Some of this information has been posted to AVS forum, but I had a nice briefing today from several members of the Kaleidescape executive team on the new products that will be introduced next week.
THE HEADLINE:
The consumer could also choose a "Movie-Only" system for the same price... and they'd get the same hardware, but it would only store movies, not music CDs. It's just a software license change. (of course, that entry-level system with only 250gb of space would not hold very many movies, but it's certainly possible to buy it that way.)
In either of the above cases, the user can add on the "other" media type for a 1-time fee of $2745. In fact, if you have an entry "Music-Only" system, upon insertion of a DVD, the system will prompt you to purchase a license to the Movie system. (same happens for the opposite scenario: insertion of a CD into a system for which you only have the Movie system license.) Theoretically, you could call your dealer, buy the other license by phone with a credit card, the dealer notifies Kaleidescape, and they send down the license info to your box remotely, enabling the use of the other "subsystem" for you.
So... base price of a good music-only system that could store about 400 cds is really $9995. Add in $2745 any time at or after purchase if you want to change your system to also handle some Movies... for movie software and license as well as movie data service..
Some more price details:
DEALER & CONSUMER TOOLS: Configurator and Estimator:
I'll post more details, pictures, and data sheets as I get them.
--Josh
First things first: We should all thank the Kaleidescape team... they really believe in this forum and want to support it with news and information, even ahead of public announcements. It's great that they want to support this effort but have never made an attempt to "control" or spin things here, even when negative things have been posted.
OK, here's what I know...
THE HEADLINE:
On Tuesday, Sept. 12 at CEDIA, Kaleidescape will introduce several new products, new configurations, new software, and new tools for dealers and end users. The new products and pricepoints will allow many more users to have the award-winning Kaleidescape Experience for watching, viewing, and managing their music or movie collections.
NEW PRODUCTS:
The company will introduce a new Kaleidescape Server that is a 1U (1 Rack Unit height) format. It can hold up to 4 "Low Profile" hard disks... currently there will ONLY be 250gb and 750gb drives for this unit.
They will also introduce "Movie Player 2" ("MP2" from here on) which is a combination Kaleidescape Reader and Movie Player, all in a single 1U device.
MP2 meets ROHAS standards ("Reduction of Hazardous Substances") and does contain a new chipset (and new industrial design), but it does NOT have ANY additional functionality over MP1. Same video processor/scaler, same DACs... they've said they expect zero performance improvement in any noticeable way.
MP2 can also operate as a standard DVD or CD player (depending on licenses... see below). Upon insertion of a disc, the system asks if you want to Play it or Import it. Choosing Play will let you play the movie/music without loading it onto your server, which is useful for "immediate gratification" when you get a new disc and want to watch it NOW, and also to allow you to use rented or borrowed discs on your Kaleidescape hardware without violating the terms of service. The system will default to "Import" so you can still multi-load one disc after another without even having your TV on, just as you can with the current Kaleidescape Reader. It may be possible to have the system import the movie/CD WHILE it's playing... but company execs couldn't yet confirm if this feature is enabled or not in the final software.
NEW SOFTWARE: They will also introduce "Movie Player 2" ("MP2" from here on) which is a combination Kaleidescape Reader and Movie Player, all in a single 1U device.
MP2 meets ROHAS standards ("Reduction of Hazardous Substances") and does contain a new chipset (and new industrial design), but it does NOT have ANY additional functionality over MP1. Same video processor/scaler, same DACs... they've said they expect zero performance improvement in any noticeable way.
MP2 can also operate as a standard DVD or CD player (depending on licenses... see below). Upon insertion of a disc, the system asks if you want to Play it or Import it. Choosing Play will let you play the movie/music without loading it onto your server, which is useful for "immediate gratification" when you get a new disc and want to watch it NOW, and also to allow you to use rented or borrowed discs on your Kaleidescape hardware without violating the terms of service. The system will default to "Import" so you can still multi-load one disc after another without even having your TV on, just as you can with the current Kaleidescape Reader. It may be possible to have the system import the movie/CD WHILE it's playing... but company execs couldn't yet confirm if this feature is enabled or not in the final software.
The company will also formally release KEAOS v3.2 that supports the new hardware devices as well as several new features for the music system. KEAOS (pronounced "chaos") stands for Kaleidescape Entertainment Applicance Operating System, and becomes the branded name for their proprietary operating system, file system and applications software packages. KEAOS v3.2 is described elsewhere in this forum.
THE GOAL:
The goal of the new components is to create a new entry-level price that will expand the market of potential Kaleidescape users. By going to smaller form-factors and lower prices, the entry point for a fully functional Kaleidescape music or movie system (more on that later) can now be $9,995.00. The new smaller form factors makes these systems easier to integrate into an average users' equipment cabinet/stack as well.
These are both admirable goals that will, in my opinion, expand the company's reach and bring the experience to many more people.
The new "Play" mode of MP2 means your equipment stack can now also exist without a traditional DVD player, saving even more room in your system as well as reducing complexity of remote controls and UIs and utilizing the excellent video processing of the Kaleidescape system for rented or borrowed DVDs.
