Editing Iyonix PC (section)

== History ==
[[File:Iyonix with the cover removed.jpg|thumb|left|Inside view]]
The Iyonix originated as a secret project by [[Pace plc|Pace]] engineers in connection with development of [[set-top box]]es (STBs),{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} and has been noted as a successor to the {{nowrap|[[RiscPC]]}}.<ref name="Edwards2006">{{cite book|author=Lewin A. R. W. Edwards|title=So, You Wanna Be an Embedded Engineer: The Guide to Embedded Engineering, from Consultancy to the Corporate Ladder|url=https://archive.org/details/pdfy-MKFMCCNbqENoR3Ft|access-date=7 January 2013|date=18 July 2006|publisher=Newnes|isbn=978-0-7506-7953-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pdfy-MKFMCCNbqENoR3Ft/page/n147 139]–}}</ref> Pace had a licence to develop [[RISCOS Ltd]]'s OS sources for use in the STB market. The Iyonix was developed under the code name ''Tungsten'' and uses {{nowraplinks|[[RISC OS|RISC OS 5]]}}, which is a version of RISC OS that supports ARM CPUs with 32-bit addressing modes. The sources and hardware design were subsequently acquired by Castle, who developed them into the final product.<ref name="Iyonix RIP Foundation RISCWorld">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.apdl.co.uk/riscworld/volume9/issue3/iyorip/index.htm
| title = Iyonix RIP
| access-date = 2011-06-17
| year = 2008
| publisher = Foundation RISCWorld}}
</ref> Castle continued to keep the project a secret, requiring developers to sign a [[non-disclosure agreement]]. Information was distributed to such developers via a confidential section of the website.<ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://foundation.riscos.com/html/features/11/iyonix/story.htm
| title = IYONIX is Born...
| access-date = 2011-06-17
| publisher = Foundation RISCWorld
| quote = The Tungsten developer Web site was used to distribute information to developers [...] Everybody involved in the Tungsten project, as it was known, had to sign a strict Non-Disclosure Agreement [...]
}}
</ref> Customers were occasionally able to buy the computer as a [[bare bones system]] for self-assembly.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.drobe.co.uk/riscos/artifact1225.html | title = DIY Iyonix kit available again | access-date = 2011-06-28 | last = Williams | first = Chris | date = 2004-12-02 | publisher = [[Drobe]] | quote = Castle are once again selling DIY Iyonix motherboard kits, allowing users to save cash by building Iyonix computers themselves. [...] exactly like the DIY kit they offered in October.}}</ref>

After speculation on the [[usenet newsgroup]]s, a website for the hardware was spotted in mid October 2002.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.drobe.co.uk/riscos/artifact458.html |title=WOOT! It's a 32bit XScale RISC OS PC! |work=[[Drobe]] |date=17 October 2002 |access-date=23 January 2012 |author=Williams, Chris |quote=A quick browse to Castle's website shows a link to Iyonix PC -- what's this? [...] It seems that the rumour mill that was bandied around on Usenet recently has some reality behind it. [...]}}</ref> Units first went on sale in December 2002.<ref>{{cite web |title=Redirecting to Google Groups |url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/comp.sys.acorn.announce/iyonix{{!}}sort:date/comp.sys.acorn.announce/6viOUBCDE6A/7QKycCNeKs0J}}</ref> Prices started from £1249.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/comp.sys.acorn.announce/iyonix{{!}}sort:date/comp.sys.acorn.announce/39mtC6I-3jU/i5zdeoKSi5EJ |title=Redirecting to Google Groups}}</ref>

Castle ceased production of the Iyonix after the July 2006 introduction in the UK of the [[RoHS]] Regulations. The design was not compliant<ref>{{cite web |last=Holwerda |first=Thom |title=Iyonix Banned by New EU Green Law |url=http://www.osnews.com/story/15351/Iyonix_Banned_by_New_EU_Green_Law |access-date=2011-06-28 |date=2006-08-01 |publisher=[[OSNews]] |quote=The computer's motherboard will require a costly resdesign in order to meet the requirements of the new RoHS rules, especially to meet the low-lead levels in the PCB solder, say contacts close to Castle.}}</ref> and Castle did not redesign the Iyonix. Sales continued for another two years via a newly established company, Iyonix Ltd, which enabled Castle itself to circumvent the regulations.<ref name="Iyonix RIP Foundation RISCWorld" />

On 25 September 2008, Castle announced that production of the Iyonix had ceased and that new units would no longer be available to order.<ref>{{cite web |last=Holwerda |first=Thom |title=Iyonix Range Taken Off the Market |url=http://www.osnews.com/story/20340/Iyonix_Range_Taken_Off_the_Market |access-date=2011-06-28 |date=2008-09-29 |publisher=[[OSNews]] |quote=Castle Technology has announced that the Iyonix range of ARM-based RISC OS computers will be taken off the market after 30th September.}}</ref>