had great intentions for the people of Libya and his economic policies certainly benefited all but power does eventually corrupt. Everything else is pretty spot on thou.
jamie,
i know more about libya than you or your father.
your use of british isms tells me a lot about you.
is jamie david thompson?
Under the al-Gaddafi government the Libyan people were denied fundamental human rights, abused, oppressed, imprisoned, tortured and silenced. Many of the abuses being used by armed militias in Libya today are replicating the abuses carried out by the former Libyan government. Amnesty International has decades of reports and evidence of documented human rights abuses by the former Libyan government on an appalling scale.
Human rights is not about picking a side, being pro al-Gaddafi or being anti western or supporting rebels or NATO’s intervention. It’s about condemning human rights abuses regardless of which side carries them out. Both sides during the conflict in Libya carried out human rights abuses that in some cases would be tantamount to war crimes.
The current Libyan government is not doing enough to protect the human rights of its people, and armed militias involved in the conflict have refused to disband and are engaged in widespread torture. As our report today shows, refugees and migrants to Libya are being treated appalling. Those are the issues we should be trying to address.
Re Amnesty.
Your first paragraph could be applied to the US. Change Libya under Gaddafi to America under Bush/Obama and it’s hard not to see striking similarities.
Both countries have engaged in what you described in your piece.
I don’t disagree with that. The use of torture by the US is something Amnesty International has frequently highlighted, along with the use of drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Criticising the human rights record of one ‘side’, doesn’t mean anyone should turn a blind eye to the violations committed by the other.
“Under ff/lab/fg governments the irish people are being denied fundamental human rights, abused, oppressed, imprisoned, tortured and silenced”.
Where was amnesty when donegal/sligo people were being framed, tortured and imprisoned?
Where is/was amnesty international when the families of those murdered by the british in dublin and monaghan need/ needed them?
What’s amnesty’s stance on state controlled media?
i could go on.
Amnesty are sickening hypocrites
@Blowe
“Both sides have engaged in what you described in your piece”
So you do acknowledge that Gaddafi wasn’t the benign “beacon of light” you portrayed in your earlier comment?
@Amnesty
Unfortunately it appears that no matter what human rights abuses are documented and how compelling the evidence, there will always be those who will choose to disregard it if it doesn’t fit with their chosen ideological viewpoint.
“Under ff/lab/fg governments the irish people are being denied fundamental human rights, abused, oppressed, imprisoned, tortured and silenced”.
Where was amnesty when donegal/sligo people were being framed, tortured and imprisoned?
Where is/was amnesty international when the families of those murdered by the british in dublin and monaghan need/ needed them?
What’s amnesty’s stance on state controlled media?
i could go on.
Amnesty are sickening hypocrites
sorry, that was meant to go with amnestys bullshit, see below.
The Janus faced Troll known as Side View Bob aka Thomond Park & Aviva Park (caught out claiming false journalistic credentials resurfaces as Limerick Boy and now appears in his current form. No doubt this muppet has also many other guises.
have your say