UPMan, Are we there yet?

[VE3RADIO]

Given that they do not do what they were marketed as doing when I bought them, and that there is currently no definite schedule for them to do so, do I have the option to return my 436 and 536 to Uniden for a full refund?

Hurry up and wait....... I have a feeling it will be a looooong time. I personally want a partial refund or a gift card..

 

[VE3RADIO]

Furthermore I have bought a ton of uniden products and I feel this may be one of my last unless uniden delivers.

 

[shonc182]

Furthermore I have bought a ton of uniden products and I feel this may be one of my last unless uniden delivers.

Agreed - finally delivering what you promised is not good enough any more. Make it right or I go away forever - plus every person that I can tell. Are you listening Uniden?

 

[LiquidPandora]

You!!!!

Well said....

 

[pinballwiz86]

Even if Uniden does come out with the app, there'll be people still complaining.

They should have never announced the app in the first place. They could have worked on it quietly and when it was completed, it would have been a "surprise" firmware update and everyone would come here and tell us how awesome Uniden is.

Instead, we get 12 threads of grumpiness and threats of never buying another Uniden scanner again. lol..

Uniden, you need a new business manager? Private message me.

 

[woodpecker]

Oh, and also http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-forums/291260-siren-update.html.

Well I'm glad I didn't buy one because that was the main function I would be buying it for, 6 months after the fanfare and video still no app, that's disgraceful, if I had bought one, I would be furious.

"Still stuck on hold as far as scheduling, so I cannot offer a delivery schedule at this time."

Wow, I find that statement appalling and not even an apology for those that have paid out!

Glad I voted with my wallet.

 

[Boatanchor]

Confidence

I wish I had more confidence in Uniden's ability to provide ongoing support for these new products. Maybe if the confidence was there, I may be tempted to purchase one (or more) of the new models.

Scanners such as the x96XT and HP-1 had (very) sporadic firmware updates over the course of their life cycle, yet despite these updates, the products still had glaringly obvious software flaws that were overlooked despite numerous pleas from owners.

The recent announcement of a HP1 firmware update, fixing one or two of these 'old' flaws is certainly interesting from a timing perspective. The fact that someone, somewhere was tasked with re-writing some of the HP-1 code while owners of the most recent scanners have been left in the dark for the last four months, is rather odd..

Does the N.A Uniden scanner department have a staff complement of greater that 1?
If you look at UPMans own blog depicting photos of himself de-bugging software on very early, prototype x36HP units, you certainly get the impression that this is not much more than a one man show.

Paul, if you read this, I'm not having a go at you personally
You are obviously a very clever man and have a lot of knowledge and experience tucked away in that cranium of yours. I've got a sneaking suspicion that Uniden scanners wouldn't have existed for the last ten years or so, if it wasn't for the likes of you, so for that Sir, I salute you..

That said, Uniden as a corporation has a responsibility to support it's products and to deliver on promises made. So, IMO Uniden as a Corporation, it is failing miserably!

The first thing that needs to happen, is that Uniden needs to improve it's customer feedback and communication mechanisms. It's great that UPMan has a presence on these forums, but this forum is not the best place for customers to submit product modification requests or complaints. The vast majority of people who buy Uniden scanners don't even come to this forum..

Maybe, Uniden should introduce a feature/modification 'weighting/prioritization' system.
Compile a list of improvements, as suggested by end users and then invite end users get to prioritize which of these features/modifications get worked on first, rather than some unknown engineer in some Uniden back office, deciding what is best for us.

Maybe, if such a system were in place ten years ago, we would now have the ability to do a basic band search incorporating CTCSS and NAC at the same time, instead of only one or the other. It is simple software modifications like this that help you attract and retain customers over your competition (not that there is any at the moment).

Instead, we have a system where there is no formal acknowledgement of customer complaints or product improvement suggestions. We get premature or rushed product releases, unmet promises and even the very occasional firmware update that "improves P25 performance" (what the hell does that even mean? In what way does it improve P25 performance?).

For Christ sakes! These things are not toys! They are $500-$600, high end scanners targeted at enthusiast, business and even Government users.

It would be a very sad day for all of us if the second of these options were chosen, but Uniden really needs to put up, or shut up!

 

[LiquidPandora]

Silly Wabbit...

Even if Uniden does come out with the app, there'll be people still complaining.

They should have never announced the app in the first place. They could have worked on it quietly and when it was completed, it would have been a "surprise" firmware update and everyone would come here and tell us how awesome Uniden is.

Instead, we get 12 threads of grumpiness and threats of never buying another Uniden scanner again. lol..

Uniden, you need a new business manager? Private message me.

