Castle Technology

Castle Technology Limited, named after Framlingham Castle,[1] is 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]

Castle Technology Limited
TypePrivate
IndustryComputer hardware
Computer software
SuccessorRISC OS Developments Ltd
Founded4 June 1993 (1993-06-04)
Colchester, England
FounderJohn Ballance
Jack Lillingston
Peter Wild
Defunct2018
Headquarters
Cambridge
,
England
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Jack Lillingston, Managing Director
Peter Wild, Operations Director
John Ballance, Technology Director
ProductsIyonix PC
RISC OS
RISC PC
DivisionsTematic
WebsiteCastle-Technology.co.uk

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
See also: Acorn Computers

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 afforded 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
  1. Bailey, Alasdair (May 2000). "Interview: Castle Technology". Foundation RISCWorld. Archimedes Public Domain Library. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  2. Williams, Chris (5 December 2005). "Castle confirms move to Tematic office". Drobe. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  3. Cole, George (12 February 1999). "Apple's bigger bite". TES. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
  4. "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.
  5. http://www.drobe.co.uk/extra/PR04_5.txt
  6. Williams, Chris (4 July 2003). "Castle buys RISC OS from Pace". Drobe. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  7. "Castle Technology". Chris's Acorns. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  8. "Iyonix R.I.P." Foundation RISCWorld. Archimedes Public Domain Library. October 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  9. "Iyonix Press Release" (Press release). Iyonix. 25 September 2008. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  10. Williams, Chris (10 January 2004). "Castle merges with Tematic". Drobe. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  11. Williams, Chris (7 April 2005). "Coy Castle expands development team". Drobe. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
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