Hi,

as there are some issues with the Beosound 5 (missing features etc.) I'm asking myself if it would be possible to tweak the interface of the Beosound 5.

I'm still waiting for my unit to arrive.

Does anybody know if the userinterface is somewhere on the harddisk inside the mainunit or is it a real firmware in a flashrom inside the BS5 unit?

Would be nice if we could add features like elapsed time, remaining time, repeat/shuffle etc. like on a CD player.

TWG,

(mounts Industrial Design Soapbox)

I would ask very honestly, why would it be "nice" to add those things? Would knowing how much time was remaining on a song aid in the enjoyment of that song? I can't see how. 

To me this isn't a question of whether it can be done, but of whether it should be done. In school when we proposed a design of a product, it was picked over in critiques where we had to defend every decision to either include, exclude, alter, locate, or invent a feature. This lead to products that were more usable, more aesthetic, and in a sense more "pure."

I have never once had a genuine need to see how much time had elapsed on a song. It is, in the playback of music, not relevant outside the studio. Moreover, technology has advanced to the point where users can modify and personalize many of their devices but are given absolutely no training in how to work with the devices around them to maximize their usability. The phrase "just smart enough to be dangerous" comes to mind. Often the criteria for altering things seems to be summed up with the phrase "because I can."

So its a free world, and someone hacking and ruining their BeoSound 5 doesn't affect me personally, but when I can't understand half the e-mails I read due to lack of capitalization, punctuation, or just the "stream of consciousness" format they take I have to wonder if we're really qualified to tackle interface design! Maybe a little humility is in order here, recognizing that someone who knows better than us thought better of how their device should work.

(dismounts soapbox)

An random/shuffle is useless considering the BeoSound 5 is basically a playlist engine and will perform "smart shuffling" no matter what. 

If you do undertake such an endeavor, I wish you smooth sailing. 

Hello Trip,

thank you for your answer. I hope my writing is readable in terms of punctuation, capitalization etc. because english is a foreign language for me :-)
I'm much more eloquent in my motherlanguage (?) :-)

To tell the truth: The phrase "because I can" matches nearly perfect :-)

But, I want to personalise the unit as B&O forgot the pincode feature and I can't understand that. I imagine an owner information when switching the unit on; perhaps like the welcomescreen on a modern smartphone!?

Or another option: When my unit arrives I'm just in love and don't think anymore about those "smart and dangerous options".

TWG,

No offense to you! Your post was perfectly stated. It struck a cord in me that is only partially related to your desire to modify your BeoSound 5. Many of my friends who, like me, studied industrial design (or graphic design for that matter) seem to have have been marginalized over the last decades as software has made it easy for anyone to produce an end product.

This has less to do with modifying a product specifically than it does the technological gestalt that seems to indicate the obsolescence of the expert. In the early part of the 20th century, companies hired "industrial artists" to develop not only logos, but corporate identity down to the typeface of each interoffice form. Things like this were not considered as luxurious and frivolous as they are today, but rather essential to the efficient workings of a large company. Rapid recognition and universal usability were the aim and a consistent graphic identity was the means to achieve this. 

The same went for products. A product had to offer genuine value and measure highly in durability, usability, and aesthetic. Now those things are reserved for luxury items and seen as an effete affectation of a small groups of enthusiasts. Regardless of what people (not you, TWG, I'm just in rant mode!) say about good design, they seldom put their money where their mouths are. 

75 years ago you'd be hard pressed to sell a product that was unusable and quickly wore out. Today that's all anyone's willing to pay for. It's our lot as a generation of perceived (if not actual) affluence that we are driven to own more things instead of better things and with relatively slim means, we gravitate toward the illusion of quality as opposed to quality itself. 

So what I'm saying, (and saying and saying and saying!) is that part of gaining access to great products is having a healthy reverence for those craftsmen who have taken so much time to develop the knowledge, skills, and expertise to design and build them. As soon as we, without the slightest shred of expertise, presume to alter or create a product, we become deserving of the inevitable result.

So, again, TWG, it's not your specific quest to alter the BeoSound 5 (though I'd suggest you enjoy it in its natural state!), but rather a raw nerve you unknowingly touched. Good luck!

What i would like to see, and it has possibly been mentioned here before. The ability for 2 way comunication between BS5 and a remote giving the user the ability to select and view what's playing from a remote. Perhaps a WiFi protocol!

I'm not that familiar with the modus operandi of the BS5 but I can see a need for a "random" mode (if it dosn't already have one) - while it is a relatively new introduction (you couldn't do it with vinyl, nor that well with CD) it has become a standard feature of most all digital music players and one I often use. Would you always want to listen to music that's intelligently related (as useful as it may be at times)? - I don't think I would, sometimes I quite like to hear Rush playing "Working Man" immediately after Eddie Reader has sung "Aye Fong Kiss" by Rabbie Burns

edit : having thought about this I may introduce a new 'game' to the "Music & Film" forum, along the lines of 'everything is related by less than 6 degrees of separation'  - name two dissimilar tracks and challenge the mob to intelligently relate them in the fewest steps

Corvin,

(looks left & right)

It's coming.

Hi Trip,

I have been trying to justify the purchase of a BS5/BM5 this feature could make the decision for me, have you any idea of a time frame?

Since we are talking a little about the future 2 way remote, how will it work since all the products in the last 10 years are 1 way?  Is it only for the Beosound 5?

