Author: Ian Osgood
Date: 13:38:21 06/12/00
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On June 12, 2000 at 00:31:19, Mike S. wrote: >On June 11, 2000 at 19:00:17, D Ridge wrote: > >>Hey, i heard a rumour that Novag is coming back from the grave with a Palm-like >>chess device. > >Yes, at the german toy trade fair in Nuremberg 2000, Novag presented the "NOVAG >star sapphire". It was said that it will have an improved Sapphire program. It >has a touch sensitive LCD board (some will remember the "Savant", which already >had one) and an IR port to connect with an electronic chess board. It was >reported that the processor will be the 68EZ328 with 256 KB RAM. As the >scheduled release date, October 2000 was given. > >This device looks very attractive indeed; I don't understand why Novag doesn't >update their website. > >I only hope that there will be a pc connection possible too (preferably via the >IR port), to transfer PGN games or positions. But this was not mentioned in the >report (Computer-Schach und Spiele 2/2000). > >Regards, >M.Scheidl Very interesting! The touch LCD board is a sorely needed feature for handhelds. [Correction: the Savant had a primitive LCD display which was not touch sensitive. There was a joypad button to move a cursor instead.] I presume that the low-level IR protocol will be compatible with the Palm IR port (since this support is built into the 68EZ328 "Dragonball" processor which it shares). I would also guess that the Star Sapphire uses the same command protocol as the earlier Novag products which had RJ25 serial ports. Thus, simple one character commands, keyboard spoofing, set and dump positions, and ability to return principal variation while thinking and current game score, both in long algebraic (Ng1-f3). I wouldn't expect good PC connectivity from Novag. Novag's earlier software for communicating with their computers was crap. With PC programs being so strong nowadays, there isn't much incentive to connect a weak handheld with a PC. I wouldn't be surprised if Novag tries to sell you a serial/USB <-> IR transceiver at a 500% markup however. Are there any photos of the Star Sapphire available on the web? Ian, Sapphire II and Distributor owner
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