USBTOPIA, BLACKTYPER and tupperROM by A-Labs

Source: MSXBLOG, AAMSX

A-Labs is the name behind a new hardware developer that has just released 3 very interesting devices for our beloved MSX computers coinciding with the 50th Barcelona MSX meeting held yesterday.

USBTOPIA is an interface that lets us to plug USB mouses and thus solve the problem of lack of original mouses and their high prices. On the other hand it also lets us to plug USB keyboards in joystick mode to prevent future malfunction problems of our valuable MSX keyboards. Its features are as follow:

No external power supply required.
HID Boot Protocol compliant mouses and keyboards, including wireless keyboards.
Supported by all MSX models.
Autofire in keyboard joystick mode.
No extra software required.
Bidirectional plug&play. It is possible to change the USB device on the fly and connect it to the MSX joystick port at any time.

BLACKTYPER is an interface and a set of software tools that transforms an MSX computer in a compatible USB keyboard or gamepad allowing us to experiment the MSX feeling in modern devices. We can use it in several platforms:

Minicomputers like Raspberry Pi.
Tablets and smartphones.
Videogame consoles (Playstation, Wii, Xbox).
Smart TVs.
Any device supporting external USB keyboards.
Keyboard&Joystick for emulators.

tupperROM is a new game distribution format of which no much information has been revealed. We know it uses the cassette port for loading, the main advantge is its cost price compared to cartridges.

Relevant link: A-Labs

Comments (14)

By Albert Pieter Dotinga

Resident (39)

04-12-2016, 19:59

ive never seen so much hardware in a year

By msxtrd

Champion (271)

04-12-2016, 22:14

Totally agree on that, and we should not complain . Hello out there, is there someone putting together an 8x slot expander? With all these expansion cartridges we are in need of such a nice slot expander . I know they were produced years ago by Sunrise and L.Padial, but quickly were sold out and barely emerge 2nd hand. Anyway who does still have 4x expanders in stock now?

04-12-2016, 22:18

How is the USBTOPIA priced?

04-12-2016, 22:41

i have a 8x slotexpander but not for sale

04-12-2016, 23:15

Hehe

By A-Labs

Supporter (6)

05-12-2016, 11:42

Hi msxtrd!

msxtrd wrote:

With all these expansion cartridges we are in need of such a nice slot expander

Nope. You don't need extra slots to enjoy Black Typer and/or Usbtopia. Black Typer uses MSX Centronics Printer Port to communicate with the interface. And Usbtopia uses MSX joystick port.

The prices :

- USBTOPIA: 45€ + shipping costs.
- Black Typer: 45€ + shipping costs.

There is a special offer: Usbtopia + Black Typer 80€+ shipping costs.

P.S.: The english manuals coming soon!

By tvalenca

Paladin (747)

05-12-2016, 18:05

I'm not trying to nitpick anyone (but maybe I AM nitpicking) but things like the Raspberry Pi are too far from being a minicomputer; By definition, a minicomputer is something like the PDP-1. The Raspberry Pi is a full MICROcomputer by definition (as so any IBM-PC derivative, Apple II, Commodore 64 and of course our beloved MSX) because we can do with it anything we can do with a full sized Core i7 (maybe slower). But if size matters, we can call it a NANO computer.

05-12-2016, 18:08

Oh, about the news: Nice piece of hardware here!

06-12-2016, 16:43

A-Labs wrote:

Yes, I know. Just had generaly in my mind, all those cartridge expansions that were produced this year.

By mesiasmsx

Prophet (3442)

28-12-2016, 10:52

@msxtrd: You can adress to super soniqs and ask Modulon or Eric Boez from Repro Factory.
Better produce new hardware before none.
Whit this new hardware we solve future important problems in our msx computers .

11-01-2017, 08:37

Updated website. Documentation in English (Thanks Konamiman!), new software and BTYPER driver available in ROM, COM, BIN, DSK, CAS and WAV format. Enjoy!

By hamlet

Scribe (4106)