Pathetic - an absolute joke and disgraceful behaviour.
Whats makes you think people here would support the purchase of new hardware
So soon after the release of Remote Two
While Remote Two has severe limitations which make it fall so far below the standard that was promised in the Kickstarter.
I would like to know what your refund policy is on products that are sold by you but not fit for purpose - you understand in some countries such as Australia (where I am based) this is a Consumer Right upheld by law?
There seem to be a number of negative comments on the new release from existing users and whilst as an existing R2 owner/ user I can understand the frustrations with the current version and desire to get these resolved, I don’t see the R3 as a negative move towards existing users when you consider that the software development (which is all that R2 users can expect) is still just as applicable for the R2 as it is the R3. I’ve not seen anyone say this yet, so let me be the first … I am an existing R2 user and will be ordering an R3 on 21st June. Whilst I’d rather not have to spend more on the remote than my existing investment I think the product has lots of potential but for me the main limitation on usage for the R2 is the weak IR signal, so the fact this has been addressed is enough for me to change. With the R2, I have only effectively been able to use it to control my Apple TV and all other devices I continue to control with my Harmony Elite…
In a time when so many improvements can be made simply with software upgrades I had hoped there was a chance that something may improve IR capability in R2, but am assuming this was not possible so accept the requirement to upgrade and I accepted the risk with R2 when I purchased as I only purchased this year and was already aware of feedback re poor IR but wanted to try out myself and am glad I did.
It could be argued that time spent on new hardware is time taken away from software development, but I think as has already been stated by others that particularly for a non-subscription service it is completely reasonable to be working on both and it is ultimately best for the future of the product and therefore the users and company for both active software and hardware development. I’m hoping that additional revenue from new launch and what sounds like either expanded production capacity and/ or more efficient production will lead to further investment into the product, perhaps including a bigger team so that faster progress can be made with future developments/ bug fixes.
I am also hoping that the new software release will be available sooner than R3 production run, given I will obviously have to wait a while before I can get an R3.
Let me also add as feedback for UC, I agree with some of the other comments I’ve seen on this site (partly in this thread and in others) that communication could be improved, particularly as a small company you have an opportunity to engage further with the community here (and it’s great to see responses from you on this thread to some of the questions/ feedback). Unfortunately it’s an area where no company can get this 100% right all the time, but particularly notable failures do seem to be with comms regarding status on reservation list (hopefully this can be improved for R3) and for documentation regarding remote usage and configuration. I would have got nowhere if it wasn’t for user content and direct user help on this site. I should add that i have picked up that you are also sometimes active on Discord and have not attempted to engage on there, so all comments are based purely on comms on this site.
I will side with the ppl who are outraged. Basically six months after receiving the remote 2, the resale value of it was just smashed to bits by introducing a successor that early, apparently also for far less money than the remote 2 kickstarter buyers paid. It just feels totally wrong to me and I will not buy from this company again.
Perhaps it was because I cannot adequately run Activities as my other media devices currently can only be controlled by IR and are are not being acitvated due to the weak IR blaster on the R2 hub.
When uploading integrations to the remote becomes possible and someone (certainly not me as my coding skills are virtually nil) creates IP integrations for my media devices, I hopefully can give it another try.
You can create a simple activity only with the Shield and no start/end actions. Do not forget to assign commands to buttons/display. Then start your Shield as you did it before without R2. After that start the R2 Shield activity and you can test it.
I already use Android TV everyday with my Philips TV for several weeks and in my eyes it is more reactive than my Harmony with BlueTooth.
I have to stress that again that we are not dropping support for Remote Two and software development has never stopped. Both remotes run the same exact software. In fact, features will be delivered to Remote Two owners earlier before Remote 3 has finished production.
We have received so much interest for Remote Two, that we could not keep up with the production and we had to look for a solution. We have improved a few things for the assembly and during the process also adjusted things on the remote. But in its core, it’s the same as Remote Two. Remote 3 is a necessary and logical step for us to solve the production difficulties (components suddenly becoming NRND) and to be able to scale up production and keep up with demand.
Once again, Remote Two will be supported, with new features coming soon. We’re working hard to finish the Bluetooth support, then third party integrations on the remote. Next to this we’re revamping the Web configurator to make it easier to configure the remote. And that is coming at the end of summer. For Remote Two.
The software is not abandoned, is it? They’re working on the bugs and have to keep working even on the revised hardware. So… things will keep improving. I note the price quoted is noticeably lower than the R2 which can only be great news - far easier to get adoption if the product is not priced fully at enthusiast-only-level. I presume that is one reason for a model 3, and probably lessons learned getting the R2 manufactured/shipped.
As a waitlister I consider this great news. Price seems lower, and though I’m a bit less thrilled about an LCD over an OLED, realistically a nice LCD is quite good in this day and age. Feature set in general looks good, should be a great way to dip toes into voice controlling Home Assistant which I haven’t bothered with yet. I’m definitely picking one up.
You can just find a different way to work the problem. A Broadlink RM4 Pro for instance is a tenth of the price of the R2; integrate that with Home Assistant, and control your stuff via Home Assistant and the R2. For example. You can also then automate (obviously) completely aside from the R2.
the Broadlink RM4 in conjunction with Home Assistant is really an interesting approach.
Do you know whether the RM4 Mini is just as powerful as the RM4 Pro for pure IR control? Or should you generally consider the Pro? How well is the optional sensor cable for temperature/humidity detection implemented in the Home Assistant integration?