Editing Loki (computer)

{{Short description|Sinclair home computer cancelled in 1986}}
{{infobox computer
| Photo = 
| Type = [[Home computer]]
| Released = Cancelled
| Discontinued = 
| Processor = [[Z80]] @ 7 MHz and equivalent
| Memory = 128 [[kilobyte|KB]] (1MB max)
| OS = [[SuperBASIC]] variant, [[CP/M]]
| graphics = ''Rasterop'' chip
| display = 512×256 with 16 colours, 256×212 with 64 or 256 colours
| memory card = Floppy disk.
| input = MIDI, lightpen, joystick
| baseprice = £200
| sound = 8-bit DAC
}}

'''Loki''' was the [[code name]] for a cancelled [[home computer]] developed at [[Sinclair Research]] during the mid-1980s.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Red |first=Johnny |date=2001 |title=Sinclair "Loki" |url=https://sinclair.comboios.info/zxloki.html |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=Timex Computer World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Owen |first=Chris |date=2003 |title=Loki, Janus, Pandora - The Unreleased Sinclair Computers |url=https://rk.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/computers/loki/loki.htm |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=Planet Sinclair}}</ref> The name came from the Norse god [[Loki]], god of mischief and thieves. Loki was based on the [[ZX Spectrum]], but intended to rival the [[Amiga]] for video games.

''Loki'' followed two earlier, aborted research projects from Sinclair: the [[Motorola 68008|68008]]-based SuperSpectrum home computer (cancelled in 1982) and the LC3 game console (cancelled in 1983).<ref name="Adamson">{{cite web |last=Adamson |first=Ian |author2=Kennedy |first2=Richard |date=1986 |title=Sinclair and the 'Sunrise' Technology: The Quantum Leap&nbsp;— to where? |url=http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/computers/ql/ql_sst.htm |accessdate=2007-06-03 |work=Planet Sinclair}}</ref>

== Design ==

According to an article published in ''[[Sinclair User]]'' magazine, Loki was to have a 7&nbsp;MHz [[Zilog Z80|Z80H]] [[Central processing unit|CPU]], a minimum of 128 [[kibibyte|KiB]] of [[Random access memory|RAM]] and two custom chips providing much enhanced video and audio capabilities<ref name=":1" /> compared to the ZX Spectrum, but with a compatibility mode.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 1986 |title=Loki: Taking the programmer's view |work=[[Sinclair User]] |issue=52 |url=https://sinclairuser.com/052/lokiprg.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pennycook |date=2012 |title=Sinclair Loki documentation - The proposal for the Sinclair Loki Super-Spectrum computer |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/jpennycook/7965902422/ |website=Flickr}}</ref>  The video chip, referred to as the ''Rasterop'' chip, would  have [[blitter]]-type functionality and three different modes: 512×256 pixels with 16 colours, 256×212 with 256 colours, or 256×212 with 64 colours and two bits per pixel used for "blitter objects".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Tony |date=February 19, 2014 |title=Loki, LC3 and Pandora: The great Sinclair might-have-beens |url=https://www.theregister.com/2014/02/19/archaeologic_sinclair_research_might_have_beens/ |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=The Register |language=en}}</ref>  Comprehensive peripheral support was also claimed, including [[MIDI]], [[lightpen]], joystick and [[floppy disk]]. A version of the [[SuperBASIC]] language from the [[Sinclair QL]] was to be provided in place of the old [[Sinclair BASIC]] for the [[ZX Spectrum]] and support for the [[CP/M]] [[operating system]] was also intended.  On top of this, the computer would cost as little as £200.<ref name="Sinclair User">{{cite journal | date = June 1986 | title = SuperSpectrum! | journal = [[Sinclair User]] | issue = 51 | pages = 24–25 | url = http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/051/loki.htm | accessdate = 2007-06-02 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070707111238/http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/051/loki.htm | archivedate = 2007-07-07 }}</ref>

