k3fs
Member
Please do not misquote. As I stated they are both priority.
Please, let Uniden make their own excuses. Uniden should give an honest update on this.
I don't think a firmware update is going to bankrupt them.
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Please do not misquote. As I stated they are both priority.
Please, let Uniden make their own excuses. Uniden should give an honest update on this.
I don't think a firmware update is going to bankrupt them.
I never quoted you on that (until this post). Please point out where I did. Please don't misquote me on misquotes. You said that AFTER the first quote of:
THAT is the quote I quoted.
Your first statement (quoted immediately above) implies that the features you want should be a priority over the other issues like RTC and LED issues.
Your second quote says they should BOTH be a priority. In either case, I disagree and believe that the LED/RTC issues should be a priority over feature additions. I believe most users would agree with me on that.
Never said it would. I guess I could cry misquote on that, huh?
What I said what that they likely have a budget that only allows them to work on so much at one time.
Just as you cannot spend the same dollars twice, you cannot have both matters taking priority over each other.
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darunimal
Guest
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darunimal
Guest
No defects and issues turn into fiasco(s) when not dealt with promptly (and 1 yr is too long)
things: are just you MINIMIZING and MARGINALIZING legitmate customer complaints
Especially if you're the only 1 Engineer working on both!
I hope I didn't misquote you!
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You didn't misquote me, but I don't think they are shipping units to Japan for repair. If you know differently, please post some info.
As for your "MINIMIZING and MARGINALIZING", the alternative is "MINIMIZING and MARGINALIZING" the RTC and LED issues. I still maintain those are the larger issues that deserve higher priority over feature additions.
As for your "MINIMIZING and MARGINALIZING", the alternative is "MINIMIZING and MARGINALIZING" the RTC and LED issues. I still maintain those are the larger issues that deserve higher priority over feature additions.
k3fs
Member
They are not feature additions. They are features that were originally planned and advertised.
They have however added features, before getting the original feature set completed.
They have however added features, before getting the original feature set completed.
If they are not currently in the scanner, they are additions - no matter when they were planned.
And I suspect that the ProVoice was a self-funding venture. That's easy to justify in a business plan and is not a direct comparison to non-self-funding ventures - or more specifically ventures that are competing for the same funds. Repairs of hardware failures will likely always take precedence over feature additions (again, planned in 2016 or 2006 or any other year).
And I suspect that the ProVoice was a self-funding venture. That's easy to justify in a business plan and is not a direct comparison to non-self-funding ventures - or more specifically ventures that are competing for the same funds. Repairs of hardware failures will likely always take precedence over feature additions (again, planned in 2016 or 2006 or any other year).
But they are listed on the current box as included features.
It is not listed on either of my two boxes 436 or 536
To repeat and clarify: If they are not currently in the scanner, they would be considered additions.
Note there is no word "box" in my comments. My comments only relate to the presence (or not) of the features in question in the scanner. Not on the box, on a website, on some engineer's scratch paper, or in some user's wish list.
If they are not currently in the scanner, they would be considered additions.
I'm not saying they should not be added if they are on the box. I'm just saying that I agree with the chosen priority of fixing the hardware issues before devoting resources to adding features. Fix what is there and then improve upon it rather than add to what is broke.
Ed, I think even you have to admit that is not an unreasonable course of action - even if it may not be the order in which you would do things.
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I don't consider that process unreasonable at all, but I do find it strange that Uniden never took any action to remedy the box issue. A simple sticker explaining that some features were not yet present would be all it took, yet the boxes still look the same as the day the release was announced. Many people, especially those in areas that recently went digital are making purchases through Amazon or in brick and mortar stores where the box (or someone who copied the features listed on the box onto a website) is all they have to make a decision. With the demise of Radio Shack and the less than optimum availability of Whistler products in the brick and mortar setting, Uniden has a bit of a monopoly, and I don't think it is unreasonable to expect the product in the box to perform to the description on the outside of the box.
