A couple of customers asked me what to do when the Chromebox, which we use for Chromebox digital signage, “goes to sleep” or actually enters some sleep mode (or like hibernate mode in Windows OS) after I turn off or disconnect the attached screen for some time. Well, first thing to know is that it won’t enter the sleep mode immediately. It will take some time. How long? That depends in the certain Chromebox which you have (and there are several types of Chromeboxes in the market).

 

 
The first thing you can do is to put your Chromebox in Kiosk mode. You can do it when your Chromebox is a non managed device and of course when your Chromebox was enrolled into Google’s Chrome Device Management (which gives you a lot of other remote management options, but costs you an annual license).

Usually, when it comes to Chrome OS digital signage, you will prefer the Kiosk mode as the signage player should run 24/7.

However, what if you do not put it in Kiosk mode? For that, there are 2 recommended apps which can be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store. The first one is called “Caffeine”. It’s plugin or actually an extension for the Chrome browser: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/caffeine/miadkhnklmfgdcoibbjfmdnljfkbhlng?hl=en
The second one is called Keep Awake. It is also a plugin: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/keep-awake/bijihlabcfdnabacffofojgmehjdielb?hl=en
If you have some time, you can also read this article.

May the digital signage force be with you.
Nir.

The post Your Chromebox enters sleep mode when the screen is off. What then? appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

We have added a new counter (countdown) widget to the online Studio which allows you to count down or count up from now till a certain date you pick. It has a variety of formats and can show you days, hours, minutes and seconds. We also upgraded the native Android player app & Air (Windows) player app to support the new widget.
Our new beta version of native Windows player app (v4.2.0-2 beta) already supports the new widget.

Studio v3.13.0-2

Countdown widget

This new feature allows you to count days, hours and more toward a defined date.
You can choose to count up (how many days, hours, etc. from now) or to count down (how many days, hours, etc. left till that date).
Like every other text based widget, you can set the style of the widget. In this particular widget, you can define the delimiters (separators between the time segments), the labels of the days, hours, minutes and seconds and the format which it will look like. For example, you can have a plain number that will count only the days till your company’s birthday.

Native Android player v4.2.0-3

Supports the new feature of the countdown widget. Can be downloaded or upgraded from the Google Play market (just search “novisign” and click the app with the black background).

Air (Windows) player v4.1.0-0

Supports the new feature of the countdown widget. The Air file can be downloaded from our download website: http://app.novisign.com/downloads/

Native Windows player v4.2.0-2 (beta version)

Supports the new feature of the countdown widget. Can be downloaded and installed using this Windows signage app installation manual.

The post Counter widget (Studio v3.13.0-2) appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

Digital signage is becoming wide area. From education to transportation, from healthcare to retail, from entertainment to internal corporate communication and there are more and more domains added. As the digital signage becoming more and more accessible to ‘Non IT’ staff and can be easily controlled by, well… practically anyone, from kids at school age to elderly part time employees at the local community center, together with the fact that the digital signage software and hardware are becoming affordable to organization at almost any size – we can spot areas that even we and NoviSign, as Windows, Chromebox and Android digital signage software providers are surprised.

NoviSign’s system was recently installed at a tourist information center in Beijing, China. This is the first installation as a pilot at one office and the plan is to implement NoviSign Digital signage platform across the several dozens of tourist information offices in Beijing and later on to expand nationwide in China.

The screens in the tourist information office at Beijing are presenting information together with dynamic, always updated messages about the hottest tourist locations, special deals and offers and interactive capabilities to get a coupon straight to the visitor’s smartphone. Other screens simply present infotainment. There is also an implementation of simple kiosk capabilities, to get more information, or take immediate action (buy tickets, make reservations, etc.), using the screens spread around in the information center.

The information center management is using the digital signage as platform to communicate with the visitors, providing clear and relevant information, together with the ability to provide on-demand, dynamic offerings from tourist vendors of all kinds, making the digital signage a live scenery for tourists, looking for travel, shows and concerts, entertainment and other fun activities. The ability to interact with the screen, using smartphone is a clear enhancement of the experience and together (in the future) with the connection to the Chinese social networks, the full cycle of engagement will be implemented.

