To replace the color buttons the R2 has and also for folks to use as custom buttons. Just another row of 4 at the bottom. Maybe even half or a third height.
They did add another row in R3, but then took some other buttons away (the colored ones). Gotta be specific, I guess :).
They added another row to the R3, but it has fewer buttons (one less?). Each row now has 4 buttons instead of 5. I still want an additional half-height row with 4 buttons for the 4 colors or other custom commands.
I know it’s unlikely, but I like having extra buttons that can perform simple tasks regardless of what is on the screen or which device I’m using.
Alternatively, they could just put the 4 color dots back around the D-pad. It’s not great, but it’s better than nothing.
They’ve already said they’re not going to, so it’s a moot point.
I have not seen that and it never hurts to try and let them know what you want.
Would not be too hard to make an alternate D-pad.
[…] Any change like that involves new molds, verification, redesigning the PCB, verification, redesigning the backlight, verification, adjusting the machning process for the aluminium and then check samples. This would add a minimum of 3 months to the project timeline. We’ve already paid for molds and preparing for certification. […]
I’m sure they could swap the d-pad in less than 3 months.
The 4 colored buttons are too important. Who came with the idea to remove them?
Yeah it’s too bad they couldn’t have kept them but I guess most people don’t use them? I’d be willing to wait another 3 months to get the buttons. Maybe they can make a conversion kit to add them back to the d-pad but I’m guessing there’s pin out from the d-pad to some kind of board that would have to be replaced as well. It’s just a bummer they didn’t ask folks, maybe they did and everybody said they didn’t want them or didn’t care. There’s always the R4 if they’re still around in a year or two.
I use them when I use my Enigma2 STB and I already put the 4 colors in the last row of the 1st page of the display. It is easier to recognize and only there if I need them.
I did not like where the colors are on the R2 because if I used the direction button without looking at the remote I often hit the colors instead of the directions. Navigation was a bit difficult then.
Ralf
Yeah, on the d-pad is not ideal but it looks like the new one’s a little bigger and I would have liked to have had them as an option anyway. And they could have put some sort of embossed marking for each of the buttons that you could feel better. After using the remote for a while, I would think any real button would be easier to find without looking versus trying to touch the right spot on the screen.
The touch screen is great when you got to do once in awhile configuration or manipulation of features on a device that you do not use that often. But there really should be real buttons for something that you’re doing every time you use the device. Play, pause, enter, start, stop, (the kind ofstuff that all should work with one button but on many devices surprisingly does not) directional arrows, fast forward, rewind etc.
I’ve never once used the color buttons on any remote I’ve ever had.
That said they announced this morning they’re working on a way to utilize the different colored backlight to create an option for a second layer of buttons, like a Control- or Shift- that would bring up an alternate config of the physical buttons with color indicators.
The quick button remap is cool but I’d still like a few more buttons that are always there when needed, to use without looking or clicking another button first and the again to go back and so on. It will be more problematic to remember and to decide what to remap where and when but it is a cool option.
Button mapping layers
We have been thinking about ways how we can utilize the RGB backlight for a useful functionality. We have a limited number of LEDs we can work with, but we arranged them in a way that we can change the colour of some of the icons individually. Specifically we focused on icons without a descriptive icon, like the directional pads, plus/minus and up/down arrows. This opens up possibilities to extended button mapping to multiple layers with a visual indication.
We’ll add a special command, you could assign to a soft or hard button, that will open the new button layer, where you could assign additional commands to buttons on that layer. Just like how you press Shift or Alt on your keyboard will change what a key will do.
For example: single press, double press or long press could be assigned to buttons. Assigning the button layer command to the “circle/record” button would change the colour of the icons and pressing one of these buttons would trigger a different command that you assigned to this layer.
Like this better.