Loewe AG : Loewe’s pioneering operating concept

Loewe's pioneering operating concept

Kronach. - With the Loewe Assist Media operating system in the Loewe Reference ID and Individual flat-screen TVs, both available since the start of the year, Loewe is offering a completely new and revolutionary philosophy when it comes to intuitively controlling devices. The central element here is a favourites menu which can be individually arranged and is astonishingly easy to manage, where TV programmes, photos, online content, music, video recordings and more all come together. This makes operating the new Loewe televisions a truly fascinating experience.

The revolution
Until now, the operation of modern smart TVs has always been strictly divided according to categories such as television, satellite radio, external AV sources, Internet applications and network or Mediaplayer functions for photos, music and/or video playback. The new Loewe Assist Media operating system puts an end to these previous conventions. When the home button on the remote control is pressed, a home screen encompassing all systems appears, and although at first glance this may look like the overview of Internet apps currently featured on smart TVs from many other manufacturers, it goes much further than this.

There is space for twelve self-explanatory icons on the screen, each one for a separate favourite application according to the user's own personal preference. These could be your favourite TV channels or your preferred DVB radio stations and websites. It is possible to assign a favourites icon to your favourite individual music tracks and photos stored on a USBstick or a network storage device. If necessary, even individual TV recordings on the Loewe television's integrated hard disk or a favourite Teletext page from a particular TV provider can be linked to an icon. The icon will appear as a customisable thumbnail of the recording, the corresponding Teletext page, the MP3 file album cover or the corresponding digital photo. To make your favourite channel more easily recognisable, the respective channel logo is automatically displayed as an icon.

Of course, normal smart TV apps or media libraries can be set as favourites. And finally, even Internet radio programmes can be set as favourites for the home screen - entirely according to personal taste. All of this means that accessing personal favourite content couldn't be easier: the viewer simply needs to decide which favourites he wants to access. Where the content comes from is taken care of by Loewe Assist Media in the background.

Minimalist design
The favourite icons, however, don't visibly stand out to the fore - instead, they are systematically embedded into Loewe's display, which looks as minimalist as ever. That's why under every favourites icon there is also a field between two discreet bars for the description of each item. At the front it contains a recognisable symbol showing the respective media type (music, video recording, TV programme, radio station, online content, etc.) and to the right of this a corresponding explanatory text (channel name, track title, name of recording, etc.). In the favourites view, you can conveniently browse through and select the desired content using the cursor buttons on the remote control, before accessing it by briefly pressing the central OK button. So that the home screen doesn't appear overloaded or confusing, the new Loewe Reference ID and Individual televisions deliberately only display three rows of four favourite icons. If more than twelve favourites have been stored on the television, the upper halves of the next four favourite icons are displayed along the bottom edge to indicate this. In this way, the user is prompted, almost intuitively, to scroll further down the home screen. The page indicators at the top right are also useful in this respect.

Typically Loewe: needless to say, individually programming favourites is child's play. Just select your favourite TV channels, a current favourite music track, your favourite online content and more from the conventional device menu using the remote control, and then simply press the new "favourites" button with the star symbol on the remote control and the content is displayed on the home screen straight away. The icon can now be moved to the desired position in the favourites view, and that's it! So even just programming the home screen is really enjoyable.

The real high point is that all menu surfaces have been designed to be semi-transparent. This ensures that the picture content remains visible, even when customising the home screen or changing settings in the menu, and, as a result, nothing is missed.

Animations such as photo collages and Cover Flow also offer an appealing presentation of images or music tracks stored on a USBstick.

Extensive functionality can still be mastered effortlessly
For those who would rather make their way through the wide range of content on the new Loewe smart TVs strictly according to the media type - that's no problem. On the left-hand side of the home screen there is a classic vertical menu where the user can choose between TV, video recordings, audio/radio, photos, web content, extras and system settings - all using the remote control. In its menu navigation, Loewe consistently relies on the principle of cross navigation using the four cursor direction buttons on the remote control. A moving spot on the home screen always shows exactly where you are. Only in this way can it remain possible for the user to master the process of navigating through the incredible variety of functions and information available on a modern smart TV set, thus making it a real pleasure to operate too. The large majority of the Loewe menu structure can therefore be reached easily using just six buttons on the remote control.