Grumpy is a small word... It's so good we have you to keep us happy and smiling.. Thank you Mr. Wabbit....:roll:

 

[LiquidPandora]

COMPATITION

I wish I had more confidence in Uniden's ability to provide ongoing support for these new products. Maybe if the confidence was there, I may be tempted to purchase one (or more) of the new models.

Scanners such as the x96XT and HP-1 had (very) sporadic firmware updates over the course of their life cycle, yet despite these updates, the products still had glaringly obvious software flaws that were overlooked despite numerous pleas from owners.

The recent announcement of a HP1 firmware update, fixing one or two of these 'old' flaws is certainly interesting from a timing perspective. The fact that someone, somewhere was tasked with re-writing some of the HP-1 code while owners of the most recent scanners have been left in the dark for the last four months, is rather odd..

Does the N.A Uniden scanner department have a staff complement of greater that 1?
If you look at UPMans own blog depicting photos of himself de-bugging software on very early, prototype x36HP units, you certainly get the impression that this is not much more than a one man show.

Paul, if you read this, I'm not having a go at you personally
You are obviously a very clever man and have a lot of knowledge and experience tucked away in that cranium of yours. I've got a sneaking suspicion that Uniden scanners wouldn't have existed for the last ten years or so, if it wasn't for the likes of you, so for that Sir, I salute you..

That said, Uniden as a corporation has a responsibility to support it's products and to deliver on promises made. So, IMO Uniden as a Corporation, it is failing miserably!

The first thing that needs to happen, is that Uniden needs to improve it's customer feedback and communication mechanisms. It's great that UPMan has a presence on these forums, but this forum is not the best place for customers to submit product modification requests or complaints. The vast majority of people who buy Uniden scanners don't even come to this forum..

Maybe, Uniden should introduce a feature/modification 'weighting/prioritization' system.
Compile a list of improvements, as suggested by end users and then invite end users get to prioritize which of these features/modifications get worked on first, rather than some unknown engineer in some Uniden back office, deciding what is best for us.

Maybe, if such a system were in place ten years ago, we would now have the ability to do a basic band search incorporating CTCSS and NAC at the same time, instead of only one or the other. It is simple software modifications like this that help you attract and retain customers over your competition (not that there is any at the moment).

Instead, we have a system where there is no formal acknowledgement of customer complaints or product improvement suggestions. We get premature or rushed product releases, unmet promises and even the very occasional firmware update that "improves P25 performance" (what the hell does that even mean? In what way does it improve P25 performance?).

For Christ sakes! These things are not toys! They are $500-$600, high end scanners targeted at enthusiast, business and even Government users.

It would be a very sad day for all of us if the second of these options were chosen, but Uniden really needs to put up, or shut up!

NOT TO WORRY, When the Competition starts selling there toys.. Uniden will Move and if not hey thats okay.. They quit selling Phones so they can work hard on WiFI Security Cameras and stuff thats the rage in the Markup world now days and thats why UpMans Bosses dream of at night.... NO Choices for us is BAD and good for Uniden esp when they have a 3rd party to blame for the moment.. I SURE HOPE THE UPDATES ARE HUMDINGERS!.. and that they have a Surprise or 4 for us also.. All the Complaining I do, I do love my 536... I just don't have the money to give them for stuff they said I would get...

 

[mrkelso]

Anyone have the address to the President of Uniden or the corporate office?

 

[XTS3000]

Oh, and also http://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-forums/291260-siren-update.html.

Ouch! From that post it sounds like the wifi in the 596HP is never going to work. I would have made sure the wifi board worked properly before committing to full production, seeing as that single feature is/was a MAJOR selling point for the scanner.

 

[xrorx]

"The firmware is 1000 times better".... that's a hell of an improvement but it's still not good enough. That does not add up. However since I have a 436 please release the analyze firmware upgrade now.

 

[N8JJ]

I just wish they would replicate the status and commands that are currently on the serial port over the wifi.
That should not be too hard. They can get rid of the wifi dongle and use one of the usb/wifi adapters that are available for under $20.
I think they overreached with that smart dongle that requires firmware.
Some users like Garett have shown that an app can be written easily using a bluetooth adapter that is an uses the serial interface.
I would be happy if they delivered a "block 1 version" that just implemented the current serial command/status and they could deliver the block 2 enhancement later.

 

[PhillyPhoto]

Anyone have the address to the President of Uniden or the corporate office?

Uniden America Corporation
6225 N. State Highway 161, Suite 300
Irving, TX. 75038, USA

Phone: 1-817-858-3300
Fax: 1-817-858-3333

Uniden Worldwide Locations

 

[JamesO]

The GOOD news it's a WiFi dongle so it is not physically part of the scanner, Plug & Pray!

The BAD news is once they settle on something, if the vendor changes the dongle hardware/imbedded info, in the dongle then Uniden may have issues with the original firmware build.

