I really hope Logitech is paying attention, because when Harmony finally dies, I'm not sure how I'm going to replace it.
Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers
131–140 of 416 posts
Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
This def needs to be celebrated and rewarded. I am more likely to purchase Bose now.
Exactly this. "Bose blows" is a popular comment amongst the audiophile community but, to me, it seems like they don't blow at all[0]. In fact quite the opposite: this is a fantastic example for other companies to follow. Top marks, Bose! [0] What is actually true is that they are opinionated about sound reproduction in ways that a bunch of people don't agree with but which in the right context are often effective and…
> "Bose blows" is a popular comment amongst the audiophile community but, to me, it seems like they don't blow at all[0]
That comment is not wrong, you are imo just not making an important distinction that the criteria on which audiophiles judge Bose as “blowing” (which is almost purely the sound profile + a few other smaller things like physical comfort/connectivity/price/etc.) vs. what you judge it on (which is more in the long-term technical user/community product support, idk how to describe that area much better) are almost entirely disjoint.
It is perfectly fine and valid for an audio product to “blow” from an opinionated audiophile perspective, while being exceptionally great from the long-term product/user/community product support perspective.
I heavily agree with you btw, Bose should be heavily lauded for making a decision to open-up their speaker firmware after it reaches the official end of support deadline. The fact that this is an exceptional practice is imo, a little bit sad, because I believe that it should be way more common.
Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers
#133Providing API specs is not open-sourcing them. Where's the source code?
Source code to what? This is making them controllable. The headline may be inaccurate, but I'm not clear on what source code you'd even want. To the firmware do you mean? A documented API seems like the most useful option here.
There are several things they could open source: the firmware, the server, the app.
I assumed they meant the firmware, and was quite surprised they would do that...
Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers
#134Really glad to hear this, I've been so close to throwing out my SoundTouch 20, which makes me sad because it looks great and sounds better than my Google Nest speaker (placement issue? hard to say).
Has anyone found or started related github repos?
Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers
#135On the one hand it’s great Bose is doing this — on the other it sucks that this is so remarkable. Having stuff you bought that does not actually need the cloud continue to work should be the default.
Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
Yes. Like with Tuya devices (tasmota) or the WRT-54G two decades ago. Only takes one person to create the new firmware. Everyone else can follow whatever steps are needed to use it.
Who is everyone? Are you talking about people with familiarity with tech and hacking? Most people don't know how to write a URL in the browser.
Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
My experience is the opposite: Bose hardware and sound quality seems excellent to me. This may be subjective. Bose might sound good to some people's ears and less good to other people's ears.
I don't know about Bose. But sound quality in general is absolutely objectively measurable.
you can absolutely quantify certain metrics, and you can even generalize what "good" is by surveying listener preference but that isn't the same thing as any one individual's subjective preference.
Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers
#138This is not open sourcing any actual software or hardware it is “open-sourcing the API documentation for its SoundTouch smart speakers”. You might be able to point them at an alternative back-end¹ if you want the cloud features, but that will need to be written from scratch rather than being forked from code provided by Sonos. > When cloud support ends, an update to the SoundTouch app will add local controls to retai…
IBM's opening of desktop PC standards also contributed a lot to computing. Sometimes, an open API is all you need.
It was reverse engineered, not opened by IBM
Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers
#139Re: Bose has released API docs and opened the API for its EoL SoundTouch speakers
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
This def needs to be celebrated and rewarded. I am more likely to purchase Bose now.
Exactly this. "Bose blows" is a popular comment amongst the audiophile community but, to me, it seems like they don't blow at all[0]. In fact quite the opposite: this is a fantastic example for other companies to follow. Top marks, Bose! [0] What is actually true is that they are opinionated about sound reproduction in ways that a bunch of people don't agree with but which in the right context are often effective and…
> "Bose blows" is a popular comment amongst the audiophile community
I have a 15 years old Bose system. Is it audio-transparent ? Absolutely not, its frequency response is well documented. But the sound is very pleasing, it's reliable and nearly invisble in my living room.
I'm not an audiophile though, just a music lover.