Official firmware release ???

[divad6719]

Official firmware release ???

Thread started by divad6719 17-Dec-03


What's happened to the official release of the latest iHP
fimware. ??
The iMP official release was out a few days after the beta release.
Was the beta release for the iHP that bad. ? I never tried it myself.

Cheers


profingersk8er

currently we have no clue what's the hold up however, i think iRiver's planning a surprise firmware release on chrismas....but im just
guessing


divad6719

Well, if they are planning a surprise for christmas they had better get the old finger out as it will soon be past. Unless you mean christmas 2004

PS I like the christmassy avatar.

Merry Christmas Cheers


coreman

I'm over here now....gave up on the International forum, let me know if I can do anything to help get iRiver's attention, I did manage to get a post yanked when I called their marketing practices in non-Korean countries "eceptive".. so "someone" is reading the forum..


SweetSpot


Hey coreman...good to see you over here. Apparently there's only one way to make the Iriver people open their eyes...and that's to stop purchasing their products. I don't know if you'll remember this but, way back everyone on the international forum was FLOODING with requests for Ogg playback for months... but even THAT didn't get a written response from Iriver till the very last second. The only response really, WAS the implementation of Ogg for the IHP -120 and then later for the 100. Christ, even the Xiph Ogg programmers were being ignored by Iriver.

I doubt I'll ever buy another Iriver product again unless it's clearly seen that they're going to change their business tactics. It's too bad about the HD's that Rio is using for the Karmas, the Hitachi drives are real crap on a platter (pun very much intended). If they were solid, I'd have tried one of them out.

The whole not needing to install drivers or sofware, is pretty much the only thing holding me to my IHP at this point. I do love the audio quality, but aside from that, I can live without recording; line I/O and other things. When you really get down to it, no matter how many nice little features the IHP has, if the basics aren't available, which would enable it to be first and foremost a good music player..then the rest doesn't matter. I just dont' understand why they don't recognize this.

Do you know how many e mails I've sent them ? Do you think they've bothered to respond ? And I know they've been read because I get receipts for read mail.

BAH.


profingersk8er

hum..that's intersting,
iv emailed iRiver america countless times with questions before iHP came out, all emails were answered within 72 hours..

iRiver released iFP's OGG supported firmware today..
lets see when is the final firmware for iHP's gonna come out


SweetSpot

Before the IHP came out eh...and what sort of questions did you ask them...do you remember ?

I remember getting a response from them only when problems were already solved, or questions were already answered. It would seem to me that they're very sneaky and only reply when it's beneficial to them....Still curious about what you asked and what their answers were.


coreman

I have sent numerous emails regarding firmware (all very polite I should add) as well and haven't had a single one answered...of course, all of mine were after the 120 shipped.

You guys may recall a post on the International where I asked if anyone was getting any responses from iRiver since I hadn't heard a thing...the few replies were pretty much the same experience as me.

I should add that several mails BEFORE shipment were promptly answered but they were all

dealing with my purchase DIRECT FROM IRIVER!!

Go figure...here I am a direct buyer and still can't get an answer..but did get a really cool, good quality, heavy duty black iRiver T shirt with my player...

[divad6719]

No Christmas surprise for iHP users anyway.
Maybe a New year one ??

Still no sign of the elusive firmware.

Cheers

[Odie]

I have a feeling that even if they release the final version of the v1.20 firmware, it will contain nothing new over the beta version.

Sorry, lately I've been in iRiver pessimist (sp?) mode

- Odie


[Extreme Optimism]But you never know, they could have scrapped the final version of v1.20 and be working hard on a huge new firmware release![/Extreme Optimism]

[coreman]

Odie, I am going to try your approach and go for the extreme optimism. I gotta believe it is a major redo because there weren't any complaints on any of the 1.2b features except for the random shuffle and that should have been a "slamdunk".

Considering all of the noise about not hearing from iRiver and their not responding, the only reasonable explanation would be a major "redo"...unless their time was spent designing the new remote for the 120D....

[Odie]

I sent an e-mail to iRiver yesterday about a few issues (remote ticking, non-random shuffle, hare drive spin-up bug) and at the end I asked about firmware releases, I'll post in here if I recieve a reply.

- Odie

[profingersk8er]

thanks Odie, im really intersted in irivers reply as well

[seadzz]

I'm going to write them a letter asking about the firmware myself. I think a good idea is to bablefish it into Korean.

Do you think stupid F%$king morons will translate?

I sent a email to iRiver in the States three weeks ago. Wrote to them in English. zero reply.

Maybe the only english speaking person there quit too.

Here you go,you can cut & paste then send it on to iRiver:

iRiver녀석,

나는 얻고 있다ihp-120소프트웨어 업그레이드를
기다리기의 피로하게coreman골칫거 리 그런데
이것을 미워한다.

