CES vs Uniden

[KevinC]

I don’t believe that website is associated with The Whistler Group.

Or maybe it is.

 

[dimab]

This is bizzare... Scroll down to the bottom,,,
Look what scanner is shown on the left side...

Whistler® Scanners Official Site - USA

ALWAYS PREPARED WHISTLER Whistler WS1025 The WS1025 Analog Desktop Radio Scanner is a 200-channel scanner that lets you listen to FM radio bands and can be categorized into 10 separate memory banks. Also, it offers the convenience of one-touch searches of marine, fire/police, air, ham and...

www.whistlerscanner.com

is that Whistlers official site? it links products to amazon, and has amazon affiliate language at the bottom.

 

[RandyKuff]

You might be right Kevin... I also just noticed the copyright of 2021...

 

[KevinC]

is that Whistlers official site? it links products to amazon, and has amazon affiliate language at the bottom.

I don’t think it is. It appears someone made a website and gets money each time someone clicks on the Amazon links.

 

[RandyKuff]

I don’t think it is. It appears someone made a website and gets money each time someone clicks on the Amazon links.

That does not surprise me.... Could very well be...

 

[PD47JD]

I know some won't like my opinion, but this IS the internet, so I get to share it:

I think most of us can see the writing on the wall. Like it or not...
While it's easy to assume that scanner listening is a huge hobby, you gotta remember we are in a bit of a concentration of users right here.
Get out in the general public, and if you asked someone what a scanner was, they'd assume you were talking about their printer at home.

Add in encryption, and there's going to be less of a market.

Audio streaming, less of a reason for individuals to buy their own scanner if someone else is providing what they need online.

SDR's are biting into the market. Why buy a $700 scanner when someone can get a $20 USB stick. Yes, I know, You know, but average consumer doesn't.

There's a lot of individuals that assume a $20 Baofeng is -the- perfect scanner. Plus, they get to transmit, because some guy on the internet told them it was OK, and don't forget the preppers….

Uniden hasn't done much in the last few years. No new products being announced. They sort of lost their steam when Paul passed.
Whistler sort of dropped out. No new products from them.

I think you can see where I'm going with this….
If anyone had the money to buy that part of Uniden, they'd need to do some serious research and consider the gamble. There's probably some really good reasons why there aren't any new products in the pipe.

And before I get flamed, I got my start in the hobby and the industry with a scanner, a CB and an old shortwave radio. It was a fun hobby. No way I'd personally invest in a scanner today.

Just a matter of time before Won Hung Low Industries jumps in with a scanner....you know that's going to happen. Just look at Unication by way of example.

 

[trido]

Maybe this is the sites owner

Ships from
Diddly Deals
Sold by
Diddly Deals

Amazon seller

 

[harryshute]

This is bizzare... Scroll down to the bottom,,,
Look what scanner is shown on the left side...

Whistler® Scanners Official Site - USA

ALWAYS PREPARED WHISTLER Whistler WS1025 The WS1025 Analog Desktop Radio Scanner is a 200-channel scanner that lets you listen to FM radio bands and can be categorized into 10 separate memory banks. Also, it offers the convenience of one-touch searches of marine, fire/police, air, ham and...

www.whistlerscanner.com

Haha does look a Fox got into the henhouse.

 

[sonm10]

Getting back on topic

Was there any new products released? or announced? Any particular reason Uniden was at CES?

 

[k7xta]

I know some won't like my opinion, but this IS the internet, so I get to share it:

I think most of us can see the writing on the wall. Like it or not...
While it's easy to assume that scanner listening is a huge hobby, you gotta remember we are in a bit of a concentration of users right here.
Get out in the general public, and if you asked someone what a scanner was, they'd assume you were talking about their printer at home.

Add in encryption, and there's going to be less of a market.

Audio streaming, less of a reason for individuals to buy their own scanner if someone else is providing what they need online.

SDR's are biting into the market. Why buy a $700 scanner when someone can get a $20 USB stick. Yes, I know, You know, but average consumer doesn't.

There's a lot of individuals that assume a $20 Baofeng is -the- perfect scanner. Plus, they get to transmit, because some guy on the internet told them it was OK, and don't forget the preppers….

Uniden hasn't done much in the last few years. No new products being announced. They sort of lost their steam when Paul passed.
Whistler sort of dropped out. No new products from them.

I think you can see where I'm going with this….
If anyone had the money to buy that part of Uniden, they'd need to do some serious research and consider the gamble. There's probably some really good reasons why there aren't any new products in the pipe.

And before I get flamed, I got my start in the hobby and the industry with a scanner, a CB and an old shortwave radio. It was a fun hobby. No way I'd personally invest in a scanner today.

Ditto what mmckenna says

I came into the hobby in the 80's with shortwave and that first BC200xlt then made forays into ham radio and GMRS.

Along with the ham and GMRS gear I've got a couple BC125AT units. My focus is mostly analog because of the interest in FM repeaters. Southern Arizona law enforcement is mostly P25 simulcast. If I have $650 to spend on a radio, it won't be for a scanner -- I get all the LE chatter I want from my SDR/Raspberry Pi/OP25 setup.

As impressed as I am by the SDSx00 scanners, I'm not happy with the cost and risk of encryption making my investment a wash. I don't think I'm alone in my thinking.

 

[garys]

It wasn't easy to find, but this is the official Whistler site,

Radio Scanners

Whistler is a leader in automotive radar detectors, power inverters, dash cameras, portable jump starters, rear-view cameras, police radio scanners and diagnostic inspection cameras.

whistlergroup.com

The other site is borderline deceptive since it uses the same background,font, and logo.