Digital signage for tourist information at Beijing – who would have thought!? The customer, obviously!

Neta.

The post Digital signage for tourist information centers appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

Digital Signage is bringing a direct and clear value to a business at almost any size. We believe this is clear to everyone these days. The ‘New Generation’ of digital signage that combines interactive capabilities and social networks is becoming a critical tool for customer/visitor engagement for businesses at every domain and non-profit organization such as educational institutions and public places.

While every digital signage implementation is different and every customer has his own special needs, we can probably define some essential criteria for comparison:

• Pricing and payments: price per player, price per feature, payment flexibly (annual, monthly, local hosting), payment method (bank transfer, Paypal, etc.)
• Simplicity of implementation and operation: required specialists, online training, simplicity of the player, simplicity of CMS
• Supporting H/W and operating systems: Android, Windows, Linux, Chrome OS, iOS, Special H/W demands
• Support and services: Ability to influence the roadmap, development agility, support (online, phone, person on-site), professional services
• Features: basic (text, images, videos, screen allocation, preview, rolling text), widgets (clock, countdown, weather, etc.), live feeds (RSS, YouTube, etc.), social (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Yammer, etc.), interactive (gaming, polls, coupons)

It is clear that the weight of each of element mentioned above differs between projects and customers and the ideal combination will always be challenging. Having said that, we, at NoviSign, strive to bring the best money value for our customers.

We took 10 companies that have online digital signage which can run on Chrome OS (the hottest thing in the digital signage these days). We checked their website for pricing and features on the 28th of January 2016. Below is what we have discovered.

Companies’ sites which were visited: Nutrislice, Enplug, Signage Live, WonderSign, HyperSign, Arreya, Stratos Media, Ayuda, 11 Giraffes, Skykit and Industry Weapon (the order of the companies listed here is not correlating to the table above).
There are lots of vendors that provide truly effective solutions for digital signage implementation, ranging from free, to hundreds of dollars per device per month.

The variety of features is quite impressive, though not many allow their customers to influence the future road map or offering professional services, including custom development.

Simplicity is a key factor, mainly for SMBs, while rich content and widgets are more important for larger customers. Social and interactive capabilities are rare in the market and considered to be highly innovative – showing great results for customer engagement.

We sincerely hope that the table will be helpful for whoever is set on staring digital signage project.
Good luck, we are here to support you!

To learn more about our pricing, visit our pricing page.
To start a free evaluation, sign up now. No credit card is required.

NoviSign Team.

The post Digital signage software pricing comparison for 2016 appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

This article will explain you how to upgrade an app (also called “extension”) which was installed from the Chrome Web Store on your Chromebit or Chromebox, as the Chrome Web Store is a little bit different than the Google Play Store (market) and than Apple’s AppStore.

Before I start, you must be aware that a Chromebox or a Chromebit may be provisioned. “Provisioned” means that the Chromebox has passed the Chromebox enterprise enrollment which puts it under remote control of the Device Management Console of Google, which allows you to remotely control many aspects of it. One common usage is the Chromebox and Chromebit kiosk mode which allows the device to run a single app for 24/7 as it should, like in Chromebit digital signage app.

In case the Chromebox is provisioned and in Kiosk mode, then once the app was upgraded in the Chrome Web Store by its creator, it will take a couple of hours till the app will be auto updated in each of your enrolled Chromebit and Chromebox units (as long as they are online). This is the default behavior (unless you changed it in the Kiosk settings in the Device Management Console).

It is more challenging, when the device is not enrolled.
In order to upgrade the app, you will need to open the Chrome browser on that Chromebox. So, in case of Chromebox or Chromebit which is in a non-managed Kiosk mode, you’ll have to press the Ctrl + Alt + S while the device boots, in order to temporary exit the Kiosk mode and reach the login page.

After logging into the Chromebit, you need to take the following steps:
1. Open the Chrome browser.
2. In the URL field, type: chrome://extensions
3. Make sure that the “Developer mode” checkbox (in the top right corner of the browser) is checked. If not, check it.
4. A button called “Update Extensions Now” should be around. Click it.
5. The app will be updated and might look as disabled during the update.
6. Scroll down to find the app which you have just upgraded. Make sure it is enabled (the “Enabled” checkbox is checked). If it is not enabled, check it. A popup window might appear, asking you to confirm the app’s permissions. In that case, just click the “Re-enable” button.
7. Log out and then reboot the device.

