ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
I'll preempt Henrik's BOTF video, which drops tomorrow, and the official B&O announcement...
From the looks of it, Halo is getting new HomeKit-like functionality with interfacing to climate, lighting, motorized window treatments and more.
I'm excited to see what's in store because I have felt that, so far, Halo is just a very expensive volume up/down device. This looks promising!
I hope they put in basic Timer and Alarm functionality too...
Currently: BeoLab 17, BeoLab 18, BeoSound Core, Beosound Level, Beosound A1 2nd Gen, BeoPlay S8 Connection Hub, Halo, Essence Remote
Previously: BeoSound 1 non-GVA
What I understood is that the update requires the BLI. In that case alarm and timers functionality should be available (through macro’s).
Can you please define "BLI"?
Curly: Can you please define "BLI"?
In my understanding - actually we should talk about updates for the BLI (BeoLiving Intelligence, the B&O device for Home Automation), which will have an effect on how the Halo can be used….which also becomes some updates.
Means updates for the Halo, that basicly are interesting for the BLI users.
We will soon know more.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
I wonder how many B&O or non-B&O customers have home automation and to what extent? My impression is that people that are into tech a bit more than the average have also more gadgets to automate their homes. Immediately there I am lost because I am sure you can have a ton of options and the whole thing seems too overwhelming to even start with. In my home, even if I’m in IT, I am not particularly interested in having home-tech for that reason, at least for now. It’s the sort of thing that I might consider later but my iPhone is more than enough and need no Apple Watch in addition.
Furthermore, market opportunities are bigger in certain countries, but it is either a rapidly growing business that B&O wants to ride «early» on or are they sort of interested but not quite as committed as they should/could be? The fact of the matter is that I have to admit that I know too little about home automation in general, how BLI comes into the picture, what the potential is and how many more Halos this could sell for B&O. Would this even attract people to other B&O product categories? I have too many questions :).
With that said though, I still find it cool that they want to make use of Halo in this way. It makes a lot of sense due to the user interface, for a certain target audience, just like the Beogram 400x upgrade program.
Would anyone be so kind as to enlightening me?
I hope that rather than "BLI" it will at least be "BLGW/BLI." The two are very similar. I've preferred to keep the BLGW since the BLI dropped ML.
This is great news! I was holding my horses for buying a Halo due to limited functionality. Now I believe that it will be number one in my shopping list!
My Halos this morning show a message that their software was updated. However, I can see no differences either on the Halo menu or in the setup on the B&O app.
I guess there are many custom installation done with B&O devices by several dealers. I can only assume that those customers have some home automation as well. Going to the more average consumer, more and more are having Hue light bulbs which can be turned down when starting a movie for example. Those are simple automations which users can enjoy from their Halo. Look at what a Logitech Harmony remote can do, I guess B&O wants to offer those options as well.
- Beovision Eclipse 55 Mk2 - Beolab 19 - Beosound Shape - Oppo UDP-203
beojeff: My Halos this morning show a message that their software was updated. However, I can see no differences either on the Halo menu or in the setup on the B&O app.
Same here.
Still same sw version 1.3.570
BeoVision Haermony 65"...BeoLab 28 Anthracite....BeoLab 17 as REAR....BV10-32....BC6-26....Beosound 9000....Beosound 1 New York edt....Beogram 4002....Beoplay Emerge....Beoplay M5....Beoplay M3....Beoremote Halo....BeoRemote One BT....Beo6....Beo4....Beo4 Cinema....BeoLink 7000....Serene....H95 Black LTD....H9i Rimowa....6 x H6....Form 1....U70...
mr_anders_son: beojeff: My Halos this morning show a message that their software was updated. However, I can see no differences either on the Halo menu or in the setup on the B&O app. Same here. Still same sw version 1.3.570
Perhaps the Halo's software was updated in advance of an upcoming update to the B&O app. It would make sense that the app would be used to connect the Halo to the BLGW/BLI. Maybe it will use the same Home Control organization that we already see in BeoLiving App. E.g., Scenes, Shades, Lights, Thermostat, and Security.
So when exactly is this meeting?
--
BeoLab 18's. Beolab 3's. A8. A9. A2. H7.
Tonight at 20:00 CET (Danish only I guess) at Bang & Olufsen Teknisk Forum - YouTube
@Csaba
’…. but it is either a rapidly growing business that B&O wants to ride «early» on or are they sort of interested but not quite as committed as they should/could be?’
Actualy B&O has a long tradition for home automation…..in fact they are one of the pioneers.