My guess is Whistler may not know it exists.

I don’t think it is. It appears someone made a website and gets money each time someone clicks on the Amazon links.

 

[avaloncourt]

I am unimpressed. The Uniden President essentially said nothing, while the interviewer just prattled on about how great a move this is. Vague references to new products and updates.

Like cg i wonder if the new owners will gut the company in order to increase profitability. We should know fairly quickly if they plan to improve support for their scanner customer base.

The phrase " fascinating and impactful investment history" doesn't exactly give me a sense of confidence. I've been through too many mergers in my employment history and each and every time I ended up unemployed.

 

[gmclam]

...Get out in the general public, and if you asked someone what a scanner was, they'd assume you were talking about their printer at home.

Funny. I tell people that I monitor "public safety radio" or perhaps listen to "police calls" and they respond with ".. oh you mean you listen to a scanner?". It's more known that you/we might realize.

 

[avaloncourt]

Funny. I tell people that I monitor "public safety radio" or perhaps listen to "police calls" and they respond with ".. oh you mean you listen to a scanner?". It's more known that you/we might realize.

Most of those people would never own a physical scanner. "Listen to a scanner" means download a scanner app because it costs them nothing. People are generally lazy. They want things done for them. Throw a complex scanner that costs hundreds of dollars and tell them to set it up. Not going to happen. They have zero knowledge about how to change their own oil. They're definitely not using a hardware scanner.

 

[Wackyracer]

It wasn't easy to find, but this is the official Whistler site,

Radio Scanners

Whistler is a leader in automotive radar detectors, power inverters, dash cameras, portable jump starters, rear-view cameras, police radio scanners and diagnostic inspection cameras.

whistlergroup.com

The other site is borderline deceptive since it uses the same background,font, and logo.

My guess is Whistler may not know it exists.

from the VERY bottom of the website that is using whistlerscanner DOT COM....
The site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

 

[Hooligan]

I did attend CES, and I did waste time going to the CES 2023 unident booth out of a silly hope that they may introduce some new & improved (emphasis on improved) scanner product. They had a few display cases with CBs & radar detectors and one VHF Marine Radio under-glass, and they were promoting some new 5G LTE Push to Talk over Cellular device. That was it. The only 'scanner' was the one model of CB that had the scanner built-in.

I will try to attach a couple photos I took.

unidont had a corvette at their area as an attention-getter (Corvettes are very pretty, BUT at CES, you gotta have an Aston-Martin or Bugatti to stand-out, or the massive Caterpillar 777 dump truck CAT had). To me, the unidont Corvette display just gave the statement "Hey, do you drive like a jackass, putting your life & other lives at-risk? Help get-away with your illegal, anti-social actions by having a FABULOUS UNIDENT RADAR DETECTOR!" I looked, and didn't see a scanner in the vehicle.

There were several unident reps there, busier taking more orders than I thought. I looked for Joe "Bearcat" McElhaney but didn't spot any unident CES badges with that name on it.


It's entirely possible that unidont somehow still finds the scanner industry appealing & profitable, but so cut-throat, full of industrial espionage, etc. that they introduced scanners, et al. in a private, invite-only hotel suite complete with Bearcat McElhaney, hors d'oeuvres, party hats, and hookers & blow and that I'm simply ignorant of it because I'm not on RR/unident fanboy or buyer's list -- you can decide that for yourself.

It's been pretty obvious to anyone on the outside paying-attention, let-alone the people waiting for defect fixes & firmware updates (note to dummies -- don't market an SDR radio easily capable up firmware updates unless you've got a clear, stable plan to provide routine & emergency firmware updates) that unident's priorities have strayed-away from scanners. Someone claiming to officially represent unident scanners here, but was uncomfortable sharing his name, strongly suggested to me right-away that he didn't have much faith in uniden or his ability to effect positive change and thus he started his personal damage-control at the very beginning, which apparently the wacky world of unidont signed-off on.


And for the record, whistler was nowhere to be found.

 

[GTR8000]

Seems that Uniden is content to keep cranking out their current lineup as long as people keep buying them. Aside from the chip shortage hiccup that forced them to make some minor hardware revisions, innovation seems to have sadly died with Paul. We can't even get any meaningful firmware released, and lo and behold tonight is the eve of the two year anniversary of the now infamous "Help me help you" thread.

As for Joe being at CES, I guess Uniden didn't feel like paying for his voyage from PA to Vegas. Seriously, though, the guy is basically a rent-a-rep for Uniden America to make it appear like someone has filled the huge void left by Paul's untimely passing. I get the feeling that the engineers in Japan have his emails going straight to spam.

Prove me wrong.

 

[natedawg1604]

Is there a market for someone to start a new scanner company? If someone took all the best things about the SDS200, Harris Falcon III and APX 8000, and designed a new product based around those 3 radios it sure would be awesome.

 

[GTR8000]

I believe that's what Todd has tried to do with his BTT devices. Mixed results as to whether they can become a legitimate successor to commercially available scanners, and certainly not up to the same level of performance of a public safety grade subscriber (not that they would be considering the cost difference).

 

[Ubbe]

Is there a market for someone to start a new scanner company? If someone took all the best things about the SDS200, Harris Falcon III and APX 8000, and designed a new product based around those 3 radios it sure would be awesome.

Patent rights would stop anyone from doing that, or Uniden to adopt their technology or even use the best things from Whistler scanners.

/Ubbe