너가 사람 지팡이에 얻, 이 것을 끝내기 위하여 갈
경우의 어떤 아이디어?

많은 감사

[divad6719]

I doubt very much if they would scrap a whole firmware. More likely they will add something to it, if indeed that is what they are doing.

My guess would be that they will release it in the new year with little or no changes.
Oh well, at least the iFP 300/500 users are happy.

Cheers, the eternal pessimist.

[Odie]

Originally Posted by profingersk8er

thanks Odie, im really intersted in irivers reply as well

Reply posted here:
http://misticriver.dyndns.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=30

As expected, they dodged the firmware release question

- Odie

[Big D]

iRiver don't make a rod for their back like a lot of manufacturers. One day there is nothing, the next there is a new firmware. No warning, no fuss. (Until you realise something you wanted is missing )

I would be surprised if there aren't additions made to the final release of the 1.20 beta firmware. Strangely I am confident even in spite of the reply you received.

[divad6719]

Okay still no new firmware, I think we could reasonably deduce that they are giving it a major revision.
Maybe they want to please iHP owners more than we have been giving them credit for.

It will be very interesting to see what changes they make to it.

Cheers

[coreman]

Just think of all the fun we are going to have on this board after the new release....first thing I'm checking will be the shuffle modes!

There was suppose to be some kind of roadmap released today, at least as posted on IF...wonder what kind of website iRiver is cooking up? Can't be better than misticrio.net....er, I mean misticriver.net!

[coreman]

Was over looking at IF to see if a reported roadmap due today actually was posted and saw this testimonial on the "Why iRiver" page (2) ...obviously translation has a lot of problems (babelfish maybe??) but look at reason (2)!

The guy is complaining about all the online charges because he is searching for firmware updates! and iRiver takes this as a testimonial, or am I missing something?

Comment (4) is Universal and always translates the same! They certainly take their English translations very, very casually...similar to their definition of "random shuffle".

(Before someone flames me for not being understanding, IF is an English language site, the testimonials should be proofed and corrected before posting, after all they are drawing specific attention to the posts as means to sell to english speaking customers)

Following is testimonial:

I don't recommend the iRiver mp3 player, because:

1] A piece of leaf will keep off the whole forest. Once I bought the iFP-180TC, I found out that I am not willing to care about any mp3 players of other bands. The fashionable appearance and designed by famous engineer, the excellent character, the consummate timbre and other powerful function attracts me deeply. There are lots of brands of mp3 players around the world, such as Samsung, JNC, Apple, and so on. And now I don't care about them. I lost lots of things. So the most important reason that I don't recommend the iRiver products is the gain based on the cost of lose. HUH??(my comment)

2] After I bought the iRiver mp3 player, I searches the news, pictures, upgraded firmware about my iRiver player all day and all night, and I paid lot for the fee of network.

3] My girlfriend cautions against me being careful during across the road usually. it is really "boring".

4] It is too bad that she says:" could you pay more time on talking with me than the player?"
- Zoushouxiang(From China)

[Big D]

Originally Posted by coreman

Was over looking at IF to see if a reported roadmap due today actually was posted and saw this testimonial on the "Why iRiver" page (2) ...obviously translation has a lot of problems (babelfish maybe??) but look at reason (2)!

The guy is complaining about all the online charges because he is searching for firmware updates! and iRiver takes this as a testimonial, or am I missing something?

Comment (4) is Universal and always translates the same! They certainly take their English translations very, very casually...similar to their definition of "random shuffle".

(Before someone flames me for not being understanding, IF is an English language site, the testimonials should be proofed and corrected before posting, after all they are drawing specific attention to the posts as means to sell to english speaking customers)

Following is testimonial:

I don't recommend the iRiver mp3 player, because:

1] A piece of leaf will keep off the whole forest. Once I bought the iFP-180TC, I found out that I am not willing to care about any mp3 players of other bands. The fashionable appearance and designed by famous engineer, the excellent character, the consummate timbre and other powerful function attracts me deeply. There are lots of brands of mp3 players around the world, such as Samsung, JNC, Apple, and so on. And now I don't care about them. I lost lots of things. So the most important reason that I don't recommend the iRiver products is the gain based on the cost of lose. HUH??(my comment)

2] After I bought the iRiver mp3 player, I searches the news, pictures, upgraded firmware about my iRiver player all day and all night, and I paid lot for the fee of network.

3] My girlfriend cautions against me being careful during across the road usually. it is really "boring".

4] It is too bad that she says:" could you pay more time on talking with me than the player?"
- Zoushouxiang(From China)

Surely if the translations were done like the shuffle mode the translation would always be identical!

