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Neeo C4 Remote announcement


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  • 2 weeks later...

ok, so I’ve been pretty silly up until now and realized that I can sort out some of what I perceived as shortcomings of the Neeo myself.

My biggest issue was that I would have liked hard buttons for transport controls and the button.  Using Blackwire’s cool emoji driver, I have added these to the home screen (see below).  I have the transport buttons working.  I have not got blue working but hope my dealer can (as there is not a room specific blue command... as I type this, I realize that I should check the individual video source drivers as the command is probably there!). Blue button is now working.

For others looking to add a guide button (or such like) it can be done in the same way. I am disappointed that it took me a couple of weeks to figure this out!

@seth_j - the emoji driver documentation shows a blue circle as an option but this is the only item (as far as I can see) that appears in the documentation but not in the driver itself.  I had to settle for a blue diamond... any chance of getting the blue circle into the symbols driver (as per the PDF documentation). Not to worry, I found the large Blue Circle which does the same thing! But a green circle would be nice 😀

@RyanE - a couple of small Neeo improvements that would be great:

1. The ability to make the device logo smaller and have 3 rows of custom buttons (not 2) when watching.

2. The ability to move the OSD option to a different position (not first) on the screen.  I removed it as I did no want it in first position.

3. The option to return to the home screen when a video device is chosen so that one can use ones own controls (like those below) on the home screen in place of the native controls.  Essentially all that is needed is the ability to programmatically press the home button on the remote.  A work around that I am using is too change rooms to another room and then change rooms back again a second later... This is a very messy way of achieving the required result but it works...

 

 

33E3CE99-AFDE-4D0F-B76B-AB8292617495.jpeg

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On 12/25/2019 at 1:12 AM, South Africa C4 user said:

ok, so I’ve been pretty silly up until now and realized that I can sort out some of what I perceived as shortcomings of the Neeo myself.

My biggest issue was that I would have liked hard buttons for transport controls and the button.  Using Blackwire’s cool emoji driver, I have added these to the home screen (see below).  I have the transport buttons working.  I have not got blue working but hope my dealer can (as there is not a room specific blue command... as I type this, I realize that I should check the individual video source drivers as the command is probably there!). Blue button is now working.

For others looking to add a guide button (or such like) it can be done in the same way. I am disappointed that it took me a couple of weeks to figure this out!

@seth_j - the emoji driver documentation shows a blue circle as an option but this is the only item (as far as I can see) that appears in the documentation but not in the driver itself.  I had to settle for a blue diamond... any chance of getting the blue circle into the symbols driver (as per the PDF documentation). Not to worry, I found the large Blue Circle which does the same thing! But a green circle would be nice 😀

@RyanE - a couple of small Neeo improvements that would be great:

1. The ability to make the device logo smaller and have 3 rows of custom buttons (not 2) when watching.

2. The ability to move the OSD option to a different position (not first) on the screen.  I removed it as I did no want it in first position.

3. The option to return to the home screen when a video device is chosen so that one can use ones own controls (like those below) on the home screen in place of the native controls.  Essentially all that is needed is the ability to programmatically press the home button on the remote.  A work around that I am using is too change rooms to another room and then change rooms back again a second later... This is a very messy way of achieving the required result but it works...

 

 

33E3CE99-AFDE-4D0F-B76B-AB8292617495.jpeg

There definitely seem to be some workarounds, but after owning for a month or more now, I find I don't use it at all - literally just sits on a shelf.  In my opinion it's clunky operationally and only half-baked in concept.  I've said before I think the price is spot-on...for a remote that works, but after 5 weeks of use I wouldn't spend $1 on it.  A shame that C4 couldn't have taken the year since they acquired Neeo to actually customize and polish the product before pumping it out to market.  sure it can be hacked and DIY'ed with icons that sort of maybe get the job done, but I'm just looking for something that works and makes life easier - this remote is not that.  at least not yet.  Great potential, but a flop in its current form.  One gets reminded of it's inferiority with a quick look at the remotes from the competition that have been in the market now for several years (yes, I know they cost more, but I'd rather spend $900 on something I'll use vs $600 on a paper weight).  

Just my .02 after 5 weeks of Neeo use.  

 

 

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23 hours ago, Nupe1911 said:

Control4 NEEDS to put out a video on what and how you can customize the Remote!!! For the price point they owe us that!!!

You need a video to say this?

  • You can favorite things on T3 and Mobile devices, favorites show up on the remote. Experience Button favorites can be used as well.
  • Properties of the driver include:
    • Lock to Room: Removes the ability to change rooms via the '4' menu.
    • Confirm Room Off: Removes the popup on pressing the power button.
    • Show On Screen as Favorite: Adds/removes the on-screen shortcut (shows up as first favorite).
    • Disable Wi-Fi Sleep: Turns on/off higher-powered WiFi mode, which can improve wifi performance, but decreases battery life.
    • Hard Button Now Playing Control: Allows to use the OK/Channel+/Channel- buttons to play/pause/stop and prev/next on digital (streaming) audio).
  • Remote Focused Buttons: 5 text-based buttons to fire macros/programming.

