Apple Newton specs: RAM, infrared, speed

>From a friend who's one of the best Newton developers around. An
unsolicited plug: check out his company's web site at
http://www.newts.com/

-Declan

---------- Forwarded message begins here ----------

Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 11:56:52 -0700 (MST)
To: "Declan B. McCullagh" <declan+@CMU.EDU>
From: dan@newts.com (Dan Rowley)
Subject: Re: Fwd: Is Chaum's System Traceable or Untraceable?

>>Does anyone on cpunks or ecash have an Apple Newton?  I know
that they come with infrared-- what are the specs on that
communications device?  And about the Newton itself:  can it
compile ANSI C code?  How much RAM?  Permanent storage?  Speed
of crypto operations?

Dec -
        The Newton's infrared is essentially the SHARP "ASK" protocol,
which is the same as used by the sharp wizard.  It is *not* IrDA
compatible, and Apple claims that it's a hardware problem not a software
problem.  The Newton cannot currently compile ANSI C unless you have very
close ties to Apple (internal code development is in C), but they will be
releasing C tools for the Newton within a couple of months.  The C, of
course, is not directly compiled on the Newton, but on a host Mac.  The
Newton ships with between 1 and 2 megs of internal RAM, but can be expanded
with FLASH or SRAM cards, but there's only one slot, so putting in a modem
could be tough.. ;)  The permanent storage *is* RAM.  It's all flash.  As
for speed, it depends on whether you do it in NewtonScript or C.
NewtonScript is compiled to P-Code that runs on a virtual machine, and is
really not too bad.  you can also compile to straight ARM code if you want.
The next Newton to come out will be based on the DEC StrongARM which I
understand is blindingly fast..

Hope this helps

Dan

--------
Dan Rowley
Innovative Computer Solutions
Developers of fine software for the Newton
Now, also developers for Be!

I just got back to Chapel Hill, dug up my NTK docs, and you go and do 
this :-)

Newton script is not a particularly ideal language for crypto (or 
networking). It's byte code interpreted, and more annoyingly, has 30 bit 
integers. The C++ compiler has been promised for a while, but it looks 
like it may actually appear soon (the new newtons seem to be doing really 
well on word-of-mouth- at the moment I guess apple will do anything that 
will get the cash flowing :-(

Simon // newt & BEboy



On Sun, 19 May 1996, Declan B. McCullagh wrote:

> >From a friend who's one of the best Newton developers around. An
> unsolicited plug: check out his company's web site at
> http://www.newts.com/
> 
> -Declan
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message begins here ----------
> 
> Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 11:56:52 -0700 (MST)
> To: "Declan B. McCullagh" <declan+@CMU.EDU>
> From: dan@newts.com (Dan Rowley)
> Subject: Re: Fwd: Is Chaum's System Traceable or Untraceable?
> 
> >>Does anyone on cpunks or ecash have an Apple Newton?  I know
> that they come with infrared-- what are the specs on that
> communications device?  And about the Newton itself:  can it
> compile ANSI C code?  How much RAM?  Permanent storage?  Speed
> of crypto operations?
> 
> Dec -
>         The Newton's infrared is essentially the SHARP "ASK" protocol,
> which is the same as used by the sharp wizard.  It is *not* IrDA
> compatible, and Apple claims that it's a hardware problem not a software
> problem.  The Newton cannot currently compile ANSI C unless you have very
> close ties to Apple (internal code development is in C), but they will be
> releasing C tools for the Newton within a couple of months.  The C, of
> course, is not directly compiled on the Newton, but on a host Mac.  The
> Newton ships with between 1 and 2 megs of internal RAM, but can be expanded
> with FLASH or SRAM cards, but there's only one slot, so putting in a modem
> could be tough.. ;)  The permanent storage *is* RAM.  It's all flash.  As
> for speed, it depends on whether you do it in NewtonScript or C.
> NewtonScript is compiled to P-Code that runs on a virtual machine, and is
> really not too bad.  you can also compile to straight ARM code if you want.
> The next Newton to come out will be based on the DEC StrongARM which I
> understand is blindingly fast..
> 
> Hope this helps
> 
> Dan
> 
> --------
> Dan Rowley
> Innovative Computer Solutions
> Developers of fine software for the Newton
> Now, also developers for Be!
> 
>