TWG,

regarding the lack of pincode feature, I am sure B&O has found smarter measures to deal with theft.

Think of the BS5/BM5 as a product nothing worth when not hooked to the internet! If your unit is stolen you tell your B&O dealer, he registrers the serialnumber at B&O headquarter and voila next time the stolen equipment contacts B&O update server they log the ip-address for the BS/BM5 and police will be involved to get the unit back.

I don't know if this is the way they do it but I'm sure they have incorborated some sort of antitheft.

regards

Michael

TripEnglish:

 

So what I'm saying, (and saying and saying and saying!) is that part of gaining access to great products is having a healthy reverence for those craftsmen who have taken so much time to develop the knowledge, skills, and expertise to design and build them. As soon as we, without the slightest shred of expertise, presume to alter or create a product, we become deserving of the inevitable result.

So, again, TWG, it's not your specific quest to alter the BeoSound 5 (though I'd suggest you enjoy it in its natural state!), but rather a raw nerve you unknowingly touched. Good luck!

in my case your raw nerve is in very good hands as I have deep respect to engineers and designers of products like the Beosound 5.
I'm a "mechanical" fan (if that's the right word) and that's the case why I buy the Beosound 5 instead one of those "touchscreen boxes" that don't have any personality!
I have 2 hands, so I want to use them on products like the BS 5 etc.

Todays problem is - in my opinion - that mechanical engineering skills seems to fade out. 90% of our products are computers in a small way and that is simply boring.
The iPhone has a great interface, great usability but there's nothing you can realy touch beside a virtual surface - that's why I still love my Blackberry and my Sharp SH-9020 (that's a REAL phone, not those miniature versions you can easily breath away) ;-)

I remember one of the first CD Players my dad had: Philips CD 104.
It was build like a tank: The complete disc loading mechanism and tray where made out of metal. It's just awesome. Those things are very rare today and because of this mechanical experience I buy and like the BS 5. It has aluminium wheels that I can play with :-)

So, Trip, I have great respect to engineers and designers when they create an outstanding product that makes fun the first time you see and TOUCH it. As we're all human there are always little things that person A wishes to see in a product while person B can't understand that desire.

Sorry for slacking off on this thread. I dangled a carrot and then disappeared!

It's funny, but had I answered the timeframe question when it was posed, I would have said 12-18 months. In the interim, however, I've heard some interesting news that this product is much closer than I would ever have thought. Like mid-summer short. 

Now I don't want anyone to go out and buy this thing on the precondition that a remote is coming any day now. It may not be coming soon and may very well be a year out. I've heard it from too many independent sources to doubt its existence, though. 

As for the "two way" capability, that will (at first) relate only to the BeoSound 5. As the next generation of ML trickles out, this will make more sense.

Aaaaargh, carrots are evil

Trip, do you WORK for B&O? If yes you should be great in the marketing area :)

I'm awaiting my Beosound 5 next month and I don't need a two way remote control but if it works good, I fear I have to buy it!


Will the next generation ML be compatible to old Systems? In this case: Will it be usable with the Beosound 5 or Beosound 3000/Beosound 3200?

As my BS3000 fails after just 6-7 years I'm planning to exchange it to a BS3200.

Does B&O make a cut in terms of technology or will the older products still be operable via the new ML technology?

TripEnglish:

As for the "two way" capability, that will (at first) relate only to the BeoSound 5. As the next generation of ML trickles out, this will make more sense.

Thanks Trip,

WOW, i am still sitting on the fence with the BS5 but a 2 way remote would push me over the edge, no doubt about it.

I too would ;like more info on the new gen ML if available, i am in the process of designing a new home and planing incorporating ML + full house automation.

T.W.G. I do work for Bang & Olufsen. I own a shop on the south shore of Spider Skull Island. We're not on any maps and surrounded by choppy waters where mysterious disappearances have been known to take place. 

Spider Skull Island -> 

I will, within reason, continue to sneak a few clues to the mainland as I glimpse them in the fires.

Trip, as your Island seem to have a connection to the Internet, it would be great if you can post some photos of the upcoming new products.

But only if your digital camera doesn't disappear in a mysterious way

If a two way remote is indeed introduced, it seems you can either control the BM5 from your sofa via the remote control or you can get off the sofa to operate the BS5. But why would you want get off the sofa if you can control the BM5 via remote control...? Why not just skip the BS5 and opt for a BM5 plus remote control only. In other words, it seems the introduction of a two way remote would cannibalise BS5 sales...?

good point! i can't imagine why "they" would intro a new remote so soon after the 5...

seems to me a much better idea to rev2 the beo5 w/ 2 way and better customer control/access to the config.

i would buy one (or 2) if that was the case!

sorenfelden:

If a two way remote is indeed introduced, it seems you can either control the BM5 from your sofa via the remote control or you can get off the sofa to operate the BS5. But why would you want get off the sofa if you can control the BM5 via remote control...? Why not just skip the BS5 and opt for a BM5 plus remote control only. In other words, it seems the introduction of a two way remote would cannibalise BS5 sales...?

And if you are entertaining in another room?

I love the idea, it would certainly ensure that i purchase a BS5! At the moment i am sitting on the fence.

Is it possible to connect a TFT touchscreen to BM1/5?

And pilot it that way. Is it a special sw for the touchscreen or?

I know you must connect VGA/DVI/AV etc and USB