After two years of development, Enttec is ready to announce the arrival of the next version of the DataGate, the DataGate MK2.

The new box of the DataGate MK2 is a completely redesigned chassis, with a more flexible display and menu choices at the front,. All connections are at the back. There, you can find 8 DMX ports, and an Ethernet port, like the old Datagates. That’s where the similarities end. The new Datagate Mk2 supports Gigabit-speed Ethernet-networking and all calculations are handled by a 500Mhz CPU running a Linux 2.6 Kernel. This means the Datagate can seriously crunch numbers. Enttec anticipate future software upgrades that can benefit from this, with added patching and merging options as well as other kinds of data manipulation.

One of the key differences about the Mk2, compared with the original Datagate, is that the configuration is all performed via web browser. You don’t have to download a utility and keep it on your computer–just set your browser to the Datagate’s web address. Enttec has put a very unique graphical front end together for this purpose, and possibly the best part of it is the screen which lets you draw a flow chart and make the Datagate Mk2 do what you draw. This not only cuts down on your workload by saving steps, it makes the whole process easier to understand and manage.

To learn more about the Enttec DataGate MK2, visit their web site at www.enttec.com.  The new DataGate MK2 is expected to begin shipping until mid summer.