May the signage be with you!
Nir.

The post How to update Chrome Web Store apps on your Chromebox and Chromebit? appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

This article will explain you how to show a Google slideshow (also known as “slides presentation”, like a Microsoft PowerPoint slideshow) in your digital signage using our online Studio. If you need to show a PowerPoint file, you better convert it into a Google slides presentation and then follow the next procedure.

Here are the steps:

1. Go to the Google Drive and create a new slides presentation.
2. Add your text and images to the slideshow.
3. You need to publish the presentation to the web, so click the “File” menu item.
4. In the file menu, click the “Publish to the web…” option.
5. You can set the slide duration to anything you like (the default is 3 seconds automatically).
6. Check the “Start slideshow as soon as the player loads” checkbox and the “Restart the slideshow after the last slide” checkbox, so the presentation will auto start and keep cycling infinitely.
7. Click the the “Published content & settings” to open it. Here you can choose to publish it to anyone or restrict it to the organization and so on.
8. Press the “Publish” button.
9. A link will now appear and will be highlighted. Press Ctrl + c to copy that link to the clipboard.
10. In the NoviSign Studio, compose a new blended creative and drag a web page widget to the canvas.
11. Set the URL property of the web page widget to the one which is in your clipboard (the shareable link from step 5).
12. Make sure the “Reload interval” property of the web page widget is set “off”.
13. In the player, if you didn’t publish it for everyone, but rather than that, you restricted the published slideshow to specific people or your organization, when this creative is played for the first time, instead of showing you the slideshow, you will see Google account login page.
14. Type the credentials of the user that you restricted this slideshow with in step 7. In case of Android, if you want to save the frustrating typing with the popping-in-and-out-Android-keyboard, you better share the slideshow (in step 7) with the user which is defined on the Android device.
15. The player should ask if it can store the credentials. Choose yes. The credentials are stored in the browser of the device and NoviSign won’t have to obtain them again.

 

If you want to learn how to show a Google spreadsheet document (like a Microsoft Excel sheet) in your digital signage, click here.

The post How to display a Google Slideshow (slides presentation) in digital signage? appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

In this post I’m going to tell you about Google’s Cryptohome bug.
The Cryptohome bug as it is called in the web is a bug that can be found either in Google’s Chromebox and Chromebit.

The bug has 2 variations that you can encounter after enrolling your Chrombox to be provisioned using Google Device Management Console (I’m talking about a case where your Chromebox is in Kiosk mode): in one variation, after enrolling it to be provisioned, the Chromebox installed the Kiosk app (we tested it on a Chromebox digital signage app) and then started playing the app. After awhile (can be minutes or hours or maybe more), when we plugged the power off (not using the on/off button, but just plugging off) and then reconnected it, the Chromebox or Chromebit booted to the screen where you need to choose the network and language, like if we never enrolled it to be provisioned; the other variation is similar, however, in that case, the Chromebit boots to the Kiosk app, but all the settings which you manually put there in the app before have disappeared. It looks like in this case, the Chromebit “remembers” it is still provisioned, but everything on the device itself was erased (and the app has just been re-installed itself).

This can be problematic and make one an embarrassment. However, searching the web for the possible cure for this bug (till Google will solve it by a new version of Chrome OS), brought us into 2 different solutions that might work here. We tried them both and so far the symptom hasn’t happened, but we cannot guarantee 100% success.

One way to overcome this “amnesia” symptom is this: after enrolling the Chromebit, let the Kiosk app on it run for few minutes. Then shut down the device using the on/off button. Then count 10 seconds and turn it on again using the on/off button. That’s it. Probably the “organized” shut down saves something to the device itself, similar to the behavior of Microsoft Windows. This solution is good for the case when your Chromebit or Chromebox is not non-managed by the Google Device Management, but not only.

