![]() | |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry |
Computer hardware Computer software |
Founded | 4 June 1993 Colchester, England |
Founder | John Ballance Jack Lillingston Peter Wild |
Defunct | 2018 |
Successor | RISC OS Developments Ltd |
Headquarters | , |
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]
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]
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link)
![]() | |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry |
Computer hardware Computer software |
Founded | 4 June 1993 Colchester, England |
Founder | John Ballance Jack Lillingston Peter Wild |
Defunct | 2018 |
Successor | RISC OS Developments Ltd |
Headquarters | , |
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]
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]
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link)