From August 2014:
http://forums.radioreference.com/un...ill-uniden-accept-returns-10.html#post2237662
This was well documented on these boards, and the 536 I received from Uniden last week was in the same box.
Also in the feature list on Page 5 of the user manual currently available on Uniden's website, it indicates that the Wi-Fi can be used to wirelessly control your scanner with your IPad/Android Tablet/Computer Software.
https://www.uniden.com/File Library/FooterNav/Product Information/Owners Manuals/BCD536HPom.pdf
Not everyone who buys this radio is an advanced user, not everyone who buys this radio knows the Radio Reference Forums exist. Anyone who bought the radio based on a feature list in the store and then got it home and read the manual would expect that they could get an app that would remotely control their radio from their android device.
Please tell me how to use Uniden's application on my Android device to remotely control my scanner.
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darunimal
Guest
I can second that whole heartedly. But remember Uniden can't spend money twice, since it's all been dumped in RTC and LED's, new 436 breadboards, labor and shipping, the $650 it would cost to produce and ship out 10k labels would make them go belly up and would be an acknowledgement of guilt (some will say it's the box printers' fault and the PDF printers' fault.)
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darunimal
Guest
You don't, you can't, I believe you won't for a least another year, I'd speculate because Uniden has a 2 year exclusive agreement with Apple, since Apple allowed/gave Uniden help w/ the Siren App and the Ability to use Apples' logo and App & Support on Unidens' Security Camera Hardware (that Uniden has had problems w/ the App side for years, at least 5yrs back, that I have seen).
In Uniden's defense (gasp!) they revised the product announcement video and put a disclaimer on their website about the Siren, WiFi and Analyze issues (but not on the boxes). The headphone jack, RTC and LED issues became apparent over time, and Uniden really had no choice but to issue recalls, as there was no way of avoiding the liability of failing components with the scale it was happening on. I think even Voyager will agree that these two radios have turned into Uniden's White Whale, and the efforts to keep ahead of the component issues, and still develop the missing features have resulted in a PR/management nightmare for them.
Boatanchor
Member
- Joined
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- 991
I'm certain that none of this has escaped the attention of Uniden headquarters in Tokyo.
The mistake, I believe, that Uniden made, was trying to mesh radio scanners with 'I'devices.
The vast majority of us couldn't care less about remote connectivity, or even 'recall' functions. Most of us, I wager, just want the best 'radio scanner' on the market
All the X36HP had to do, to differentiate itself from the P2 and HP series scanners, was to incorporate a few 'high end' RF and analyze features. Uniden should simply have marketed the X36 as having 'industry leading' RF/IF performance, as well as a rudimentary trunking analyze feature. Then sold the unit for $100 more than the P2 or HP2. People would have paid the extra money to get the improved performance. I still think that the wifi feature should never have been proposed in the first place.
Instead, Uniden marketed the X36 as 'innovative and made all kinds of pie in the sky promises about features that few really wanted and to this day, are still to eventuate.
If you want to make a high end scanner, that existing scanner owners swoon over and consumers will be willing to pay a premium for, forget about the bells and whistles. Concentrate instead on basic scanner, trunking, digital decode and analogue performance. Advertise the fact that your scanner has better selectivity than anything else on the market. Advertise that improvements have been made to scan speed or some other simple innovation like FM squelch tail elimination, a fix for LSM or even DMR decode and people will flock to buy it.
Imagine for one minute if the money being 'invested' (squandered IMHO) into Siren/wifi, was instead redirected to incorporating even conventional DMR or had been invested instead into IF based DSP that solved, once and for all, the LSM issues?
Uniden would have cleaned up in the scanner market around the world. Whistler would have nothing even close.
The mistake, I believe, that Uniden made, was trying to mesh radio scanners with 'I'devices.
