Kaleidescape has put a new version of KEAOS, version 3.3 out for beta testing. If past beta cycles are any indication this would indicate that it could be available to all users in 3-4 weeks.
While it's not a major exciting release, it has a number of nice improvements and bug fixes.
Here are the major changes in v3.3:Those are the major features and changes. There is something else about new control protocols for retrieving and setting the active music zone from a stand-alone touch panel, but it escapes me.
Impressive improvements, especially the classical music features and the new artist portraits. Nothing eath-shattering, but nice enhancements.
--josh
While it's not a major exciting release, it has a number of nice improvements and bug fixes.
Here are the major changes in v3.3:
- MUSIC SYSTEM: Artist Portraits
Much like they've done for album reviews, genre descriptions and artist biographies, Kaleidescape has gone out and sourced a huge collection of photographs and portraits of artists. When browsing a list of artists, you now see a (typically) nice artistic image of the artist rather than an album cover.
It's very well done - the images are very high quality, artistic shots, usually black & white. VERY atractive and enhances the high-end feel of the UI.
Stay on the artist for very long, and it will start fading into your album covers, as it did in previous versions.
I was VERY surprised by the success rate of it having an image for my 400+ cd's including some rather obscure artists. The few misses just default back to the old method - an album cover. But you'll be very surprised at how many Kscape must have in their database. Very cool.
It's very well done - the images are very high quality, artistic shots, usually black & white. VERY atractive and enhances the high-end feel of the UI.
Stay on the artist for very long, and it will start fading into your album covers, as it did in previous versions.
I was VERY surprised by the success rate of it having an image for my 400+ cd's including some rather obscure artists. The few misses just default back to the old method - an album cover. But you'll be very surprised at how many Kscape must have in their database. Very cool.
- MUSIC SYSTEM: Classical Music UI
This was a big surprise. It's not an official v3.3 feature, it's accessible by a backdoor code that is entered on the remote (like the hidden album mix edit mode that they had in v3.2). This is the way Kaleidescape lets advanced users test out a new feature before they release it for all users in a final form.
Enter "18121812" on any screen (get it? someone in engineering had a sense of humor. is that you Lawrence?
), and you'll activate the as-yet hidden "Classical Music" UI enhancements. You'll have two new tabs on your Collections screen - "Classical composers" and "Classical Works". This lets the system better adapt to the way that classical music is organized. The previous system treated a classical CD just like any other... the Composer was shown as the "Artist" and the tracks weren't organized into works. The new UI treats classical CD's differently, and lets you look for different "Performances" of a particular composer, rather than "albums by Beethoven" as the old system would do. Bring up the Composer details for Beethoven and you have a biography, as always, but now have new menu items for "Perfromances -->" and "Works -->". You can now find specific performances of Beethoven symphonies across your classical music collection, something not possible before. Works and Performances differ only slightly - Performances specify the performing orchestra as well, letting you pick the Dallas Symphony recording of Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa rather than the Chicago Symphony version.
Clicking through to a performance shows you much greater metadata - the conductor, ensemble, part, and composer, and a description of the work itself and its history. You could then pick a particular movement from a new Movement submenu.
clicking on a Work lets you read about the work, select among your various performances of it by different ensembes or orchestras.
It's incredibly elegant and detailed. I'm blown away by the huge amount of metadata Kaleidescape has assembled - you can read reviews and descriptions of composers, orchestras, ensembes, the performance themselves in some cases, biographies of the composer, or the conductor... you'll see the names of the solists in a given performanceyou can now play all performances and works by the Berlin National Catherdral Choir if you so choose. Incredible.
Since many Kaleidescape owners probably listen to classical music at a disproportionately higher rate than an average consumer, it's nice to see Kaleidescape enhance the experience and adjust the User Interface for the specific intracacies of classical recordings.
It seems somewhat odd that there are special tabs in the collections screen for Classical Works and Clomposers... it seems to break the UI constructs since no other type of music has specific tabs at this level, but I suppose it was a compromise due to the unique nature of classical recordings and the fact that people browse and select classical music in a different way.
Enter "18121812" on any screen (get it? someone in engineering had a sense of humor. is that you Lawrence?
