Flare Technology was a

computer hardware Computer hardware includes the physical parts of a computer, such as the computer case, case, central processing unit (CPU), Random-access memory, random access memory (RAM), Computer monitor, monitor, Computer mouse, mouse, Computer keyboard, ...

company based in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was founded in 1986 by Martin Brennan,

Ben Cheese Ben Cheese (1955 – 21 January 2001) was a British engineer who worked on Sinclair's ZX Microdrives. Authors Ian Adamson and Richard Kennedy, in their book ''Sinclair and the "Sunrise" Technology'', write that "it seems only fair to not ...

, and John Mathieson, former engineers at

Sinclair Research Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge. It was originally incorporated in 1973 as Westminster Mail Order Ltd, renamed Sinclair Instrument Ltd, then Science of Cambridge Ltd, the ...

. Flare Technology first worked for

Amstrad Amstrad was a British electronics company, founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar at the age of 21. The name is a contraction of Alan Michael Sugar Trading. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in April 1980. During the late 1980s, Amstrad ...

before developing a technology-demonstrator system called ''Flare One''."Flare", ''

Personal Computer World ''Personal Computer World'' (''PCW'') (February 1978 - June 2009) was the first British computer magazine. Although for at least the last decade it contained a high proportion of Windows PC content (reflecting the state of the IT field), the mag ...

'', August 1988. The Flare One was intended as a home computer or

games console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a t ...

with extensive audio and video capabilities. It was related to the ''

Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...

'' project they had worked on previously at Sinclair Research, which in turn was derived from the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

home computer. The Flare One was used in some

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

cabinets including a line of video quiz machines produced by Bellfruit. The Flare 1 chipset was further developed into the

Konix Multisystem The Konix Multisystem was a cancelled video game system under development by Konix, a British manufacturer of computer peripherals. Background The Konix Multisystem began life in 1988 as an advanced Konix peripheral design intended to build on th ...

''Slipstream'' prototype. In 1989 Martin Brennan was contracted by Atari Corp. to complete and implement the chip design of the unreleased

Atari Panther The Atari Panther was a cancelled video game console from Atari Corporation that was planned to be the successor to the Atari 7800 and the Atari XEGS. It was developed by the same ex-Sinclair team, Flare Technology, who were previously respons ...

. Martin Brennan and John Mathieson went on to design the Flare II, which was purchased by Atari and became

Atari Jaguar The Atari Jaguar is a home video game console developed by Atari Corporation and released in North America in November 1993. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it competed with the 16-bit Sega Genesis, the Super NES and the ...

References

Defunct computer hardware companies Defunct computer companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Cambridge Computer companies established in 1986 1986 establishments in England {{tech-company-stub