[Big D]

On a more serious note, I hope the new iHP-140 will herald a nice new multi-functional firmware.

This will hopefully add:

1. Playlist generation on the player.
2. Random shuffle (in combition with no. 1 would be bliss)
3. Some of the other crap others want...!

[Big D]

Just searching the iRiver Japan forum out of curiosity and they are asking for the same things we are:

Gapless playback

Proper random shuffle

Reducing DB startup time

FM recording


(Though they also want to change the startup logo screen too!!)


Maybe if more people are asking for these in territories iRiver considers important then they will happen.

Fingers crossed.

[Odie]

Originally Posted by Big D

1. Playlist generation on the player.

Yes, this would be superb!

Originally Posted by Big D

2. Random shuffle (in combition with no. 1 would be bliss)

Yes, definately should be a top priority.

Originally Posted by Big D

Gapless playback

This would be great, I've noticed that more and more albums tend to blend the end of one track into the beginning of the next, and the (albeit short) gap is annoying.

I would also like to see a bookmarks feature for long files (audio books, stand-up comedy)

Heck, if they have any spare time, why not throw in some crossfading!

- Odie

[Big D]

Dear customers,

First of all, thank you for your support and interest towards iRiver.

There are many discussions about the recently released products, iMP-550 and iHP-100 on the forum site. iRiver would like make an announcement to clarify the misunderstandings that are spreading among the customers.

Firstly, iMP-550 uses a same Philips chip as the iFP series. Therefore the Xtreme 3D (developed by iRiver & Philips) can be and will be soon supported for iMP-550. Please wait patiently for the Firmware upgrade.

The products that can support Xtreme 3D are: iFP series, iMP-550

Secondly, SRS on iHP-100.
The CPU of iHP-100 is Motorola's Amadeus chip. It is different form the iFP series' CPU and supports SRS 3D Sound . Since SRS and Xtreme 3D have different characteristics, it is very hard to determine which function is better. The sound preference also varies among the people. Therefore even among the iRiver workers, there are people who prefer SRS and those who prefer Xtreme 3D. iRiver would like the customer's opinions and comments about the new SRStion.
iRiver is also looking forward to adapt iHP-100 to support Xtreme 3D, not because Xtreme 3D is better, but allows iRiver to upgrade more easily.

Thirdly, upgrade of the current products.
Every iRiver workers know that iRiver products are continuously reviewed and upgraded through the customer's opinions. Customer's opinions and comments helped iRiver to be successful in the global market and iRvier acknowledges that customer's opinion is valuable. iRvier will continue to Research & Develop the current products in the market and continuously launch a new Firmware upgrade for current products.
There are many customers who are wondering why the iMP series below 400 (iMP-50, 100, 150, 250 and 350) do not support Xtreme 3D or SRS. The technical answer for this question is that the products under iMP-400 do not have DSP but MP3 Decoding RISC CPU. Since the iFP series and iMP-550 have a DSP chip that allows high quality sound like Xtreme EQ and Xtreme 3D function. Unfortunately, RISC CPU can not produce high quality sound like DSP can do. iRiver will continuously upgrade to maximize the sound quality of RISC CPU products but they can not technically support Xtreme 3D.

Fourthly, iHP-100 firmware upgrade.
There are multiple iHP-100 firmware upgrades on the way. There are two major upgrades that will allow reading TXT files and viewing caption (song lyric) on the LCD screen. There will be soon an official date for the launch of the firmware upgrade. There is also one more major upgrade that is currently under the development which will surprise all the customers.

In summary,
iRiver products has been reviewed and upgraded by the existing customer's opinion. Although the new customers will help iRiver to expand and improve as a company, it is more important to receive the existing customer's opinions and comments to improve the products until it satisfies every user.
iRiver still needs to improve in various ways and it is very important that the customers share their opinions and comments with the iRiver for continuous improvements.

Sincerely,
iRiver

Posted on 21st July 2003 by iRiver.

Lyric support and text reader were mentioned 6 months ago. So it's no surprise that they were added early.

Obviously the "major upgrade" was Ogg support.

No sign of Xtreme 3D though.

[Odie]

Originally Posted by Big D

Dear customers,...

Woah, you got me excited for a second, till I realised it was an old announcement :P

Posted on 21st July 2003 by iRiver.

Lyric support and text reader were mentioned 6 months ago. So it's no surprise that they were added early.

Obviously the "major upgrade" was Ogg support.

No sign of Xtreme 3D though.

Maybe Xtreme 3D just wasn't feasable due to the different DSP chips used?

Xtreme 3D was added to the imp-550 as promised though.

I wish they'd make a similar type of announcement to let us know where they stand on firmware upgrades!

- Odie