Flare Technology

Flare Technology

Industry	Computer hardware
Founded	1986; 38 years ago (1986)
Founder	Martin Brennan Ben Cheese John Mathieson
Headquarters	Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
Products	Flare One Konix Multisystem Flare II

Flare Technology was a computer hardware company based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by Martin Brennan, Ben Cheese, and John Mathieson, former engineers at Sinclair Research.

History

Flare One

Manufacturer	Flare Technology
Type	video game console/home computer
Release date	technology demonstrator
CPU	Z80B, custom DSP
Memory	1 MB
Display	Composite and RGB output, 256 x 256 with 256 colors; 512 x 256 with 16 colors
Sound	8 channel sound
Input	Keyboard, light pen
Connectivity	RS232, MIDI in/out, Joystick
Successor	Konix Multisystem

Flare Technology first worked for Amstrad before developing a technology-demonstrator system called Flare One.^[1] The Flare One was intended as a home computer or games console with extensive audio and video capabilities.

Related to the Loki project they had worked on previously at Sinclair Research, which in turn was derived from the ZX Spectrum home computer, Flare One was based around a Zilog Z80B CPU (working as an 8-bit-per-pixel blitter and a video controller) and a custom 16-bit DSP chip (responsible for 8 channel sound and 3D computation), 1 MB or RAM, with a display resolution of 256 x 256 with 256 colors or 512 x 256 with 16 colors, and an expected price of £200 in 1988.^[2][3][4]

Flare One was used in some arcade game cabinets^[2] including a line of video quiz machines produced by Bellfruit (A Question of Sport, Beeline, Every Second Counts, Inquizitor, Quizvaders  and Treble Top).^[5][3] The Flare One chipset was further developed into the Konix Multisystem Slipstream prototype.^[3][6][7]

In 1989 Martin Brennan was contracted by Atari Corp. to complete and implement the chip design of the unreleased Atari Panther.^[5]

Martin Brennan and John Mathieson went on to design the Flare II, which was purchased by Atari and became Atari Jaguar.

References

1. "Flare", Personal Computer World, August 1988.
2. Wilton, Andy (August 1988). "Flare". Advanced Computer Entertainment. pp. 30–33. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
3. "Slipstream: The Konix Multi-system Archive". www.konixmultisystem.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
4. Cooke, Steve (July 1988). "PLAYPOWER!". Advanced Computer Entertainment. Future Publishing. pp. 90–92.
5. "Interview with Martin Brennan". www.konixmultisystem.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
6. "Headline: Best Of British: The Konix Multi System". ininet.org. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
7. "Multisystem Konix". www.old-computers.com. Retrieved 2023-02-07.