DR1000 Public BETA of the DR1000S 2.0 software available

[Gwaihir]

They're slowly coming back to life, so perhaps you can get in touch with them soon.

You could also send a note to the trustee to let him know that particular DR1000 is yours and not part of the bankrupt firm's inventory.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by spaetz

Well, what can I say. I sent in my DRS1000 end of June and haven't heard back since then from irex. So much for that.

They were in bankruptcy during most of that time, and had ceased operations. It sounds like they're getting back in business soon, so hopefully you will hear something from them about your device.

[spaetz]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

They were in bankruptcy during most of that time, and had ceased operations. It sounds like they're getting back in business soon, so hopefully you will hear something from them about your device.

Yes they got back to me indeed and I'd like to post snippets of the reply here because it might be interesting to others as well.

This are 2 interesting bits:

No materials are left over and production of new material is not possible. Consequently servicing broken iLiad products is impossible. The same holds for DR1000 products however IRX Innovations will judge DR1000 repair requests case by case if and how we can assist.

So if your DR1000 dies there is hope. However they only seem to do software updates. They decided my internal flash memory is broken and they have NO hardware parts left, so they cannot repair mine. Also they cannot send it back and I'd have to arrange for pickup in the Netherlands if I want it back.

The second interesting bit:

Please note that IRX Innovations BV does not take the legal and
financial liability of products produced, distributed or sold by IREX Technologies BV.

So if you need warranty you are out of luck, legally speaking.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by spaetz

The second interesting bit:

Please note that IRX Innovations BV does not take the legal and
financial liability of products produced, distributed or sold by IREX Technologies BV.

So if you need warranty you are out of luck, legally speaking.

This is pretty standard for the Bankruptcy they went through. Legally, it's a completely different company now. Certainly sucks for the customers though. I'll have to be REALLY careful with my iLiad from now on.

It lines up with some of the other information we have been seeing lately. This seems to confirm that the DR800 is the only one that the new company is going to really support.

[yacoob]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

It lines up with some of the other information we have been seeing lately. This seems to confirm that the DR800 is the only one that the new company is going to really support.

"Support"? No. No warranties. Yes, they'll probably still service the devices, for a fee.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by yacoob

"Support"? No. No warranties. Yes, they'll probably still service the devices, for a fee.

Have they said no warranties for the DR800? They said it for the iLiad and DR1000 but I haven't seen anything about the DR800.

[zerospinboson]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Have they said no warranties for the DR800? They said it for the iLiad and DR1000 but I haven't seen anything about the DR800.

"Please note that IRX Innovations BV does not take the legal and financial liability of [any] products produced, distributed or sold by IREX Technologies BV."
Seems pretty inclusive.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by zerospinboson

"Please note that IRX Innovations BV does not take the legal and financial liability of [any] products produced, distributed or sold by IREX Technologies BV."
Seems pretty inclusive.

But then they also specifically mention the iLiad and DR1000, and omit the DR800. There were also articles saying that the new company was going to "support" the DR800, whatever that means.

I agree it's a long shot, and assume the answer is "no warranties", but it would be nice to know one way or the other. The next question would be what about repairs on a cost basis? Again, they specifically mentioned the status of that for the iLiad and DR1000, but did not specify the DR800.

I was just curious if yacoob had seen such information, or was making an assumption.

[Gwaihir]

I think it means that a full repair service remains available for the DR800, where repairs for the DR1000S are only as far as there are parts left now. Same will likely go for firmware upgrades, although I can't help but continue to hope DR1000 will be more or less supported there, as it seems that most of the effort that will allow it to enjoy DR800 benefit has now been made.

[Logseman]

mistake.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

But then they also specifically mention the iLiad and DR1000, and omit the DR800. There were also articles saying that the new company was going to "support" the DR800, whatever that means.

I agree it's a long shot, and assume the answer is "no warranties", but it would be nice to know one way or the other. The next question would be what about repairs on a cost basis? Again, they specifically mentioned the status of that for the iLiad and DR1000, but did not specify the DR800.

I was just curious if yacoob had seen such information, or was making an assumption.

My employer did have similar cases with suppliers under chapter 11 and their legal successors.
As a layman concerning legal issues, based on the cases I saw, I'd say:
If they really support iRex 800, they have to do so for the other products as well. They can't just choose some products to support and others to forget about. If they support a single product, they are legal successor for the whole entity.
And even if they don't support iRex 800, I don't think it's that easy for them to declare no liability for the former products.
If it's the same people, basically the same area of expertise and most likely even lots of former R&D results, again they are legal successor.
May be different for the Netherlands (although I'd be surprised, should be the same within the EU), but in Germany I've seen this quite a few times with some of our suppliers.
In Germany, "Betriebsuebergang § 613a BGB" may be appiclable.
This basically (in my layman's understanding) says: Same people, same area of products, maybe even same residence = legal successor.
This very often happens in outsourcing projects, for example: Company A replacing their internal resources by outsourcer B. The former employees of A can insist on being hired by B (even if this means higher costs or firing people from B's original pool) because it's the same job.

BTW: As long as iRex did exist, I've made a spectacular experience with their support. They did replace the display of my iLiad AFTER warranty had expired - for free!

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

If they really support iRex 800, they have to do so for the other products as well. They can't just choose some products to support and others to forget about. If they support a single product, they are legal successor for the whole entity.

My guess is that the new company is going to use the DR800 as their hardware platform. That would mean they'll be stocking parts and manufacturing new devices. They probably will not officially honor warranties from iRex for legal reasons, but I would speculate that repairs will be available. Technically they would not be legal successors, but they would still be capable of performing DR800 repairs.

Don't know what that means about firmware though, IE if they'll continue developing the current firmware or use something different and/or move it in a different direction. It wouldn't make sense to start from scratch unless their goals have changed enough that modifying the existing firmware would be too much effort. Remember that the new company is not going after the consumer market. That may drastically change the type/features of firmware that they want the device to have.

All of this is just speculation though. My main point a couple posts up was whether or not anyone has seen "real" information about any of this yet, or if the best we can do so far is take guesses.

[Gwaihir]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Same people, same area of products, maybe even same residence = legal successor.
This very often happens in outsourcing projects, for example: Company A replacing their internal resources by outsourcer B. The former employees of A can insist on being hired by B (even if this means higher costs or firing people from B's original pool) because it's the same job.

I think that's a rather different area of law. That is meant to protect employees and customers from a company trying to wiggle out of legal obligations by moving work and / or responsibilities to another company. Chapter 11 may be a bit of a grey area here, but when a company really goes bankrupt, as iRex has, this sort of thing does not apply anymore. A newly started company can just go to the bankruptcy's receiver and negotiate for exactly those assets they like (and no more, no other ties).

[KingDani]

can anybody verify that beta repo has been updated? i now see a couple txt files , instructions and help, to date sep 2010 . but the firmware dates are june. so is it still RC3 the latest version?
cheers

[Mackx]

Originally Posted by KingDani

can anybody verify that beta repo has been updated? i now see a couple txt files , instructions and help, to date sep 2010 . but the firmware dates are june. so is it still RC3 the latest version?
cheers

iRex closed their websites in September, so they put some extra info in the remaining download-site and renamed the images to RC1/2/3 so that it is more clear from the name which is the newest.
So the RC3 is indeed the latest beta which was released in June.