Happy New Year BeoWorlders!

As usual each year, I'm making my B&O wishlist, maybe if others gave their list, we could send the whole post to B&O for customer feedback/suggestions (!). Here I go:

- all BeoSounds speaking the same language = same extended display (like BC2/BS4) on all products to benefit from BeoPort sources, all CD drives playing back CDR/CDRW/MP3/WMA files, RDS on all systems (including BS1 & 3), and all SD card based products playing & recording the same audio formats please (BeoPort plays lossless WMA, BS4 doesn't), and accepting the same card types (BS4 takes SDHC, but then BS3 doesn't play them..)

- all BeoVisions speaking the same language: all fitted with DVB-T (being still optional in France is almost illegal), electronic curtain (why does BV8-40 have it and not BV8-32?), full HD LED panels (if you use your BV6-26 as a PC monitor, the native resolution makes the characters too big), & same GUI on all TVs

- all BeoLabs fitted with ICE amplifiers (to reduce production costs & power consumption, increase internal volume for more bass)  and shielded again (yes, TVs are not causing interferences anymore, but cellphones and wireless BeoComs do!)

- all BeoComs with the same ringtones please : imagine someone having a BC2 in one room, BC6000 in another, and the new BC5 in the third room, when someone calls you, you get 3 different sounds while listening to your favourite CD..), and all with backlighting (like the new BC5), and all accepting an Earset 1 kit (BC4 and 6000 can, BC2 and BC5 can't..why?)

- Beo4 with programmable keys (= use RADIO to play NRADIO, AMEM to play NMUSIC.

- BeoCenter 2 & HDR2 fitted with HDMI sockets please! SCART is prehistory now..

- full BeoPort metadata/CD/RDS display for the BeoVision 7 range, it's so much better to have some kind of info/album title/radio station name rather than just a plain "NMUSIC" or "CD-4" display!

- BeoMaster 5 being able to be controlled by a wireless mouse & keyboard set, for true Internet navigation, album search and info updates

- make Beo5 a real 2-way remote control, Bluetooth would make it sooo easy to show the CD covers & radio names on this remote!

- bring us back a LC3 unit, or make other products such as Aludim / Lutron dimmers available in all shops

Well, that's all for me, do you guys have other wishes to make? I'm not even asking for new product launches, I'd rather have the present range being upgraded to become..perfect

Greetings Chris for the New Year,

Your list is a lesson for B&O of their mistakes of the past and WHAT MUST NOT BE DONE IN THE FUTURE.

So usually I would agree with you ... but if B&O were to spend time and money fixing all these mistakes B&O would start to go backwards rather than be producing something exciting and delightful.

The list is a good checklist for the future of what integration standards must be achieved any new system.

So my wish would be:

• "please no more standalone products like the BeoSound 1" (it should have had an ML option)
• space reserved for future use
• 
  

Well said Chris. 

Especially with the Beo5 two way communication.

B&O bringing all of their LCD panels to the current, up to date technology would be a good start. They should for the price they are asking for them!

Chris,

A well thought out list, but you're asking for updates on products that won't even be around in a few years!

-No sense in updating the BeoSounds & BeoCenters to work a certain way with BeoPort when all will be retired.

-Same GUI on TVs is a priority. New video engine will make this a reality.

-Re-designing existing speakers for ICE probably doesn't make business sense. Any resources should be put to new speakers. No one really cares what's on the inside save for a few "enthusiasts"

-I like ringtones unique to each BeoCom. To each their own.

-We already make a Beo4 with programmable keys. It's called the Beo5. I believe it's been mentioned a few times on these forums.

-BeoMaster 5's web browser w/ keyboard & mouse would be sweet.

-Beo5 will never be two way. For that you'll have to wait for the __________.

-Lutron's offerings are too good for us to bother making anything in this dept. When RadioRA 2 launches many will be very impressed.

There will be a new video engine (as BS3) but much smaller

Regarding Trip's comments, you raise exactly the other point that "troubles" me with B&O nowadays: why making so many product launches? The people who invested in a product/design are not going to replace it whenever Struer realize they made mistakes when designing the product and have no update to offer (think Serenata/BeoMedia/DVD2 owners..)

When I discovered B&O in the late 80's, they had products like BeoVox CX and BeoVision MX, that stayed in the catalogues during 20 and 18 years. Even the Penta spent almost 15 years in the shops.

In today's shops, the only products that reached that level of longevity are the iconic BeoSound 9000 + BeoLab 8000/6000 (and maybe the BS3200). All the rest of the products are going to disappear soon, when they could have stayed longer if they had been updated ..in time.

Anyway, good news is that with your post, I'm also dreaming about the _______ remote control with 2-way communication

Good points, all. But people are much likely to add a new piece to their collection that has updated features than replace an existing items with another version of itself. 

mr_anders_son:

There will be a new video engine (as BS3) but much smaller

That seems like good news

I hope that means the engine will be easily integrated into the various BeoVision platforms

Does anyone have an idea about the timescale and priorities (e.g. BV10 first) for such work ?

No One

TripEnglish:

-Beo5 will never be two way. For that you'll have to wait for the __________.

Is "the __________" the first news of a new remote?

/MikaelB

Any clues how a21 / BS7 looks like? Has anyone seen it? Do we know the designer?

