Ideas for Squeezebox 4

[fm2n]

Ok, I was just thinking some crazy possibility for the new squeezebox:

Larger display.

Bluetooth:
Display receiving phone text message on SB4's display.
Or when a call comes in to the cell phone, it'll display caller ID on SB4.
Bluetooth headphones - useful for sleeping.
or for Palm Pilot control, etc.
Stream MP3s off your cell phone's storage.


Thats really all I can think of for now. I can't imagine the SB being any better than it already is.

perhaps SB should impliment a SB chat client built into squeezenetwork. Where SB users can add each other as buddies, and can forward messages back and forth from SB to SB, or the ability to recommend a station to someone - All through the remote! Would be nice to turn on my squeezebox and it prompting me: you have one message in your Inbox, and 3 recommended stations. Then all the recommended stations go into the "Recommended" section which includes the station and who you received the link from.


WOW, I should be paid for these ideas!

Andy

> Larger display.

Agreed. Both Taller and Wider, making it easier for my aging eyes to read it from 20 or 30 feet away.

> Or when a call comes in to the cell phone, it'll display caller ID on
> SB4.

I believe there is a way to do this now with an appropriate plug-in and software on the server.

My personal level of interest in at best ambivalent about the rest of the ideas. I can see how some people would like them, but they also seem to be outside the primary focus of the device. I'm not knocking them as ideas, but they would not be selling points to me.

I like the concept of wireless bluetooth headphones, but my experience with bluetooth wireless headsets on my phone is that they are spotty at best. Definitely not hi-fi IMO, and I'm not even a "real" audiophile.

I'd also like to see a return to something more along the lines of the SB2 form factor, but I know lots of people prefer the SB3 form factor, too. Again, just personal preference on my part.

I'd still like to see a decent SB/Boombox I can carry around the house and yard. :-)

The idea of a SB2 combined with that fancy display audio remote from logitech has some appeal, too. But the problem with that, IMO is that I prefer to have one universal remote. Maybe that could be combined with the Harmony remote series in some way.

> WOW, I should be paid for these ideas!

With a pony! :-)

[killie99]

how about having more onboard memory to minimise dropouts when using wireless - buffer the downloaded data into memory and voila .....
USB port to let you attach an external disk - then you can use slimserver running on a pc to point to the SB disk and you will definately have no wireless drop out.

[aubuti]

USB port to let you attach an external disk - then you can use slimserver running on a pc to point to the SB disk and you will definately have no wireless drop out.

Not really. If I understand slimserver correctly (which isn't guaranteed) even if the data are coming from the external USB disk, it has to go to slimserver to create the stream that feeds the SB. If it's a wireless SB, then you have a two-wireless-hop situation, which *increases* the likelihood of dropout.

Plus you'll have noisy hard disk in your listening room....

[Paul_B]

xPL and xPA plugins will allow caller-id from a landline to display on SB3

[ezkcdude]

How about adding a physical memory slot (SD would be nice, or USB port) for playing music directly off a thumb drive? This way, you could play music directly off the thumb drive without having to turn on the computer.

[aubuti]

How about adding a physical memory slot (SD would be nice, or USB port) for playing music directly off a thumb drive? This way, you could play music directly off the thumb drive without having to turn on the computer.

Were you planning to put the server software on the thumb drive, or in the SB (thus making it a fat device)? The SB only knows how to accept streams, and the average SD/USB memory doesn't know how to send them.

I think it's great to brainstorm ideas, but let's not lose sight of the basic functions that still need to be done.

[ezkcdude]

The thread is about what could be done, not how it would be done. I'm sure it would be relatively easy to figure out how to "stream" files from an external drive. How does SqueezeNetwork work? Not via SlimServer. Anyway, this would be a great feature, and worth quite a bit to me. I get tired of having my computer on all the time, but that's the only way to access my files right now. I don't think I'm alone. It comes up often in the forums that people would like to attach networked drives, too.

[mherger]

> How does SqueezeNetwork work? Not via SlimServer.

Oh yes, it is. Consider it a SlimServer cluster.

--

Michael

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http://www.herger.net/SlimCD - your SlimServer on a CD
http://www.herger.net/slim - AlbumReview, Biography, MusicInfoSCR

[aubuti]

The thread is about what could be done, not how it would be done.

Okay, now we're talking. Then I want a *real* wireless model, with no cord for the power and no cables to my amp. ;o)

EDIT: and a pony!!

I get tired of having my computer on all the time, but that's the only way to access my files right now. I don't think I'm alone. It comes up often in the forums that people would like to attach networked drives, too.

Right, so that's what people (myself included) do: attach network drives. NASs have the processor and memory to create the stream that feeds SB. "Dumb" USB external drives and thumb drives are a completely different story.