), and you'll activate the as-yet hidden "Classical Music" UI enhancements. You'll have two new tabs on your Collections screen - "Classical composers" and "Classical Works". This lets the system better adapt to the way that classical music is organized. The previous system treated a classical CD just like any other... the Composer was shown as the "Artist" and the tracks weren't organized into works. The new UI treats classical CD's differently, and lets you look for different "Performances" of a particular composer, rather than "albums by Beethoven" as the old system would do. Bring up the Composer details for Beethoven and you have a biography, as always, but now have new menu items for "Perfromances -->" and "Works -->". You can now find specific performances of Beethoven symphonies across your classical music collection, something not possible before. Works and Performances differ only slightly - Performances specify the performing orchestra as well, letting you pick the Dallas Symphony recording of Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa rather than the Chicago Symphony version.Clicking through to a performance shows you much greater metadata - the conductor, ensemble, part, and composer, and a description of the work itself and its history. You could then pick a particular movement from a new Movement submenu.
clicking on a Work lets you read about the work, select among your various performances of it by different ensembes or orchestras.
It's incredibly elegant and detailed. I'm blown away by the huge amount of metadata Kaleidescape has assembled - you can read reviews and descriptions of composers, orchestras, ensembes, the performance themselves in some cases, biographies of the composer, or the conductor... you'll see the names of the solists in a given performanceyou can now play all performances and works by the Berlin National Catherdral Choir if you so choose. Incredible.
Since many Kaleidescape owners probably listen to classical music at a disproportionately higher rate than an average consumer, it's nice to see Kaleidescape enhance the experience and adjust the User Interface for the specific intracacies of classical recordings.
It seems somewhat odd that there are special tabs in the collections screen for Classical Works and Clomposers... it seems to break the UI constructs since no other type of music has specific tabs at this level, but I suppose it was a compromise due to the unique nature of classical recordings and the fact that people browse and select classical music in a different way.
- MUSIC SYSTEM: Search Filtering in Music Views
OK, I must be one of the few that didn't ever know there already was an ability to filter you movie list as you type a few characters of the title. (If your control panel has keyboard buttons). Amazing... type "S T A R" and the on-screen UI filters right down to Star Wars and Star Trek movies as you type the letters. Since I never had a crestron-type panel, I never knew this could be done.
In System v3.3 the Java control panel you can get to from your web utility now has a QWERTY keyboard that pops up when you press the "Search" button to let you filter your movies. (and it of course lets you use your computer keyboard as well) System v3.3 also adds this same functionality to your music list... type "GRAT" and you're filtered right down to your Grateful Dead albums. New tempates for Crestron and AMX will be available to use this feature. It's very cool to type out letters on your laptop on the Java panel and watch your TV immediately start filtering the list down with each tap on your laptop keyboard.
In System v3.3 the Java control panel you can get to from your web utility now has a QWERTY keyboard that pops up when you press the "Search" button to let you filter your movies. (and it of course lets you use your computer keyboard as well) System v3.3 also adds this same functionality to your music list... type "GRAT" and you're filtered right down to your Grateful Dead albums. New tempates for Crestron and AMX will be available to use this feature. It's very cool to type out letters on your laptop on the Java panel and watch your TV immediately start filtering the list down with each tap on your laptop keyboard.
- MUSIC SYSTEM: Mix Album Editing via OSD
Previously available only via the secret backdoor code in system v3.2, the on-screen display editing of music mix albums is now officially released and available without a code.
- MUSIC SYSTEM: Replace album cover art without losing data
Yay - this was very much needed... you previously couldn't change or fix a missing album cover art without destroying the data and the link to the music service from Kaleidescape. Now you can.
This is great, but it only goes half way to solving this major headache. You still can't change a single piece of metadata (like you can with movies). You can now ONLY change the album art, nothing else, without breaking the link to the DB.
This is great, but it only goes half way to solving this major headache. You still can't change a single piece of metadata (like you can with movies). You can now ONLY change the album art, nothing else, without breaking the link to the DB.
- COMPONENT PREFERENCES: Component Black-Level adjustment
You can now set 0 IRE or 7.5 IRE for each of your Movie Player devices via the Installer web utility.
- UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGY: Storage System Reliability Improvements
Kaleidescape is claiming some improvements to the reliability of the storage system, including a new lock-out from adding any new media when your system is operating with a single failed drive. Probably smart. Shouldn't be adding stuff the storage system until you get your replacement disk and you have your system operating with its failsafe backups again. Remember, a double-disk failure is catastrophic... so the system now tries its best to prevent you from messing too much with storage during this critical time.
Impressive improvements, especially the classical music features and the new artist portraits. Nothing eath-shattering, but nice enhancements.
--josh