That's it.  There's no other customization.

RyanE

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On 12/25/2019 at 12:12 AM, South Africa C4 user said:

ok, so I’ve been pretty silly up until now and realized that I can sort out some of what I perceived as shortcomings of the Neeo myself.

My biggest issue was that I would have liked hard buttons for transport controls and the button.  Using Blackwire’s cool emoji driver, I have added these to the home screen (see below).  I have the transport buttons working.  I have not got blue working but hope my dealer can (as there is not a room specific blue command... as I type this, I realize that I should check the individual video source drivers as the command is probably there!). Blue button is now working.

For others looking to add a guide button (or such like) it can be done in the same way. I am disappointed that it took me a couple of weeks to figure this out!

@seth_j - the emoji driver documentation shows a blue circle as an option but this is the only item (as far as I can see) that appears in the documentation but not in the driver itself.  I had to settle for a blue diamond... any chance of getting the blue circle into the symbols driver (as per the PDF documentation). Not to worry, I found the large Blue Circle which does the same thing! But a green circle would be nice 😀

@RyanE - a couple of small Neeo improvements that would be great:

1. The ability to make the device logo smaller and have 3 rows of custom buttons (not 2) when watching.

2. The ability to move the OSD option to a different position (not first) on the screen.  I removed it as I did no want it in first position.

3. The option to return to the home screen when a video device is chosen so that one can use ones own controls (like those below) on the home screen in place of the native controls.  Essentially all that is needed is the ability to programmatically press the home button on the remote.  A work around that I am using is too change rooms to another room and then change rooms back again a second later... This is a very messy way of achieving the required result but it works...

 

 

33E3CE99-AFDE-4D0F-B76B-AB8292617495.jpeg

I agree that it would nice if you could have 3 rows (or more) of icons on the "home screen" of the remote, particularly when a media scene is not active. At the least, they could add the custom backgrounds for the room that the navigators and apps now have as it's just a lot of empty screen space when nothing is active. It would certainly be nice to have as many of your favorites on that screen as possible when you pick up the remote to save from scrolling pages. 

I would also agree that after a few weeks of using mine that it would be nice to have transport buttons where the blank bottom front of the remote is. I've generally been a fan of the remote and think it looks and feels great, but there are a lot of times where it would nice to just reach down and hit a pause/play button without having to pickup the remote and click the screen icon (or scroll back to it if you've navigated away from the media control "page'). 

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Haha. As I've been saying since before this remote was released, this was a lazy, half-baked design by C4. And is a bad attempt by C4 to quickly address a clear shortcoming compared to its competitors. The hacky solutions that people are forced to use to make this remote just barely useable are hilarious and plain confirmation that C4 missed the mark here.  

It genuinely warms my heart to know that the vast number of reviews of the Neeo are negative because it means most people are rational, and don't believe the hype. That gives me faith.  And I truly believe that the very small minority of people that have given this remote positive reviews are just lying to themselves and trying to justify wasting $600. This remote sucks, and everyone knows it---most of all C4. Hopefully, that will mean that the product managers and developers at C4 responsible for Neeo will be disappointed by how shitty everyone thinks their product is, and perhaps be motivated to actually try next time to release a good product. And I have no doubt that the Neeo 2 will be great, and will come sooner rather than later given how crappy this product is. 

And please don't forget THAT THE BATTERY IS NOT REPLACEABLE. You pay $600, and need to throw it in the garbage can when the battery gets weak. And interestingly, of the very small number of trivial design tweaks C4 made to this remote from the original Neeo, one of them was modifying the case to disallow battery replacements.  Let that sink in. C4 basically made no modifications to the original Neeo, except for specifically disallowing battery replacement. Talk about a cash grab...

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2 minutes ago, ntlord said:

And please don't forget THAT THE BATTERY IS NOT REPLACEABLE. You pay $600, and need to throw it in the garbage can when the battery gets weak. And interestingly, of the very small number of trivial design tweaks C4 made to this remote from the original Neeo, one of them was modifying the case to disallow battery replacements.  Let that sink in. C4 basically made no modifications to the original Neeo, except for specifically disallowing battery replacement. Talk about a cash grab...

I really would like to know why C4 made the battery not replaceable.. of all the hardware changes that this remote could have potentially used..

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11 minutes ago, Cartnj said:

I have rechargeable remotes for over 3 years with the same battery. When the neeo is 3 years old, you should be throwing it away and upgrading to the latest greatest. Who wants old technology in their smart home. 

I'm fairly confident that the average replacement period for smart home tech and remote controls is a hell of a lot longer than 3 years. When was the last time you upgraded your light switches? How long have you had your SR260s for? Perhaps if we are talking iPhones you are correct. But we aren't. We are talking about a half-baked $600 remote that C4 purposely modified to remove the ability to replace the battery. 

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2 hours ago, Cartnj said:

I have rechargeable remotes for over 3 years with the same battery. When the neeo is 3 years old, you should be throwing it away and upgrading to the latest greatest. Who wants old technology in their smart home. 