Another Spectrum magazine, ''[[Crash (magazine)|Crash]]'', poured scorn on the report in ''Sinclair User'', dismissing the design as "[[vaporware|dreamware]]" in the opinion of an ex-Sinclair designer they consulted, analysing the implied components and costs, and adding, "It may be fun to dream about Loki, but the fact is that it won't appear, and nor will anything like it." This was the rationale, according to Crash Technical Editor Simon Goodwin:

{{ quote
| Being blessed with lots of headed typing paper and very little money, the Thinkers at Sinclair were invited to make a big list of trendy computer features. That list, embellished with a few charts and tables but a noticeable lack of circuit diagrams and real detail, finally escaped into the hands of the computer press. Despite six years of agonising experience of the difference between Sinclair specifications and reality they swallowed it whole. Technical know-how has never been a strong point in magazines that still—indeed, the same month—print Commodore 64 screen shots in their Spectrum software preview section.
| <ref>{{Cite news |last=Goodwin |first=Simon |date=August 1986 |title=TECH TIPS - LOKI THE JOKI |work=CRASH |issue=31 |url=https://www.crashonline.org.uk/31/loki.htm}}</ref>
}}

== History ==

In the aftermath of [[Amstrad]] buying out Sinclair's computer business in 1986, some confusion arose as to which company had the rights to pursue the project further. Some reports indicated that Amstrad retained such rights, one claiming that "the blueprint is now in Amstrad's hands",<ref name="popularcomputingweekly19860522_loki">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/popular-computing-weekly-1986-05-22/page/n4/mode/1up | title=Is Sinclair's Loki fated to stay in Limbo? | magazine=Popular Computing Weekly | date=22 May 1986 | access-date=16 January 2024 | pages=5 }}</ref> whereas others asserted that the Amstrad deal had left the rights to products based on newer technology with Sinclair.<ref name="sinclairuser198607_amstrad">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/Sinclair_User_052/page/7/mode/1up | title=Mystery clouds Amstrad deal | magazine=Sinclair User | date=July 1986 | access-date=16 January 2024 | pages=7 }}</ref> Such contradictory interpretations were reconciled in an interview with [[Clive Sinclair]] himself, indicating that the design remained in Sinclair's hands, but exploitation of the design remained subject to Amstrad's control due to the product's Spectrum compatibility features.<ref name="sinclairuser198608_sinclair">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/Sinclair_User_053/page/54/mode/2up | title=Sir Clive Life After Death? | magazine=Sinclair User | date=August 1986 | access-date=16 January 2024 | last1=Taylor | first1=Graham | pages=54–56 | quote=The Loki papers are still sitting somewhere in the depths of the company, Amstrad has no rights to it because it was a future product but Sinclair cannot do anything with it because being Spectrum compatible it would infringe Amstrad's legal rights. }}</ref> Ultimately, the project was cancelled.<ref name="format199702_loki">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/format_mag/FormatIssue1006/page/n9/mode/1up | title=Loki The Machine That Never Was | magazine=Format | date=February 1997 | access-date=16 January 2024 | last1=Thomas | first1=David | volume=10 | issue=6 | pages=19–21 }}</ref>

[[Martin Brennan (engineer)|Martin Brennan]] and [[John Mathieson (computer scientist)|John Mathieson]],<ref name=":0" /> two Sinclair engineers, took the ''Loki'' concept with them and founded [[Flare Technology]].  There they worked on the cancelled [[Konix Multisystem]] game console, then later worked with [[Atari Corporation]] on the [[Atari Panther|Panther]] (cancelled) and [[Atari Jaguar|Jaguar]] systems.   According to Jaguar developer Andrew Whittaker, two other Sinclair employees, Bruce Gordon and Alan Miles, who went on to form [[Miles Gordon Technology]], also used some of the designs in the [[SAM Coupé]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Owen |first=Chris |date=2003 |title=Loki, Janus, Pandora - The Unreleased Sinclair Computers |url=https://rk.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/computers/loki/loki.htm |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=Planet Sinclair}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.sinclair/msg/8e336f2dcd9c7806?dmode=source USENET posting by Rupert Goodwins in comp.sys.sinclair mentioning ''Loki'']

[[Category:Sinclair computers and derivatives]]
[[Category:Cancelled projects]]


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