Company:Castle Technology
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer hardware Computer software |
| Successor | RISC OS Developments Ltd |
| Founded | 4 June 1993 Colchester, England |
| Founder | John Ballance Jack Lillingston Peter Wild |
| Defunct | 2018 |
| Headquarters | Cambridge , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Jack Lillingston, Managing Director Peter Wild, Operations Director John Ballance, Technology Director |
| Products | Iyonix PC RISC OS RISC PC |
| Divisions | Tematic |
| Website | Castle-Technology.co.uk |
Castle Technology Limited, named after Framlingham Castle,[1] was a British computer company based in Cambridge, England .[2] It began as a producer of ARM computers and manufactured the Acorn-branded range of desktop computers that run RISC OS.[3]
Following the break-up of Acorn in 1998, Castle Technology bought the rights to continue production of the RISC PC and A7000+ computers under the Acorn brand.[4] Castle Technology later released the Iyonix PC in November 2002,[5] the first desktop computer to use the Intel XScale microarchitecture and then bought the rights to the RISC OS Technology from Pace in July 2003.[6]
History
After Acorn withdrew from the desktop computer industry in 1998, Castle Technology acquired the rights to produce the A7000, A7000+ and RISC PC using the Acorn brand.[7]
In 2001, development started on the Iyonix PC (codenamed Tungsten) as a set-top unit (STU) in secret by engineers at Pace's Shipley campus along with a 32-bit version of RISC OS 4 (known as RISC OS 5). When management discovered the project the campus was closed.[8]
Castle Technology acquired the proposed designs and the original engineers from Pace to further develop the Tungsten into a desktop computer. Robert Sprowson, the original hardware designer, declined to join Castle Technology and so Peter Wild was recruited.[8] The Iyonix PC was released six months later. Although it was well received, it was not designed for long-term production and therefore used some components that were near obsolete when it was released.[8]
A problem for the Iyonix PC was that it used leaded components which were outlawed with the adoption of Directive 2002–95/EC in February 2003 by the European Union. However, by this time Castle Technology was financially troubled and could not afford to re-engineer the Iyonix PC without the leaded components.[8] The remaining Iyonix stock were passed to Iyonix Limited which stopped distribution on 30 September 2008.[9]
In 2004, Castle Technology acquired Tematic to further development of RISC OS in embedded systems.[10] In December 2005, Castle Technology moved its main office to the former premises of its software development division,[2] following the migration of Tematic to a neighbouring premises in Signet Court, Cambridge.[11]
In 2018 RISC OS Developments acquired Castle Technology Ltd including the Intellectual Property.[12]
References
- ↑ Bailey, Alasdair (May 2000). "Interview: Castle Technology". Foundation RISCWorld. Archimedes Public Domain Library. http://www.apdl.org.uk/riscworld/volumes/volume1/issue2/castle/index.htm. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Williams, Chris (5 December 2005). "Castle confirms move to Tematic office". Drobe. http://www.drobe.co.uk/article.php?id=1506. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ↑ Cole, George (12 February 1999). "Apple's bigger bite". TES. http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=314684. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
- ↑ "Acorn announces distribution deal with Castle Technology for RISC based products" (Press release). Acorn Computers. 12 October 1998. Archived from the original on 6 May 1999. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ↑ "Archived copy". http://www.drobe.co.uk/extra/PR04_5.txt.
- ↑ Williams, Chris (4 July 2003). "Castle buys RISC OS from Pace". Drobe. http://www.drobe.co.uk/features/article.php?id=736. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ↑ "Castle Technology". Chris's Acorns. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120211085214/http://acorn.chriswhy.co.uk/AfterAcorn/Castle.html. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "Iyonix R.I.P.". Foundation RISCWorld. Archimedes Public Domain Library. October 2008. http://www.apdl.org.uk/riscworld/volumes/volume9/issue3/iyorip/index.htm. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ↑ "Iyonix Press Release" (Press release). Iyonix. 25 September 2008. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
- ↑ Williams, Chris (10 January 2004). "Castle merges with Tematic". Drobe. http://www.drobe.co.uk/article.php?id=934. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ↑ Williams, Chris (7 April 2005). "Coy Castle expands development team". Drobe. http://www.drobe.co.uk/features/article.php?id=1314. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ↑ "Home". https://www.riscosdev.com/.
External links
 |  |
