Update: The Chinese Amiga One Year Later

By Fabian Jimenez

Last November, I had the opportunity to visit the offices of Regent Electronics Corporation (REC) in Piscataway, New Jersey to see the mysterious Wonder TV A6000 (a.k.a. The Chinese Amiga). Although the legal dispute over the ownership of Amiga rights has not been officially settled with Gateway, REC has proceeded in its plans as well as having developed two new models based on current Amiga technology. You can review my original article on http://www.cais.com/fabian/reca6000.html.

The Wonder TV A6000 was the "Internet Appliance" that REC was developing for use in the Chinese-Asian marketplace. With help from several ex-Commodore employees and DCE of Germany, this CDTV look a like featured CD32 specs including a MPEG decoder, PC keyboard, and other microphone inputs.

Reviewing recent promotional materials provided to me by REC, as well as reviewing their recent SEC filings, REC has been busy in the last year refining their business plans. Most notably has been their development of the TeleWeb system. TeleWeb is the "WWW Broadcast System" developed by REC that will let the Wonder units connect via cable modem to access a variety of services and information.

According to their SEC filing, the TeleWeb allows for Internet contents and selected commercial information to be sent using existing cable TV networks. Using the Wonder TV terminals, subscribers can download desired information and save it on their hard drives. The information is updated in real time and is stored on the unit for later review. Services offered include pay-per-view, stock quotes, on-line shopping, and commercial advertisements. Concerning REC's online shopping venture, they are seeking partnerships with western manufacturers to sell their products in China via REC's TeleWeb service.

Originally REC's Wonder lineup consisted of the A6000 and an 030 base A6060. In the last year, that line-up has expanded to include the A8000 and the A9000. The A8000 and A9000 differ from the A6000 models in that

As with most technology startups that haven't sold actual product, REC's parent company Lotus Pacific had an operational loss in 1998 of $2.06 million dollars. However, Lotus Pacific did generate $7.99 million in revenues from licensing the rights of their products to business partners, sales from their textile businesses, and most interestingly resale of Amiga chipsets. Company official Allen Huang would not state if those chipsets were sold to domestic or Asian companies. In my interview last year, David Fei did indicate that REC could manufacture the needed chipsets if needed.

REC is not alone in targeting the Asian market, competitors like WebTV and Phillips plan similar ventures in that coveted area. Amiga Inc.'s Fleecy Moss has stated on numerous occasions that the "Pacific Rim" is a desired market. At this time, only REC's WonderTV and Phillips' QNX OS based MyWeb are slated for release shortly. It is stated in their SEC filing that proceeds from their WonderTV and TeleWeb products will be used to develop the next generation of multimedia home entertainment products. It is not known at this time whether those products will be based on disputed Amiga technology. Further information on Lotus Pacific and REC is available on their web page at http://www.lpfc.com. Or you can contact Lotus at Lotus Pacific, Inc., 200 Centennial Avenue, Suite 201, Piscataway, NJ 08854.