Dear Neuros 442 gamma group:
We wanted to give you some exciting news about a change in the 442 upgrade program and also provide you with an update on the open-source 442 (what we call the 442v2 internally) and on our new, open-source product platform in general. We will start with the update.
Update
A great deal of work and progress is happening behind the scenes but not hidden from view. We encourage you to follow the work, or even participate. You can see information posted about all our products on our wiki. For developers, you can participate to our Google group: Neuros DM 320, and get information from our
http://open.neurostechnology.com/ site.
As many of you know we have three categories of Portable Media products at Neuros: (i) Portable Media Player’s (the 442); (ii) Digital recorders (the MPEG-4 Recorders); and (iii) Digital Audio Computers (the Neuros MP3 players). We are in the process of moving all of them to a single “Platform” based on a state-of-the-art multimedia chip called the DM-320 from Texas Instruments and a Linux-based operating system that we are developing specifically for the Platform.
We chose the DM-320 chip because it is very powerful and designed specifically for multimedia and because we were able to negotiate licensing agreements that allow us to make much of the source code open to our community. Of course, we chose Linux as the basis for the operating system because of its power and inherent openness.
The advantage to using the Platform for all three categories of product is that they will all be the same “under the hood”, which will allow them to work seamlessly together and for firmware enhancements made for one of the products to work for all of the products. The Platform is also scalable and will enable us to introduce new products more quickly, as we won’t have to reinvent the wheel each time. We are as anxious to get this Platform done as you are for us to complete it, but you can imagine that it’s a big job and how important it is to get it right.
We estimate that the general Platform work is about 75% complete. We have our first development boards that we are debugging and beginning to use internally and will be releasing to our most technically skilled and involved community members in the coming weeks and estimate that the operating system is about 80% complete.
In parallel with the above work on the Platform, we are also doing the work specific to the first two products that will come out on the Platform: the 442v2 and the Recorder 3. Right now, the 442v2 is furthest along, with the UI already designed and about 75% programmed and the basic hardware design about 85% complete. If you want to see what the 442v2 UI will look like, you can see screen shots at
http://open.neurostechnology.com/node/182 . We are just beginning the work specific to the Recorder 3 but this may be completed first due to its less complex software and hardware needs (no video screen, for example).
New Expected Availability Date for 442v2 and Recorder 3 and New Upgrade Program
We are now expecting to complete the 442v2 in Q2. Many of you purchased the 442v1 in September with the expectation the 442v2 would be available in Q1 of 2006, a month or two before your 6-months no-questions-asked return ended. We understand the importance of wanting to see the 442v2 before the expiration date of the Gamma program, and we also want to reward you for your patience. For this reason, we have made two important changes to the 442 Gamma Program.
First, we will extend the no-questions-asked return policy until after the first public release of the 442v2 to give you the chance to evaluate it before deciding what to do.
Second, anyone who opts for the upgrade will receive a brand new 442v2 instead of a re-conditioned 442v1 as originally offered or get the unit at a discounted price as previously announced.
Here are the details of the upgrade:
1. After announcement of the official date of the launch of the Neuros 442v2, current 442 owners will have 30 days to send their unit for an upgrade. A new 442, 40GBHDD with the new open source operating system, will be sent to you 4 to 5 weeks after the reception of the unit you currently own and the upgrade fee. Please note that owners of damaged units (obvious scratched on the screen or casing, missing parts etc…) will not be eligible for the upgrade or the full refund.
2. The full refund offer will end 1 month after the official 442v2 launch date. We will notify you at this time.
3. Owners who decide to keep the current unit instead of upgrading will be able to purchase a new unit at a deep discounted price as originally announced.
4. Major information on the 442v2 will be posted from time to time on the Neuros Forums as available. You can follow the activities more closely at
http://open.neurostechnology.com/ and
www.theneuros.com Thanks again for believing in us and for your great feedback. We will be incorporating many of your suggestions out-of-the-box in the 442v2 and many others over time in new firmware upgrades after the product is launched. Thanks also for your patience. We’re building something lasting and special here and our doing our best to make sure you are rewarded many times over for it.
Best Regards,
Neuros team
FJ
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