I hope someone will be watching the video who can translate into English the highlights in the running comments.
At the very LEAST this update has to add connectivity to HomeKit features like controlling my lights, heater etc. you know all the basic stuff a $30 google home can do.
I'm watching it right now. The show is primarily focused on setting up the BLI for this moment (full tutorial).
I missed the first part, but so far I primarily learned that the Halo sends state updates to the BLI (battery state, charge/discharge state, motion sensor state) that can be used to trigger lights/music/macro's. So that's a very sweet thing to start with.
I guess I should post all of this not in this Halo-topic but on the Home Integration board :)
What I've understood from the video is that only the BLI and not the BLGW will be supported for Halo Home Automation. Rather than using the current Home Control organization like we see on our BeoVisions/BeoSystems, the control will be achieved by adding a Halo Remote driver to the BLI. One then uses the BLI setup to create virtual buttons from the BLI that will appear on the Halo. The buttons can be assigned to various lights, scenes, thermostats, etc. The buttons can be assigned to trigger macros -- which makes pretty much ANYTHING on the BLI possible to control. What I find amazing is how the Halo wheel can be used to control the level of lights and there is two-way feedback of the light level on the Halo!
Since the Halo could trigger macros on the BLI, this would make it possible to start playing the CD source of a BeoSound 9000 (connected via an NL/ML Converter) and then JOIN that source from any NL device via the Halo-- thereby getting around the lack of NL/ML Converter support on the Halo.
I wish they'd just support Apple Homekit.
I was expecting some Beosound Stage news, as I had a big update for mine earlier!
Bw789: I wish they'd just support Apple Homekit.
I had trouble following this part of the video, but it looks like it supports Apple Homekit indirectly through Google Home? I hope some Danish speaker can confirm or correct me on this.
I can’t say for sure - but it might be that Henrik is present at the coming (on sunday) Beotalk/YT.
If yes, he probably will have a lot to explain about what was in the video……….and that is in english.
If BeoTalk could be kept to an hour or so, I'd definitely watch it, but at 3 hours it's a hard pass. I just don't have the much time to sit and watch a podcast.
I went back and took a closer look at the BLI driver list in the video. I see a driver for "Home Assistant." I believe that Home Assistant includes Alexa, Google, Apple Home Kit, and Ikea.
There's also a new driver for B&O ControlLink. I think that is for the new Mozart products.
I tend to agree with you - but when Henrik is on board, it mostly is worth it…..imo.
That ‘new driver’ (for Mozart based products) is not active - and overall, what you can see in the video is a beta version.
However, Christian said that the update should be released at the time, when the video is online.
I guess we will know more (directly from B&O/Khimo) in the next days.
So I'm wondering if ControlLink is what B&O is calling the successor to NL.
MasterControlLink > MasterLink > NetworkLInk > ControlLInk
beojeff: So I'm wondering if ControlLink is what B&O is calling the successor to NL. MasterControlLink > MasterLink > NetworkLInk > ControlLInk
That sounds plausible
So from what I am understanding..... If you want your $1000 Halo to do more than hold 4 present stations and control volume you have to spend another $1000 for the hub and then you can get the same options as a $30 google home. Correct?
Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker: So from what I am understanding..... If you want your $1000 Halo to do more than hold 4 present stations and control volume you have to spend another $1000 for the hub and then you can get the same options as a $30 google home. Correct?
I don't think that's quite a fair assessment. The BLI (as well as the BLGW) lets you build macros from the very simple to the very elaborate. The Halo is an intuitive and smple physical interface. You can roll the Halo wheel to control the brightness of the lights. You can also use the motion sensor of the Halo as a trigger to, for example, turn on the lights when you enter the room.
It's a shame they couldn't just make any modern mozart speaker capable of doing what BLI does, and having multiple speakers could allow for a highly available configuration where any speaker participating could be the active node while the rest remain passive ready to take over at any given moment.
beojeff: Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker: So from what I am understanding..... If you want your $1000 Halo to do more than hold 4 present stations and control volume you have to spend another $1000 for the hub and then you can get the same options as a $30 google home. Correct? You can also use the motion sensor of the Halo as a trigger to, for example, turn on the lights when you enter the room.
You can also use the motion sensor of the Halo as a trigger to, for example, turn on the lights when you enter the room.
Thats great an all but no joke you can do the same thing with other common devices for about $100 that work better. I mean you suggest I walk into a large room and have to pass the halo within a foot of the Halo before the lights turn on the room? No thanks.
