Only a few short days ago, Commodore USA announced its intention to launch a modern version of the legendary C64 all-in-one keyboard computer. Now the company has revealed an exclusive licensing agreement with Amiga Inc. that should result in the company releasing upgraded Amiga-branded machines. As well as a technical overhaul, the new computers are to be fully compatible with the updated version of the AmigaOS operating system.
The image rendered on Commodore USA's product page looks closest to an Amiga 1200, which came with 2MB of system memory and a Motorola 68EC020 14MHz processor when it was originally released in 1992. Computer technology has moved on a tad since then and the new Amiga-branded all-in-one is shown with a 2.66GHz Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 512MB of onboard memory, a 2TB HDD and 4GB DDR3 RAM. There's even mention of a Blu-ray optical drive placed where the floppy disk drive would have originally sat.
Commodore USA's CEO Barry Altman, commenting on the success in securing the rights to an exclusive global license, said: "The legacy of the Commodore and Amiga trademark brand, reunited once again after so many years, and our reintroduction of the legendary All-In-One computer keyboard form factor, combined with the twenty five year anniversary of the introduction of the first Amiga computer by Commodore International, is a once in a lifetime opportunity."
The company has also announced full compatibility with the open source update to the AmigaOS operating system, AROS.
No more information has been released at this time, we'll keep an eye on developments and let you know when actual product becomes available. In the meantime, expect more licensing news to come from the press room at Commodore USA as the company attempts to acquire "the third and final brand license, completing our quest for the total technology trifecta." Atari ST anyone?