This is one of the key reasons why, in addition to the standard infra red Loewe Assist remote control, the new Assist Easy compact remote control was developed for the new Loewe Individual. With a size of 149x47x13 mm, this beautifully designed, optionally available remote control is significantly more compact than the standard remote control.

The standard lists of TV channels, radio stations, saved video recordings, files from USBsticks, etc. can be sorted either chronologically, alphabetically or sometimes according to other criteria. And if you don't want to have to choose from hundreds of satellite TV programmes on a daily basis, the programme lists can, of course, be structured to form additional, individual lists of programmes. Switching between the entire programme list and your own personal list of programmes is performed intuitively.

Systematic further development
During the design stage of the new user interface on the Loewe Reference ID and Individual, it was particularly important to the Kronach-based developers that the user could enjoy operating the televisions. This is why, in close collaboration with the Ilmenau University of Technology, the "Joy of use" concept was developed for the new generation of TV sets - and it's also why user tests were carried out to check the user-friendliness of the TVs, one step at a time. This also applies to the home screen as well as the use of the electronic programme guide (EPG), the operation of the integrated recording function and much more. It was important to Loewe that the new remote control interface was not inconsistent with the normal user interface, but that it would instead be regarded by Loewe customers as a truly meaningful evolution. Its appearance therefore also fits with the familiar menu structure of the Loewe Assist Media app and the Loewe SoundVision ID audio system.

As early as 2008, the world's first home-network TVs were launched on the market by Loewe. In 2009, Loewe televisions were Internet-enabled. Just one year later, the ease of operation and multimedia capability of Loewe televisions was comprehensively extended. These televisions became the first in the world to offer the possibility of streaming TV programmes stored on an integrated hard disk to another Loewe television via the home network. Room-shift and time-shift TV were suddenly made possible with Loewe. This was then followed in 2011 by an extension to include the multimedia Internet-based HbbTV service offered by television broadcasters.

The new generations of Loewe televisions
With the new Loewe Reference ID and the Loewe Individual TV, the Kronach-based developers have now taken a huge leap forward. Not only do the TV sets have more slim-line displays with extremely slim frames and remote controls, but they also have completely redeveloped on-board electronics.

By means of its two CI+ slots, the new chassis platform of the Loewe Reference ID and Individual TVs can even receive two encrypted programmes simultaneously - one can be played back immediately and the other can be stored on the integrated hard disk. Needless to say, both CI+ slots need to have the appropriate pay TV smartcards inserted. Both of these Loewe televisions also have an expanded hard disk on board - with a capacity of up to 1 terabyte. The existing USBinterfaces allow the simultaneous connection of USBmemory sticks for digital photos and MP3 music, a USBmulti-card reader (for SD cards and other storage media) and, in the future, a USBkeyboard.

With any such cabled or wireless PC keyboard, Internet addresses can be conveniently entered, programmes can be searched for in media libraries and hard disk TV recordings can be renamed. However, a separate keyboard is not always necessary in order to enter letters. Short names or sequences of letters can also be entered using the normal 10-key keypad on the Loewe Assist infra-red remote control - it's as easy as writing a text on a mobile phone.

Owners of iPads can also control the new Loewe Reference ID and Individual via WLAN and use the touch screen as a keyboard - simply download the Loewe Assist Media app from the AppStore. Loewe sees the iPad not only as a modern alternative to the remote control, but also as a flexible user interface with direct access to the electronic programme guide (EPG) and for searching for podcasts and Internet videos.

And of course, the new Loewe televisions also support all the functionalities of the DR+ streaming function. This means that the television programme you are watching can be "taken with you" to another Loewe television, for example. This can be done by simply pressing the pause button and one other button on the remote control. A few seconds later, the television switches to streaming mode and the display is switched off. If a Loewe television is then switched on in another room, you can resume the paused programme from exactly the same point - that's how impressive and simple television can be with Loewe.