Streamer wish list
Posted by: engjoo on 08 November 2013
What do you like to see in the next gen streamer? For me, it would be:
1) Better display (higher resolution, able to display more characters)
2) Auto firmware update via internet
@Tog +1
I do not have a streamer and appreciate that if I bought, say an NDS, and did not want to use Apple products, I may be disappointed,
However, I do use third party software to playback music, so the idea of third party remote control app development for a streamers is an interesting point, and believe that it is more of a possibility for the Apple and Microsoft platforms as they are not fragmented, i.e. which version of android should Naim spend their effort on? What should Naim do when Google abandons Android ? (develop an app for Chrome, perhaps? BTW, Samsung has a system waiting in the wings).
Also, Naim would need to release an API and seek to standardise this across its product line and third party platforms as well as manage developer communities. I wonder if this would be a good use of Naim's time?
In respect of a web interface, I wonder how many Unitiserve users for example, use this?
Jude 
I think Naim hardware is much better than its software and feel Naim should embrace a more open approach where third party developers could build Android, Kindle Fire apps and so on. I still prefer the standalone DAC approach where what i use to feed it is up to me.
As I like iTunes, though it is far from perfect, then a Mac Mini as server/music player is ideal for me. I use Audrivana + to play songs. However, i can understand that not everybody wants to do it that way. it is difficult for Naim to support Raspberry, Android, iOS, Windows, Linux especially as the programs need to keep in sync with OS changes.
Naim tried to address this with a closed system using US and Streamer and remote control which they chose to implement in iOS. In one way, it is no worse Naim standardising on iOS than using Windows in its US. However, a rethink may be in order - and to me that means opening it up. Perhaps they need to adopt a horizontal approach to computer audio.
Agree with this in principle. Assuming this does not detract from Naim core strengths, such as amplification (e.g. SNAIT 2). It is also encouraging the way Naim went about making it easy for us to configure the V1 with several players, mac and win (Albeit mostly mac based).
Also, wonder if n-stream development is out sourced?
Hoping that Tuesday will reveal something about Naim's future approach in this area.
J
I know this is kind of off topic, but picking up on Tog and Sorren's sub thread I kind of smiled, I actually feel the shine has gone from Apple to some extent and they are kind of falling out of favour with many of the new generation (they all appear to be Google - I am not sure if that is not worse) and Apple are becoming more corporate mainstream like MS - and things don't necessarily just work any more as they aim to appeal to more and more diverse users - rather than the sand boxed consumer who doesn't venture off the nursery slopes.
This has encouraged me to get involved with them again without me feeling I am unduly stoking their fire or end up isolated in a dead end - and am really enjoying my new MBP Retina and its ability to dip into the Unix like OS below the GUI - and its great for my photography / graphics work as well as my data network stuff.
However sound and audio is definitely Windows for me - audio and audio files just seem to work better on MS - it will level over time - but not just yet.
Simon
Tog
>>Apple - frustrating, sure; arrogant, you bet - boring - never.
I think I agree
Your reference to 1985 is interesting - I think it was that time, or possibly a year later I bought my first 'PC'. It was an Amstrad 1512 - it had two floppy drives, no hard disk and horrible GEM which I binned immediately as clearly MS Windows didn't exist at this time - but it was a great coding machine using my Borland compilers - and even wrote my own GUI front end using Pascal and assembler .
Before then it was 8 bit micros with Z80 Assember and Basic or mainframe dial-ups with acoustic couplers - remember those?
Machines I had included, a kit built Nascom 2 and ZX Spectrum. I built my first primitive 8 bit ADC/DAC with a buddy of mine on a Spectrum in 1986 - it was great fun - and we actually used it to record a track, though loading the sample took an age from cassette!
I graduated in computer engineering in 1987, it was a fun time - mass computing and networks were just starting to take off big time - and you really felt you were part of that new wave, which then, a few years later, gave birth to the WWW.
When I started my career in 1987, I still wrote free lance code on the side in Pascal - but my first professional day job software was an OSI protocol analyser upto layer 4 written in Awk (it had to be Unix portable for all the the then European Community telcos and their minis) the difference between computing capabilities was quite extreme back then ...
I remember the internet upto around 1992 was really used for email, Gopher, NNTP etc - it was great - but all very disjointed and cluttered - you had to be in the know to get specific info. Then 1991/2 came along with WWW and I saw and played with the Mosaic browser on our corporate 9.6kbaud internet connection. I was blown away and genuinely excited - although that first browser looked so different than today and you kind of need to know how the web and web protocols worked to fully use - there was little standardisation on content. It had a graphical directory structure on the left hand side of the screen (albeit global) that you could navigate through and select your primitive web page - invariably with its grey background. New sites appeared weekly.
Those were the days
Simon
Hi Tog
ingenious 
and I'm sure you are right about Apple's reasoning as it fits their business model. I think the flaw is that it depends on universal perfect wifi (as well as a willingness to pay a premium). The main point of a mobile device is that it is mobile and while your model may work fine at home it's much less reliable on a beach, up in the mountains, abroad - or even in parts of Somerset
. An SD card must cost peanuts to include in a tablet and enables you to reliably carry huge amounts of data in a matchbox. Apple's refusal to fit one at least as an option is an example of the controlling attitude that leads people like me to be very sceptical and wary when considering their products. I did use an iPad for a month last year and would have considered buying one (swallowing the extra cost in order to use Nstream) if the lack of removable storage hadn't crippled it for my purposes. I have no love for Samsung but at least they seem to respond to the needs of users rather than try to dictate them.