* 64 colour
* 256/512k RAM
* 6 Mhz Z80 CPU(Z80B ?)
Maybe exist two boards in possession of Richard Clayton (Locomotive Software) and William Poel (Amstrad Ltd.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" After the CPC464. Never standing still, Amstrad went to work on two new machines: the
PCW8256 word processor and a new computer which was described
by Alan Sugar as a “full colour computer’. The new computer,
codenamed ANT (Arnold Number Two), was planned to be an upgrade
to the CPC464 and be compatible with the PCW8256. Unfortunately,
the plug was pulled on ANT as Amstrad decided that the design team
should concentrate 100% on getting the PCW8256 finished on time.
A new computer did appear in April 1985, but it wasn’t the machine
previously referred to as ANT, but rather the CPC664. Reacting to
consumer's requests for a computer with an integrated floppy disk
drive and more memory, Amstrad went away and designed a new
model. With the codename IDIOT (Includes Disk Instead of Tape),
initial reactions were that the new CPC664 was basically a CPC464
with a floppy disk drive in place of the cassette tape deck. "
(Neil Reive)
----------------------------------------------------
Richard Clayton. July 2003
>>It was a shame not to build the "Ant" -- which was going to be the games machine that shared a lot of hardware design with the PCW ("Joyce"). But we just didn't have the time and effort to do it justice so perhaps it was best that it was cancelled.<<
---------------------------------
Vik Olliver
nov. 2019
The CPC that never was.
Richard Clayton and Roland Perry reveal details on the computer that never made it to market.
(RetroGamer28 ) Dec 2017
» The ANT computer would have used a PCW casing, with a more bespoke keyboard.