R-Comp / RCI at Wakefield Show 2019

As we put the final polish on things for the Show, here’s a round-up of what (new) there will be to see on the R-Comp / RCI stand at Wakefield 2019…

Software
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NetFetch 5.50
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Major update to NetFetch with AcornSSL support for latest SSL/TLS.

Also includes new “quickfetch” menus for fetching (or sending) individual mailbox(es) on demand. This also works for “view mail on server” mode. These menus can also (optionally) include inactive mailboxes, to make it easy to collect rarely-used email boxes when you need it. This is one of those features that we added for our own use, and use almost daily – a really useful addition for anyone with more than one emailbox.

It is now also possible to fetch inactive mailboxes from the configuration panels, without first needing to re-enable them (and subsequently re-disable them afterwards). Another useful timesaver.

Fireworkz Pro 2.22
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Statement Mode makes working with long tables of numbers much easier, such as bank statements etc. It can be overlaid onto existing spreadsheets (eg. csv or MS excel), too, to make reading those materials easier. Statement Mode is available landscape or portrait, and can also optionally use the new, improved SplitView to retain headings etc.

Additional improvements have been made to the database integration, especially with the Word Processor portions of Fireworkz, to make mail merge and address labels much more effective.

Also included is support for “Big mode” feature of ARMBook laptops.

Messenger Pro 8.02
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Small, free update for v8 users – adds support for Big mode on ARMbook laptops. Or, more accurately, fixes a design flaw in the original code that didn’t update all the font handles on mode change. It does now.

Genealogy Records v2.50
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Genealogy Records provides extensive facilities for recording your genealogy research. As opposed to the DPG family tree drawing software, Genealogy Records allows you to store, index and cross-reference all the mountains of materials you accumulate doing genealogy both online and offline.

The latest version adds support for DNA testing and matching. It allows cross-referencing with the other areas of Genealogy Records, so that you can make links and provide evidence to back up the more tenuous branches of your family tree. It supports import of data from online analysis sites, and allows you to sift through the (potentially quite large) amount of data that comes from DNA tests.

There are also other small improvements throughout the software.

ARMX6 Graphics Acceleration
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v1.30 of the ARMX6/mini.m graphics acceleration software will be released later tonight. It is primarily a bug fixing version resolving issues dropping to low-res screen modes outside of desktop, and implementing finer grain control over the GPU internally, to resolve technical issues that could occur with the GPU. This should yield general improvements throughout.

Computers
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The ARM-powered laptops will be on display. The first sale has been made, and we await our first bulk shipment in May. Of course, this will likely come with its own batch of unexpected things (they do like to fiddle with the design without telling anyone!), but things are moving on well.

At the show you’ll be able to see the laptops running with both USB ports, friendly brightness control, “Big mode”, battery display/manager, power management (including auto-dim backlight control), clock and so on.

Titan, our newest system will be on display (and available to buy) – despite being a lower cost TiMachine, we’ve discovered ways to trick it out with extra functionality, so come and check it out. We think you’ll like :)

mini.m is back in stock… FINALLY… well, actually, demand means that it might well be all-sold again, but hey, we’re now importing them and have an established “supply path”, so this should be good going forwards…
For those unaware of the history, we’ve literally bought up every mini.m that we could find in the UK, and they’ve all gone out to customers. They’ve been out of stock with UK companies for months now, so when we finally took delivery of a batch on Monday, you can imagine how relieved we were (despite the huge Duty bill!).

But, as soon as word got out that they were back in stock, most of them have been snapped up. So, it looks like we’ll be importing more next week. HMC will be rubbing their hands with glee at another Duty bill!

ARMX6 also in stock again (although it was only out of stock for a couple of weeks). Come and check out the latest enhancements including the hardware graphics acceleration.

RISCBook Go! latest model available at show. It is easy to forget our RISCube and RISCBook ranges amongst all the noise generated by the pure ARM systems. However, our hybrid Windows+RISC OS systems continue to sell well world-wide, and they are now available with Win10 (as well as Win7 Pro still) in variants ranging from 2 to 16 cores, and clock speeds up to 5Ghz! Yep, there are some very tasty systems, and they run RISC OS extremely well, with full software compatibility with older programs.

when we finally took delivery of a batch on Monday, you can imagine how relieved we were (despite the huge Duty bill!). But, as soon as word got out that they were back in stock, most of them have been snapped up. So, it looks like we’ll be importing more next week. HMC will be rubbing their hands with glee at another Duty bill!

I’m a little concerned by that, since importing computers doesn’t attract any UK duty (they’re zero rated) and HMC was disbanded in 2005 as a government department. By any chance did the guy you paid look like

It’s probably FedEx that seems to think it’s within their remit to demand import duty at some exorbitant rate. As for where the money goes, or a receipt stating duty has been paid… Yeah…

Exactly, Rick. DHL are pretty good (laptops) in that they will deliver the package and THEN demand money.

The lot who delivered the mini.ms (maybe UPS, maybe FedEX – I didn’t take the delivery, Allan did) demanded cash on delivery before handing over the parcel (the parcel was marked to that effect).

With all of these, supposedly there are ways to reclaim, but given all the VAT numbers and import numbers we provide on the paperwork, I don’t really understand why it gets charged in the first place. What’s the point in filling out paperwork if it is just ignored?

Suffice to say that previous experience in trying to get the reclaim certificates has yielded little to no success. I think this is because Customs, the Carrier and the VAT people all use different Job IDs, and thus the usual response was/is “we can’t find that job on our database” etc. Basically, it’s a racket – it is not in their interest to help small companies reclaim anything.

In all honesty, importing the mini.ms has just been hugely expensive – the UK distributors used to include things like UK plugs, basic cabling, an SD card and so on. The imported units are, literally, just a box full of small boxes! There’s something vaguely Borg-like in opening a large, square cardboard box to find a series of packed boxes, each containing a further small black cube…!