The company has done a very good job of designing these products so that they're fully compatible with the existing system, and because of the limitations of the new server, I don't believe many current owners will feel they should have waited... and certainly there's zero obsolescence of the existing products. In fact, the company confirmed it not only will continue to supply the 5U server, but is continuing to enhance, update and expand it. (No, don't let that make you nervous either... most of the short-term updates will be in industrial design and "ROHAS" certification - 'Reduction of Hazardous Substances' needed to sell CE devices, especially in parts of Europe)
EXISTING PRODUCT INFO:These are both admirable goals that will, in my opinion, expand the company's reach and bring the experience to many more people.
The new "Play" mode of MP2 means your equipment stack can now also exist without a traditional DVD player, saving even more room in your system as well as reducing complexity of remote controls and UIs and utilizing the excellent video processing of the Kaleidescape system for rented or borrowed DVDs.
The company has done a very good job of designing these products so that they're fully compatible with the existing system, and because of the limitations of the new server, I don't believe many current owners will feel they should have waited... and certainly there's zero obsolescence of the existing products. In fact, the company confirmed it not only will continue to supply the 5U server, but is continuing to enhance, update and expand it. (No, don't let that make you nervous either... most of the short-term updates will be in industrial design and "ROHAS" certification - 'Reduction of Hazardous Substances' needed to sell CE devices, especially in parts of Europe)
Existing 5U server, Movie Player, Reader and Music Player continue unchanged. Each is a relevant and current product.
HARD DISKS & EXPANSION INFO:
Drives for the 1U server are completely different than for the existing 5U server. Part number will be kdisc250L and kdisc750L (the L is for Low Profile). The drives are SATA low-profile drives. The 5U server uses full-height PATA drives...
There will only be 250gb and 750gb options for the 1U servers right now. There will only be 500gb drives for the 5U server at this point. They will not be announcing 750gb drives yet for the 5U servers as they haven't sourced or qualified 750gb PATA drives yet.
BUNDLES & PRICING, NEW SOFTWARE LICENSES:There will only be 250gb and 750gb options for the 1U servers right now. There will only be 500gb drives for the 5U server at this point. They will not be announcing 750gb drives yet for the 5U servers as they haven't sourced or qualified 750gb PATA drives yet.
- ALL PRICES BELOW ARE LIKELY MSRP FOR U.S. & CANADA ONLY.
- PRICES MAY CHANGE AND WILL BE DIFFERENT IN OTHER MARKETS.
- PRICES MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM SOME DEALERS DUE TO COFIGURATION AND INSTALLATION WORK.
The consumer could also choose a "Movie-Only" system for the same price... and they'd get the same hardware, but it would only store movies, not music CDs. It's just a software license change. (of course, that entry-level system with only 250gb of space would not hold very many movies, but it's certainly possible to buy it that way.)
In either of the above cases, the user can add on the "other" media type for a 1-time fee of $2745. In fact, if you have an entry "Music-Only" system, upon insertion of a DVD, the system will prompt you to purchase a license to the Movie system. (same happens for the opposite scenario: insertion of a CD into a system for which you only have the Movie system license.) Theoretically, you could call your dealer, buy the other license by phone with a credit card, the dealer notifies Kaleidescape, and they send down the license info to your box remotely, enabling the use of the other "subsystem" for you.
So... base price of a good music-only system that could store about 400 cds is really $9995. Add in $2745 any time at or after purchase if you want to change your system to also handle some Movies... for movie software and license as well as movie data service..
Some more price details:
- Movie Player 2 will be $3995.
- Movie Player 1 will be $3495 (down from the current $3850).
- Music Player (the existing 4-zone music only player) will remain $2995.
- Add-on drives for 1U server: $495 for each 250gb add-on drive; $1245 for each 750gb add-on drive.
- Add-on drives for 5U servers remain $995 for 500gb.
- Product Lifetime data service for BOTH music and movies will be $2495
The company will have VERY flexible configuration options for the dealer, and new dealer software called a configurator that will quote a price for just about any type of upgrade or changes. For instance, if the consumer wants 3x750gb drives instead of the 2x250gb drives, the software immediately calculates for the dealer that that is an upcharge of $2745 at purchase time. It will let a dealer quickly see that changing from the 1U server to a 5U server is exactly $6500 upcharge. They describe it as similar to buying a PC at Dell... as you change options, the system shows you the new price in real time. They also plan to have a version of this configurator on their website, for consumers to use themselves... they call it an "Estimator" in this mode... a consumer can play around with options, upgrades, license changes and see what the MSRP will be for the system.
NO BLU-RAY & HD-DVD NEWS:
There is NO news about Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. The new MP2 does NOT contain anything new in its reading hardware nor in its playback side to handle these new formats... there is no MPEG4 decode in this new player. The company line remains the same... if and when they announce support for these new formats, you will need new readers and new players (possibly a new combo unit) that contains the necessary hardware components.
MISCELLANEOUS:
Some other interesting data... the new server fully loaded with 4x750gb drives can store about 4000 CDs or 335 DVDs... that's about the same as a fully loaded original Kscape 5U server (11x250gb)... but at a much lower price and much better space utilization. (2U total vs. 7U total before)
It sounds like the company has done an excellent job of introducing valuable new products to expand their market while integrating those products into the existing product line with little possible 'buyers remorse' for those that have the current system.
I'll post more details, pictures, and data sheets as I get them.
--Josh
Last edited: