Agree, no one can guarantee anything and it’s not just Naim of course.
Hi all,
As a manufacturer we have to comply with legal obligations of warranties, and regulations in the regions we sell in. Naim of course takes this very seriously and we’re one of the few manufacturers who provide software and hardware support well out of these warranties. Hey, you can even have a direct chat to us on this forum 
This latest update on older products forced us to bring back development on products that we sold 13yrs ago, on a tech platform that is over 17yrs old. That is a VERY long time in the world of tech.
To give some indications of the uphill battle we had on this:
- ARM compiler licenses were invalid as the compilers suppliers online license server was shutdown.
- The Bridgeco core team was disbanded by Microchip years ago and the streaming board is no longer made or supported by the German company who made it. All suppliers have moved on from the solution. We had to go to one of the original software devs to get the Bridgeco core work done.
- The build server had stopped working as Microsoft & various others had deprecated various tools. We had to rebuild the server which took weeks.
- Dropbox that was part of the build service had stopped working as no longer supported the build server OS version.
- The PC upgrader app was too old. We had to port it from .net2 to .net8
- The mac upgrader app was too old. Had to be adjusted and rebuilt on newer tools.
- Signing certificates had all expired. All needed new ones created.
- We had to selectively put special compatibility modes into the backend radio server for these older products. We’re still finding some issues on that but we’ve filled in most now.
- All the debug tools have to be brought back to life. Again, compatibility issues with modern OS’s as security demands have changed over the years.
Regarding trying to make a list of things that may stop working in the future - that’s very hard to do as sometimes its more subtle than a service ending. Example:
- Back in 2021 we had to update the Bridgeco to support a new OAuth2 login interface for Tidal. This then exposed that we needed a TLS1.3 encryption stack and overall had to rip out the whole https/TLS engine and replace it. Tidal are still in business, just that a technical change on their backend put a modern security requirement into the mix on a legacy embedded computing device.
Overall, we have a pretty good track record on keeping high tech products running, but there are limits on what can be achieved, as the consumer tech world doesn’t work over the many years that Naim equipment can last.
With regards
Steve
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As my legacy NDX and UQ2 are not ovens or dishwashers, I accept that they are subject to the same ongoing challenges that I myself face in supporting products that cost several $million which still have aspects that are beyond our control even with our own operating system and a few hundred full time engineers. So Naim are doing okay with far fewer resources at their disposal and even more third party reliance.
The depth of vertical integration required to control the supportability of all third party hardware and software components is frankly something that probably less than five companies on the planet can truly achieve and none of them choose to and none of them make hifi.
When buying hifi, I really don’t believe anyone should assume it has an indefinite life span simply based on cost. To do so is to have both lack of understanding of what is even possible in a product lifecycle, supply chain, and fiscally naive. Anything can be bricked and I buy on the understanding that it will probably last most of my lifetime but that it isn’t guaranteed and I may need to afford a reasonable replacement of certain items sooner than others. This is true for any hardware purchase from hifi to cars to houses to pneumatic pencils. I always ask myself, “would replacing this in 10 years ruin me?” If the answer is “yes” then best to look at the model down.
Currently, my NDX and UQ2 have had a service hiccup, but now support the same features as when purchased (actually more features; there was no Tidal integration back then). So while I accept a day may come that renders a core service on them unusable, the reality as it stands today is that no functionality has been taken away at all. They are outlasting a few other very costly items at home that were simply bricked (or as good as) by lack of maintaining support.
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Well, quite. On several points. Suggesting the vtuner issue is down to naim seems akin to blaming Roberts Radios if HMG shut down the FM network, rendering everyone’s transistor radio a ‘brick’.
This is and will be an ongoing tech turnover issue which is never going to go away.
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I find it unpleasant that there is even a thread with the title “Naim’s Planned Obsolescence”.
Planned Obsolesence is increasingly becoming a core business model in many firms (especially those that are being milked for short term profit by private equity).
In this landscape Naim is a shining example of great service.
The Naim approach to service where they strive to keep items going that are in some cases decades old is extraordinary and inspiring and a core part of what is great about Naim over the past 50 years - second only to Naim’s wonderful and unique approach to sound reproduction.
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To be fair to the OP, he is talking about the QB MK1. (Maybe people don’t realise this).
It was released 2 years before the new streaming platform was released.
Naim MUST have known there was no spare capacity in the QB and would pretty soon become obsolete.
Probably not correct to describe that as built in obsolescence. But it doesn’t look good.
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Was it not a Uniti? The QB1 is fine.
FC, there’s no problem with the Mu-So Qb - mine is updated and running the new Naim Internet radio service just fine.
As for the OP, they were posting about their Mu-So, and they had obviously missed the pinned topic explaining what had happened and that it would have an update to run the Naim in-house IR service. Again, my own Mu-So is updated and running the new Naim IR just fine.
Of course, the somewhat “click bait” title ensured that the conversation ran anyway. Thanks to @Stevesky for the explanation of just how much work went into ensuring that legacy products were, as much as was possible, kept with a functioning (and perhaps even improved) Internet Radio service.
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It was a Muso, and the software update was already given a target date (edited from available as I had misremembered the date of the first post) . Which even on 1st gen is an over the air update triggered from the app.
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My comment didn’t specifically relate to the radio.
The lack of memory has been the official reason the QB has not been able cope with other things. Most notably Qobuz.
There is no search function on new radio service due to lack of memory. 
So, not ideal.
Just to repeat my point. Naim must have been aware that when it was released in 2016 there was zero spare capacity.
Poor engineering.
I don’t think saying the Mu-so was poorly engineered is entirely fair. It was pretty remarkable at the time for its capabilities and the landscape back then was very different too with more emphasis on local streaming and just Spotify as dominant streaming service. The tech moved quickly too, and Naim reacted by developing the Mu-So 2 with an improved steaming engine that could take more services and with some room to spare for the new IR too. Yes, the new IR had had to be somewhat pared back in the old kit, but it’s still working thanks to Naim’s efforts and sounding great too.
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The problem for the op is that the poor qb 1 works fine again and has done for a few weeks almost. Basically such a thread is misrepresenting the fantastic work naim has done on the internet radio functionality. Google will not care and it may even project the totally wrong picture of what has happened and how it was solved.
Claus
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There are a lot of assumptions on your part.
First the time for development fwas mots likely not 2016 but earlier. With any hardware the first generation will have some nasty problems that is first really udnerstood in the wilde. This goes for any hardware I know of.
The qb first generation ended up having terrible wireless performance not good for a supercharged ktichen radio. All other features that made me buy the qb in the first place still works. And even airplay2 and that cannot be said for many other brands models available at the same time the qb was introduced.
If I were to chry about features it would rather be chromecast than qobus. Do I really neeed 24 bit streaming on a kitchen streamer? Qobuz multiroom will most likely solve that problem.
Claus
That’s indeed true for Naim but also for most other manufacturers. Some do use two aggregators which gives a degree of resilience.
Though a long time coming, I do like Naim’s solution, though. Are they the only company offering an in-house solution?
Roger
Yes and I do use that solution for listening to BBC radio. But …
To use it, you first have know the url of the stream. These are not that easy to find, particularly as the Beeb does not officially sanction their use. A poster on the Auralic forum does post these sometimes, but you have to know about that and visit the forum and find the right thread. Then you have to copy and paste the details for each station into the app. And you have to do it on every pad/phone you use for control as it seems to be held in the app not the streamer. But the urls change, so after a while you go to listen and instead find the url has stopped working and you have to go through the whole process again.
As of now, with all of my other streamers I can simply select Radio 3 and listen. Just a couple of taps. But am I really being unreasonable in asking that of a recent multi-thousand pound streamer?
Roger
Well, I actually posted in reply to a couple of posts suggesting that people complaining where not in touch with reality or the facts and objecting to people complaining.
So, I merely pointed out the facts and reality. 
With regards to the radio.
People are saying what a fantastic job Naim have done, managing to get it working on the QB with limited spare memory, so, it is accepted that the QB has limited memory.
All I’m saying is, releasing a product without any spare capacity in the memory is very poor. It’s very hard to imagine Naim didn’t know that was the case.
In 2010 I bought a streamer (Logitech SBT). It will stream any music streaming service, (Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer, Spotify) up to 192/24 without a problem.
And Logitech aren’t even a hifi manufacturer, they manufacture PC peripherals. 
Ah Logitech. The company who bought up Harmony remotes only to shut it down. Was that planned obsolescence?
Roger
No.
I know manufacturers like Roberts are not in the same market as Naim, but I think we should spare a thought for their users (and probably several other manufacturers). I used to have a Roberts iStream radio that used the Reciva IR which Qualcomm turned off in 2021 leaving my radio bricked. It took Roberts some time to create new IR products and they chose Frontier Nuvola. Well guess what - On 1st November 2024 Frontier Nuvola closed down. Users were given 1 month to convert to Airable that is if they knew about the switch off. In some ways the situation was worse because Airable and Frontier Nuvola used the same URLs but now only the Airable ones are updated so as radio URLs change there is/was a slow creeping death for Frontier Nuvola users who did not know to convert in November 2024.
I do not believe that Roberts owners are either more or less tech savvy than Naim users and for many of them £200 for an Internet radio represents a significant investment but some will have been left high and dry twice. Was this the fault of Roberts or the other manufacturers who chose these services?
I am just really happy that my Muso QB1 has been returned to original functionality. I knew what I was getting when I bought it and it still does the job I bought it for. I do not think I can reasonably expect more.
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The SBT still works since it’s dependent on another local device to provide the server features. Logitech shut down their online server support last year.