The GOOD news is Uniden could use anyone else's dongle and move on if they decided to. Could even be just a WiFi USB hard plug device with a USB extension rather than a pigtailed dongle, but not as very pretty or sexy.

The GOOD news is Uniden could and SHOULD support a 100BT wired dongle AS WELL as WiFi. If there was a hardwired dongle, this project would have been sorted a long time ago. We could use any stand along SOHO router with 3rd party firmware and have a wireless client that works. A bit bulky, but something that works or just hard wire to the network if it is a standard network device.

The BAD news is I have seen even main stream WiFi providers like Intel not get the firmware/drivers correct until 18 months after a product was released. Intel is FAMOUS for crappy WiFi drivers and it takes FOREVER for Intel to release something that works.

The GOOD news is the scanner will function without the WiFi although some people would/could possibly use it.

The GOOD news is Paul/UPMan/Uniden is/are working on things, BUT they are at the mercy of the dongle provider. Who knows how much a priority the dongle provider is putting on the project.

Patience is needed, but this could have been handled a bit better from the beginning, the problem is Uniden has under delivered on a commitment and some folks are going to ride them hard.

Unfortunately technology is not as easy as it appears at times. Probably some non technical management under estimated Murphy on this one.

Anyway, all will not be lost other than time, since this is a plug in device, hopefully we will see something that works somewhere in the near future.

My guess is July at the earliest, hopefully I am wrong.

 

[jdobbs2001]

Ouch! From that post it sounds like the wifi in the 596HP is never going to work. I would have made sure the wifi board worked properly before committing to full production, seeing as that single feature is/was a MAJOR selling point for the scanner.

The fools were the one who paid up front for a product not shipping the feature they wanted.

Uniden got their money upfront, no rush for them. Everyone voted with their wallets appropriately.

My prediction is mid 2015 before the feature appears, with 2016 a new model coming out with mototrbo demodulation etc.. and improved wifi feature.

 

[mrkelso]

Uniden America Corporation
6225 N. State Highway 161, Suite 300
Irving, TX. 75038, USA

Phone: 1-817-858-3300
Fax: 1-817-858-3333

Uniden Worldwide Locations

Just wanted to Thank you before this thread gets locked. Thanks

 

[kellykeeton]

"The firmware is 1000 times better".... that's a hell of an improvement but it's still not good enough. That does not add up. However since I have a 436 please release the analyze firmware upgrade now.

Yea this response kinda made me frustrated. Sounds like it was never close to working at time of release. And with no attempts to release anything in the near future. Or fix or add anything else

I decided to not buy any more of these things with that single post upman.

 

[durangoGreg]

Even if Uniden does come out with the app, there'll be people still complaining.

They should have never announced the app in the first place. They could have worked on it quietly and when it was completed, it would have been a "surprise" firmware update and everyone would come here and tell us how awesome Uniden is.

Instead, we get 12 threads of grumpiness and threats of never buying another Uniden scanner again. lol..

Uniden, you need a new business manager? Private message me.

No one would have bought the 536 in the first place if Uniden had not announced the WiFi feature. Who in their right mind would have paid the $100.00 more for a bigger bulkier unit than the 436 with no additional features?

So I don't think your business strategy is relevant.

The thing is, it was not real well publicized that the app would not be ready at the time of the launch. There were Uniden Youtube videos describing the new features and saying that all would be available upon the initial launch date. I was not reading radioReference forums to check to see what the truth was. I just assumed Uniden was a quality company and would deliver what they promised.

When the App release date slipped to 1st quarter I didn't think it was a big deal and I would just wait it out patiently even though the radio is almost worthless as a mobile for me because I need the remote head option to use it in my truck. I purchased an external mobile antenna and have my truck all wired to accept the radio but I can't use it because the app isn't ready.

Now It almost seems from UPMan's comments that the wait is indefinite. Uniden has not publicly committed to a release date. The ads are still up, still pushing the WiFi feature, they are still packaging the useless WiFi dongle with each purchase, still charging the same price, and yet no closer to actually delivering on the final product.

I definitely see a class action lawsuit coming for Uniden if they don't deliver within the next 6 months. I also see Uniden losing a lot of customers over the way this was handled.

I also hate the way customers are being made out to be complainers. This isn't the case, these people have paid for an expensive product that was falsely advertised, comes with a WiFI Dongle that is non-functional, and has not publicly heard one peep from Uniden the manufacturer. UPMan has tried to help the situation by passing on his informal information but where is the official word from Uniden. Why no customer support or no attempt to at least address the issue with dissatisfied customers?

 

[wx5uif]

No one would have bought the 536 in the first place if Uniden had not announced the WiFi feature. Who in their right mind would have paid the $100.00 more for a bigger bulkier unit than the 436 with no additional features?

I would have. I don't like hand held scanners. The 536 does a good job as base / mobile.