There are some great ideas here and some of the upcoming products sound interesting.  However I wish B&O would correct some of the problems with the Beosound 5 --- properly sort titles on multiple CD albums, add an AUX port and support more codecs including FLAC, Apple lossless etc.  I am not sure if I would buy an iPod dock for Beosound 5.  Another item for BS5 is that B&O should send email to users listing new features and fixes.  I would like to know when there is an update.

B&O will always send an email when they are introducing a new product but I never get an email about software or product updates.  If a product has been upgraded to another MK status, I want to know.  Maybe I would want the upgrade.  Of course Beoworld is always the best source of information.

Bill

linder:

However I wish B&O would correct some of the problems with the Beosound 5

I agree - I don't own a BeoSound 5 but I think there should be a "fast track" focus by B&O on a flagship product for each product segment:

• Audio = Beocentre 2
• Video = Beosystem 3 platform supporting BV7 and BV9 ?
• Multimedia = BS/BM 5

Each of those premium products should receive quarterly improvements - clear value for money.

The others (including all the ones I own!) should proceed at a slower pace.

I am quite comfortable that my BS4 and BV8 are not premium products - I have things I would appreciate being improved, but I really thing B&O needs to focus.

TripEnglish:

-Beo5 will never be two way. For that you'll have to wait for the __________.

An iPod touch/iPhone solution like other audio brands do ???????????

When I talked about my wish that B&O should upgrade their present range rather than launching new products with new software bugs, this is the kind of ideas I had in mind...:

That's exactly the sort of idea you get when inmates run the asylum. First of all, it's stuck in there and not actually docked, which would require a different mechanism and would be awkward to do sideways. 

Even if that could be overcome, the inevitable question would be: "I can't see it from my seat! How do I know what I'm navigating to?" to which the answer (at least according to many here) would be "Use your iPhone as a remote!" 

So you can use a spare iPhone to control your BeoSound 4000 with your other iPhone jammed into it. 

Or you could connect an AirPort express to that or any other old B&O system and just use the iPhone remote to stream content and just live with the intermittent drop-outs.

I'll wait for the _______________, thank you very much.

TripEnglish:

That's exactly the sort of idea you get when inmates run the asylum. First of all, it's stuck in there and not actually docked, which would require a different mechanism and would be awkward to do sideways. 

Even if that could be overcome, the inevitable question would be: "I can't see it from my seat! How do I know what I'm navigating to?" to which the answer (at least according to many here) would be "Use your iPhone as a remote!" 

So you can use a spare iPhone to control your BeoSound 4000 with your other iPhone jammed into it. 

Or you could connect an AirPort express to that or any other old B&O system and just use the iPhone remote to stream content and just live with the intermittent drop-outs.

I'll wait for the _______________, thank you very much.

The point being - what is really required is an iPhone or iPod touch style remote that does the remote control stuff .............. without the burden of being a separate iPod or Phone!

Why have an iTouch, or worse still an iPhone, that is dedicated as a remote, most of it's functionality is redundant, if you use it as an iPod what does the rest of the family do when you take it to work? - see the news of the new Samsung 9000 TV (CES 2010) which has an iTouch style remote that can stream preview video (so that you can preview channels you aren't currently watching etc.)

I think the iPhone Remote app is a short term novelty - real iPhone "style" remotes (that are easily configurable) are what is required!

I generally think that tying itself up with a product by another, totally unrelated company would be a very bad move for a slow moving entity like B&O. Once they had something like this on the market, what guarantee is there that after six months, Apple won't introduce a totally incompatible iSomething, which everybody just needs to have? I believe that this kind of integration will be better served by companies like Logitech that master the one and a half year product lifespan.

The irony is, B&O's next BeoSound will be an Ipod/Iphone dock!

I simply hope they won't do like others = relase an Ipod only system, especially since I don't own any Ipod/Iphone.

I think they should simply fit all their BeoSounds with a USB socket, which the rest of the world manufacturers have been doing for years: this makes everybody happy, since the common interface between Ipod, Iphone, hard_drives and SD cards IS the USB standard. Besides, the USB input would have made it possible to flash update/upgrade the software on all BeoSounds sooo easily! Sometimes I think Struer is thinking "too complicated".

>> integration will be better served by companies like Logitech that master the one and a half year product lifespan<<

The idea behind the apple ipod connector was that it would stay fairly constant to allow for example integration into cars. The phone, I admit changed that a bit since new functions were required, i.e. to deal with calls while plugged into a third party device.

If you look at the car integration solutions, these are often more expensive then the Ipod itself and it is not something you can easily upgrade so I think there will be some sort of stability.

That said, i don't think it matters much for B&O customers that they can plug their Ipods into their home system. For example people who have the phone, would probably prefer to keep it close by. Also, the Itunes library should be available - producing somethinf that sync's with Itunes would have been a better idea. Beomedia? Doe snot really do that that well since it doesn't support all formats.

I wonder how many 3rd party Ipod docks they sold - they are offered here in the US in the B&O stores. 

I think this is probably more a quick product development shot as they must have the integration & technology from the "Car Audio" division. 

Beocenter 2 with BluRay capabilities.

Beosound 9000 with 1disc dedicated to DVD/Bluray player

these could be simply cash cow.