Yeah I tend to disagree.  A remote should last more than 3 years.  I still have SR250s kicking because the SR260 was just a slight upgrade and it was fine not to move up.  If one of my SR250’s go today I buy a SR260 without hesitation not a NEEO.  

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3 minutes ago, eggzlot said:

Yeah I tend to disagree.  A remote should last more than 3 years.  I still have SR250s kicking because the SR260 was just a slight upgrade and it was fine not to move up.  If one of my SR250’s go today I buy a SR260 without hesitation not a NEEO.  

Control4 needs to address al of these concerns, battery life, programming, etc!!!  We invest a bunch of money into this remote!!!

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2 hours ago, dinom said:

Maybe it’s not “user” replaceable but instead can be sent back to C4 for replacement?  Just a guess. 

Nope, not as far as any docs tell me. If under warranty it'll just get replaced. Can't speak for after that of course, we're a ways away from that yet.

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The investment firms that own SnapAV couldn’t care less about how our small group of C4 enthusiasts hate their new product. They are only looking to maximize their investment for a future sale.

I have a feeling we will be seeing more product decisions like this come out in the future.

I also can’t imagine how difficult it must be to produce and manufacture any type of electronics and also build an innovative one. Seems like the google and apples and amazon types are bound to win. Not sure if that is good or not.
Jeff

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Control 4 over time will release more features on the remote.  Everyone is getting worked up on battery replacement, features, etc..  The remote was just released and software development takes time.  It's a high quality remote and a great framework for future features to be released.  

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1 hour ago, macmann said:

Control 4 over time will release more features on the remote.  Everyone is getting worked up on battery replacement, features, etc..  The remote was just released and software development takes time.  It's a high quality remote and a great framework for future features to be released.  

Most of the gripes are physical - battery and lack of buttons.  Those cannot be fixed with software releases.  

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While I certainly agree with most of the mentioned drawbacks / limitations of the Control4 Neeo remote hardware, I'm still of the opinion that it was far better for Control4 to release the remote, even knowing the limitations, than to wait a much longer time to develop new hardware before releasing.  If for nothing else, to be a great proving ground for the touchscreen / software of any remotes in the future.

I guarantee that if a fully new hardware platform would have needed to be developed before release (and during the company transitions), customers would be waiting another year for the first peep of anything.  It was hard enough to integrate 2 companies and develop and test the software / firmware for the existing hardware in the current timeframe.

If the hardware of this remote is not to your liking, feel free to skip this version.  Vote with your feet.  There are *many* customers for which this remote will fill their needs nicely, who are productively using the remote daily (including my family), and the software features will continue to grow.

This is not going to be the last touchscreen remote control hardware that SnapAV/Control4 produces.

RyanE

 

P.S.  Someone inferred upthread that feedback from this group and other homeowners is not something that SnapAV cares about.  This is not the case.  The feedback here on the remote's current limitations is certainly taken into account along with feedback from dealers, who have most of the same concerns.

P.S.  #2: These are my own personal opinions, I'm not officially speaking for SnapAV/Control4, although I believe what I've said is accurate and fairly well agreed to within the company.

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18 minutes ago, RyanE said:

While I certainly agree with most of the mentioned drawbacks / limitations of the Control4 Neeo remote hardware, I'm still of the opinion that it was far better for Control4 to release the remote, even knowing the limitations, than to wait a much longer time to develop new hardware before releasing.  If for nothing else, to be a great proving ground for the touchscreen / software of any remotes in the future.

I guarantee that if a fully new hardware platform would have needed to be developed before release (and during the company transitions), customers would be waiting another year for the first peep of anything.  It was hard enough to integrate 2 companies and develop and test the software / firmware for the existing hardware in the current timeframe.

If the hardware of this remote is not to your liking, feel free to skip this version.  Vote with your feet.  There are *many* customers for which this remote will fill their needs nicely, who are productively using the remote daily (including my family), and the software features will continue to grow.

This is not going to be the last touchscreen remote control hardware that SnapAV/Control4 produces.

RyanE

 

P.S.  Someone inferred upthread that feedback from this group and other homeowners is not something that SnapAV cares about.  This is not the case.  The feedback here on the remote's current limitations is certainly taken into account along with feedback from dealers, who have most of the same concerns.

P.S.  #2: These are my own personal opinions, I'm not officially speaking for SnapAV/Control4, although I believe what I've said is accurate and fairly well agreed to within the company.

I appreciate your comments, however I am disturbed by your comment “this is not going to be the last touchscreen remote control hardware that SnapAV/Control4 produces”. For $600 dollars it BETTER be for a while and I hope these new updates or what is to come in the future enhances this $600 dollar remote and it is not shelved in less than a year 

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22 minutes ago, Cartnj said:

$600 is not a lot  of money for a touch screen remote. I recall some of the Phillips pronto touch screen remotes which we all loved where more then that. Control4 is not for the Low budget users. 
  

Welp, that sums it up.  I guess I was asking for too much out of a $600 dollar remote.  I guess my expectation can be warranted once it is over 1k or more.   I will go back to Harmony Remote with the common folk.

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