Strange, still no thread about ProntoEdit Pro 3.

[Link: cepro.com]

Lyndell and all other beta testers: You can start breathing again and give us all details :)

you know as much as we do ;)

Damn, did you actually take the time to read what the article says?

Here let me summarize it:

At CEDIA Expo 2010, the company will demonstrate its new TSW9500 in-wall touchscreen, ProntoTunes iTunes controller, the next version of Pronto Edit Professional (PEP3), and a Crestron emulator that shows how a Pronto remote can be used instead of a pricier Crestron touchscreen.

Maybe this is why there's nothing about it here, why we don't comment it.

Kudos to Lyndel and the other beta testers, you enforce a NDA the way it should be done.

That is because there is no BETA as of yet nor is this release public.

;-)

Thank you.

FYI, NDA is a very fine line to walk.

I sometimes know things that would be very beneficial and have to wait or convince Philips that information should be released as without documentation, things could be perceived as problems rather than working as designed.

For instance, the knowledge about hardware limitations in RFX9600 with a shared UART (search for UART) on ports 3 and 4. I found this out by contacting Belgium for another issue.

For this second issue, I discovered there was no way to keep from clearing the serial buffer during a send. If you want to send data to any port, you should really do a receive first then send, especially if there is the possibility of async data sitting in the buffer. However, there is still a race condition as data could be received after you've cleared the receive buffer but prior to send. In this case, said data would be lost. I'm hoping this behavior is corrected in the new controller.

However, for those who might be wondering, I have received no details about said controller or a beta version of said hardware.

;-)

I agree with you, the things you mention should be part of the documentation. I come mainly from electronics and the embedded world, and I don't like using hardware that is not fully documented, because then you search for your mistakes, when the problem lies elsewhere. So, I know Philips will read this thread:

Pronto team, please put the anomalies in the hardware in the Developer's guide, this way you can help us to further improve our installations!

@ BluPhenix

i Totally agree with you.. Let's open up!

There is a formal announcement in the What's New section of this site.

The statement that sticks out for me is;

"PEP3 will be available soon to authorized Pronto dealers through the professional section of the company’s website."
 
The implication being that PEP3 won't be available to us general public. Is that likely to be true?

John 

It appears that is the direction they're heading (but more like RTI than URC).

I hope that Philips does not lock things up similar to RTI. I have customers who do some of their own programming. I organize things and layer on the ProntoScript while they work through the boring details such as TV channel assignments, digging up icons, and adding, moving, or removing the button of the day.

While some would see this collaboration as giving something away, I see it as customer retention. There is no way these customers would go anywhere else. And, I inherit some good ideas and artwork.

Well as far as I know you can't just create Pronto professional site login credentials if you're an end user, but the distributor has to approve your account. I might be wrong, but this is the impression I got when I had to make one.

P.S.: A bit offtopic, as this was released with the connection to the CEDIA expo, any news on the new CFX controller?

Currently, consumers have access to PEP2. I don't mind providing a collection of time saving tools and scripts that are available only to the pros, but I would be disappointed if consumers are completely cut off.

Let's not forget that consumers too (sometimes mostly) built this awesome knowledge base that is the Pronto professional area of RC.

And when I was presented with the pronto product line, the distributor told me that there existed an internet community for pronto's and it was very strong. Because let's say it how it is, Philips per se provides far too little knowledge on it's product line, to make it a closed one.

I expect I'll get flamed here for not being an installer etc (I'm an enthusiast who loves my pronto - it's been a tool and a nice little hobby), but I've got a Pronto 9400 from an authorised seller. I don't hassle any real pros (or Philips - apart from maybe mini rants like this on here) or take customers from anyone and come to this site to play with stuff. The features at present let me do what I need to, but it would be nice to experiment with the new stuff.
I just hope I'll have access to future developments and not be locked out. I love having full control of exactly how the device works rather than have to deal with the Logitech wizard junk. I've been happy to support Philips so far.

Wonder if this means I'll have to cross my fingers for someone to make an open source/android solution (maybe even an iphone solution, though lack of hard buttons and ability to edit on computer kills most of these things).

I am not an installer, just a user. ;-)