I have no problem with the design of the Halo (other than the motion sensor looking like a button and the horrible battery life). The problem is the software. It just doesn't do what an ancient iPod touch could accomplish. Its just a really sad waste.
This thing needs a Mic and to work with google/Alexia/homekit and you can do all sorts or interesting macro's that are far more powerful than whats being suggested here,
Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker: beojeff: Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker: So from what I am understanding..... If you want your $1000 Halo to do more than hold 4 present stations and control volume you have to spend another $1000 for the hub and then you can get the same options as a $30 google home. Correct? You can also use the motion sensor of the Halo as a trigger to, for example, turn on the lights when you enter the room. Thats great an all but no joke you can do the same thing with other common devices for about $100 that work better. I mean you suggest I walk into a large room and have to pass the halo within a foot of the Halo before the lights turn on the room? No thanks. I have no problem with the design of the Halo (other than the motion sensor looking like a button and the horrible battery life). The problem is the software. It just doesn't do what an ancient iPod touch could accomplish. Its just a really sad waste. This thing needs a Mic and to work with google/Alexia/homekit and you can do all sorts or interesting macro's that are far more powerful than whats being suggested here,
I want to respect your opinion, but it's pretty clear that you don't have a BLGW/BLI and have no idea whatsoever of how powerful the macros we can build with it are. We have total control of the triggers (button press, button release, state change, etc.) and the actions triggered from many different systems, including multiple resources and delays. We can even trigger a specific playlist on Deezer. I've seen the "macros" that can be put together by HomeKit and there is absolutely no comparison. HomeKit is for kindergarteners.
I think the correct way to put it is that the Halo is for "kindergartens" and if you want it to do anything remotely useful you have to spend $1000 for he remote and $1000 on a BLGW/BLI to make it useful.
Using shortcuts, Philips hue routines, google/homekit/Alexia you can do some really advanced things as well. And for next to no money.
I believe you that you can do "powerful" things. Im just saying $2000 minimum as the point of entry is a joke.
Just received an email from Khimon that the BLI does not support Apple Homekit :-(
Khimo today posted details about the Halo features here:
https://khimo.github.io/help_drivers/Halo/
We can have up to 3 pages of buttons with up to 8 buttons per page.There can be a variety of functions assigned to the wheel. The wheel can be used to dim lights or even to change the color of lights. It can also be used to adjust the thermostat or adjust shades. This looks very customizable.
beojeff:If BeoTalk could be kept to an hour or so, I'd definitely watch it, but at 3 hours it's a hard pass. I just don't have the much time to sit and watch a podcast.
New: Beovision Harmony, Beolab 50's, Beolab 28's, Beolab 18's, Beolab 17's, Beosound Stage & LG, Beosound 2, Beoplay M3, Beoplay A1, Beoplay Portal, Beoplay H4 gen 2, Beoplay E8 3.0
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Old: Beosound 9000 mk3, Beolab 3's, Beovision Eclipse, Beolab 1's, Beolab 2, Beovision 10-46, Overture 2300, beolab 8000's, Beolab 4000's, Beovision avant 32" etc. etc.
Mikipidia: beojeff: If BeoTalk could be kept to an hour or so, I'd definitely watch it, but at 3 hours it's a hard pass. I just don't have the much time to sit and watch a podcast. I don’t even remember the last time we did one that long, just FYI. We stop around the 2 hour mark mostly(give or take 10 mins) I can chop it up more and post snippets on tuesday/wednesday if you like? I can also look into uploading it to apple/deezer/spotify podcasts if there is any interest in that over YT? So you can listen to it on the go or elsewhere
beojeff: If BeoTalk could be kept to an hour or so, I'd definitely watch it, but at 3 hours it's a hard pass. I just don't have the much time to sit and watch a podcast.
I don’t even remember the last time we did one that long, just FYI. We stop around the 2 hour mark mostly(give or take 10 mins) I can chop it up more and post snippets on tuesday/wednesday if you like? I can also look into uploading it to apple/deezer/spotify podcasts if there is any interest in that over YT? So you can listen to it on the go or elsewhere
That sounds like a great idea. Even an index of topics discussed at given time markers would be very useful.
@Miki
Is it possible for you to sequenze the upload…..I don’t know the right term form this?
But I often see YT videos where you can jump to specific chapters….which can be very handy.
I am not that much into the technical possibilities of this, but it might be usefull for people, who don’t have the time or want to spend the 2 hours +-
Just a suggestion.