Atom - DELAYED AGAIN?!?!

The release of the Core without a lot of 'core' functionality such as metadata editing was a complete balls-up, and if I was Naim I wouldn't want to make that mistake again. The Atom will sell a lot more than the Core and it would be a disaster if it went out there without its feature set in place. Better late than half baked. Hopefully they've also learned not to advertise things for release a year before they are ready, or however long it's been. 

Does anyone know when Naim will be announcing the replacement for the new Uniti range?

Ha ha ha! Can't wait for the Atom 2 to be released!

richardhomer posted:

Does anyone know when Naim will be announcing the replacement for the new Uniti range?

It's being launched in October and will arrive November 2037 with Airplay compatibility coming in 2041.

Guessing is ultimately pointless, but I'm going to do it anyway.

We know it's not hardware because they're building them, and it can't be Airplay 2 because no-one can fail that yet. It probably isn't DLNA or bluetooth because Naim know how to do those and they're largely off-the-shelf. It's probably not Airplay because it's mature and not that difficult.

All fingers must point towards Google as the bit they can't get right. Chromecast Built-in (or whatever branding you want to go with) is fiddly and immature as a technology standard. Also, it isn't aimed at audiophile applications. Also Google is hard to deal with for a small company and very picky. Also Cast Audio is critical to Naim's strategy because it overcomes the need to deal with every new streaming service by aggregating them to one standard. 

I guess we'll see if I'm correct about that.

Given these were supposed to be ready to ship in December/January, one wonders how Naim can keep failing a certification, unless the certification definition keeps changing. 

I am surprised the press have not done a Uniti core review yet, and commented on this launch?

In a previous job trying to get UL certification for one of our products a long time ago. It took many iterations -- because they didn't/couldn't highlight all the issues upfront -- they kept coming up with new ones each time we submitted -- so the process took a frustratingly long time. i am not suggesting this is the same situation as Naim are facing now with Atom etc... but just thought i should share this. what we learnt is that it wasnt really possible or wise to be too definitive on launch dates -- given this uncertainty.

enjoy...

ken

So from what I can work out we don't even have a theoretical release date now, just wait and see seems to be the message.

I assume some delay, maybe end of June, but some clarification would be nice indeed ...

I suspect no-one knows because it depends on the certification process and whether the testing throws up further issues.

best

David

I assume they must be shipping in some places... a dealer I know has an Atom in stock and available as of last week.

There are some Atom currently in the field to do shows, events, but not for sale.

Gazza posted:

I am surprised the press have not done a Uniti core review yet, and commented on this launch?

Little point doing a review when a key piece of functionality (metadata editing) was missing and was due shortly. 

Zipperheadbanjo posted:

I assume they must be shipping in some places... a dealer I know has an Atom in stock and available as of last week.

Which dealer is this?

jon honeyball posted:

Zipperheadbanjo posted:

I assume they must be shipping in some places... a dealer I know has an Atom in stock and available as of last week.

Which dealer is this?

Given Zipperheadbanjo's location that would be a North American or Canadian dealer - I would suspect that they may have had a pre-production demo unit but not a retail unit...

Best

Phil

None of the Uniti units are being sold yet.  Was at opening of Sevenoaks in Solihull at weekend.  Naim team were there, sponsoring the opening and demonstrating all 3x Uniti.

As per forum update quoted elsewhere, Naim reps in person reconfirmed they awaiting Uniti software to pass certification.  Therefore would not believe any dealers reporting earlier than middle to late next month for Atom and Nova.  BTW Star following sometime afterwards.    If no update on software certification soon, I feel this could well go on into August and September  

Only good news appears to be its software and units are being made in preparation to speed up production for when new certified code is available to load prior to shipment.

Like others, I am very disappointed with another set of delays.  I have had a Nova on order since November, expecting release in late 2016, then Feb, then June, now July and now maybe later still....

But I can say I felt Naim's pain in the delays.  Reps were genuinely sorry and agreed communication could have been better.  

Despite some sentiment seen throughout this forum, my personal view is they really do care and they certainly do not want to make a bad delay worse by releasing something not ready.   

PS although limited demo, units look great and more importantly we not going to be disappointed I think with the way they sound and hopefully function!

"14th June

We have made significant progress over the past 7 days and are on top of the issues of certifications sign-off.  We are nearly there and the feedback from the various labs is very positive and we are very close to gaining final certifications.

The Production Department is continuing with the build of Uniti Atom and we are pleased to say we will commence programming shortly.

As soon as we have more information for you, we will be in touch with an update."

Come on little NAIM....You can do it....toot toot!

Thanks for the update.  To confirm my understanding based on the latest Naim update.  

Does this mean as soon as code passes certification, Atom units will have code loaded and released to the public now they physically manufactured and assembled??  Or will there be anymore Naim in house/ beta public testing required before release??

Also how does this compare with steps to go on Nova please which is the one I have preordered.

Thanks - please keep up regular updates....

John

Big John posted:

Thanks for the update.  To confirm my understanding based on the latest Naim update.  

Does this mean as soon as code passes certification, Atom units will have code loaded and released to the public now they physically manufactured and assembled??  Or will there be anymore Naim in house/ beta public testing required before release??

Also how does this compare with steps to go on Nova please which is the one I have preordered.

Thanks - please keep up regular updates....

John

Hi John,

The understanding I have from the software team is that once we have all the final certs approved and in then we can start shipping units...

Cheers

Phil

Phil,

Thats sounds great!

Any views on the Nova and whether any extra software development needed please??  Or will this be ready to do go as well??

Understood from discussion with Naim Reps at Sevenoaks, Solihull at the weekend, Naim had shelves of Novas in a similar manufactured condition.  So hoping like the Atom they could potentially ship as well.

Thanks

John

Big John posted:

Phil,

Thats sounds great!

Any views on the Nova and whether any extra software development needed please??  Or will this be ready to do go as well??

Understood from discussion with Naim Reps at Sevenoaks, Solihull at the weekend, Naim had shelves of Novas in a similar manufactured condition.  So hoping like the Atom they could potentially ship as well.

Thanks

John

The information I have is that Nova should follow about a month after Atom...

Phil

My Atom/Nova demo on the 17th July is looking possible...

Phil,

Could you find out and confirm what additional things need to happen to the Nova before release please?  Or is it just a scheduling thing on loading the code with Atoms coming first.  

Thanks

John

Big John posted:

Phil,

Could you find out and confirm what additional things need to happen to the Nova before release please?  Or is it just a scheduling thing on loading the code with Atoms coming first.  

Thanks

John

 

Hi John,

That's how it is scheduled...

Cheers

Phil