The vast majority of us couldn't care less about remote connectivity, or even 'recall' functions. Most of us, I wager, just want the best 'radio scanner' on the market
All the X36HP had to do, to differentiate itself from the P2 and HP series scanners, was to incorporate a few 'high end' RF and analyze features. Uniden should simply have marketed the X36 as having 'industry leading' RF/IF performance, as well as a rudimentary trunking analyze feature. Then sold the unit for $100 more than the P2 or HP2. People would have paid the extra money to get the improved performance. I still think that the wifi feature should never have been proposed in the first place.
Instead, Uniden marketed the X36 as 'innovative and made all kinds of pie in the sky promises about features that few really wanted and to this day, are still to eventuate.
If you want to make a high end scanner, that existing scanner owners swoon over and consumers will be willing to pay a premium for, forget about the bells and whistles. Concentrate instead on basic scanner, trunking, digital decode and analogue performance. Advertise the fact that your scanner has better selectivity than anything else on the market. Advertise that improvements have been made to scan speed or some other simple innovation like FM squelch tail elimination, a fix for LSM or even DMR decode and people will flock to buy it.
Imagine for one minute if the money being 'invested' (squandered IMHO) into Siren/wifi, was instead redirected to incorporating even conventional DMR or had been invested instead into IF based DSP that solved, once and for all, the LSM issues?
Uniden would have cleaned up in the scanner market around the world. Whistler would have nothing even close.
Boatanchor
Member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2011
- Messages
- 991
It's all a moot point now, of course
I believe this is accurate, however, I think it was more of an intelligence issue.
Uniden was developing new radios when the Radio Shack Pro-107 brought a new era to the market. I'm sure that corporate espionage gleaned information the GRE was developing a radio that utilized SD technology and "simpler" user interface, and that the Pro-108/PSR-800 with database integration and Phase II capabilities was close behind in the GRE pipeline.
That intelligence probably caused a huge bout of anxiety and a rush to finish the current radios on an accelerated scale. The features that GRE was rolling out were attractive and may or may not have been on the drawing board when the information was received. You could be damn sure though that the features in the GRE radios would also be present in the Uniden Radios just for the sake of not being outclassed by the competition. The features that the Unidens would have that were not present in the GREs were probably prioritized to be included or rolled out later, i.e. the HP-1 Extreme Upgrade.
The form factors between the PSR-800 and the HP-1 were much different, and Uniden had the prettier display, but the two radios were on par with each other (sans Phase II in the Uniden). Then rumors started about the PSR-900 being close to release, and Uniden realized they were about to be caught with their pants down, so the x36 line was rushed out the door. No Analyze, WiFi Dongle not working correctly from the vendor, Siren app still vaporware, etc. It was a "we have to beat them to market."
This could have been a glorious coup by GRE. Throw a PSR-800 into a PSR-900 case, trot it out at CES and start the rumor about imminent release. GRE already had a handheld Phase II capable radio, and was now about to come out with the mobile. The big boy on the block was in a bad position and they knew it, so it was full speed ahead on the x36 release no matter what the people that actually made the features work told upper management. What Uniden apparently didn't know was that GRE was about to pull out of the market because of issues in China. The PSR-900 was never released and the x36 line was generating so much backlash online that when Whistler bought the rights from GRE, they took their time to get as much right and working out of the box as possible. They didn't get it 100%, but the complaints were much less than what Uniden was getting.
The world has turned into a place where a person's phone is their lifeline. I'm sure this played into the "i" device model that Uniden was running with. If you could free up a person from the bulky radio and put it onto their phone, it would be a much better seller in the current market. They got rushed and lost focus. I'm sure if they knew GRE was about to go belly up in the scanner business, they would have slowed down and gotten everything right. Instead, we got a good radio that should have been a great radio rushed out the door. If it was corporate espionage through GRE as a last middle finger to Uniden, it was very well played.
I am basing all of this on observation and extrapolation from the known events over the past several years. I may be right, I may not, but I'm sure that I'm going to get torn apart by the fanboys from both camps.
If you go out and buy something that you do not research then you have done something very stupid even a CAMERA, A CAR, A HOUSE, or even A SCANNER. I waited until the scanner was confirmed to operate and do the things I wanted before I bought if you did not then you were foolish.
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