Second way to overcome this “forgetting” syndrome is this: limit the the Chrome OS version of the device to 47.* (like if the Cryptohome bug is a result of higher Chrome OS versions) BEFORE enrolling the Chromebit to be provisioned. This you should do in the Device Management Console, by setting the setting called “Restrict Google Chrome version to” to at most of “47.*” in the settings of the Chrome devices (Go to “Device Management” -> “Chrome Devices” -> “Chrome Device Settings” -> “Restrict Google Chrome version to at most” should be set to 47.*). If you haven’t changed the default settings of the “Device Update Settings” block there, this should do the trick. This way is good for provisioned Chromebit.

Third way can be a combination of the 2 above mentioned ways. It’s possible only when the Chromebox/Chromebit was enrolled to the Device Management.

So, why is it called “Cryptohome”? Maybe because it’s like a crypta tunnel that takes you back to the same place where you started at.
Good luck Chrome OS users!

Eli.

The post What is Google Cryptohome (“settings forgetting”) bug of Chromebox and Chromebit and how to overcome it? appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

Chromecast is Google miracasting dongle for Chrome browser. It can show you on the TV screen connected to the Chromecast – whatever you have on your Chrome browser on your laptop or smartphone or tablet.
Maybe not ideal for digital signage, but there is a way to use it with NoviSign system.

This is the way: you need to use the link player (also called “browser player”) on the Chrome browser on your device (PC, tablet, smartphone) and transmit it to the Chromecast which is connected to the TV (this post will show you how to cast the Chrome browser to the Chromecast: https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/2998338). This way, your Chrome browser is going to be a Chrome sign builder!
Now, how to use the link player? The link player, like its name, is a link, a URL which you type in your browser, like an internet website and surf to.
To get the full link to be pasted there, you need to enter your account in the online Studio (app.novisign.com), then go to the “Players” tab.

In the Players tab, you can do one of two:
1. Click the link in the “Player Link” column which is in the same line of the player you wish to play. Then, a new browser tab will open itself with that link. All you need to do is to copy the link from the URL line of the browser and use it in a Chrome browser in any device which will be casting to the Chromecast.
2. Check the checkbox of the player which you wish to play and then click the “Edit” button. Near the line which is called “Player Link”, you have the link (probably you won’t see it all as it is too long), press the “Copy Link” button which is in the same line and then paste the clipboard to your Chrome browser to be used immediately or just to a notepad, so you’ll be able to fully see it in order to type it in a another device.

Please notice that the Chrome browser on the device which is going to run that link player, should support Flash (possible by extension or an app), since the link player is Flash based.

The optimal solution will be either Chromebox or Chromebit.

Here is how to put your Chromebit or Chromebox in a Kiosk mode and install our digital signage app on it:
To put your non-managed Chromebit or Chromebox in Kiosk mode, click here.
To set your Chromebit or Chromebox to be managed device (provisioned) using Google Device Management Console (and in Kiosk mode as well), click here.

If you do not wish to have your Chromebit or Chromebox in a Kiosk mode (which is important for digital signage), you can use the following manual to install our digital signage software app.

Gil.

The post Can I use Chromecast with NoviSign? appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

Recently, we have added to our digital signage software API to connect to RFID readers.
This is a perfect solution for shoppers in a store who want to get more information about a product. It might remind the beacon technology, but this one doesn’t work on smartphones. In this case we integrated our product with RFKeeper RFID solution provider.

Let’s simplify the way it works in few simple steps:

1. The shopper enters the shop and take an object in the shop.

2. He puts the object on the RFID reader (which is connected to the digital signage device which is connected to a screen).

3. The object (which has a passive little RFID tag in the bottom) makes the reader to make a beep sound (and send a signal to the signage device that a specific slide related to that RFID tag needs to be triggered).

4. The specific slide which is related to the RFID tag (which is attached to the object) is trigger and appears on screen, giving the customer information about that object.
 
Our product can be integrated with an RFID reader as you can see in the following videos.

The following video will show you how does the customer experience in a shop with RFID reader looks like:

The following video will show you how to do it with the hardware and using the online Studio:

In the online Studio, enabling the RFID events will look like this:

The digital signage world can benefit from many new options which result from combining it with RFID.
So, what do you need for making all this happen? Contact us at info@novisign.com to see what fits you best.

The post How to combine RFID with our digital signage software? appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

In the last few years we see strong phenomena’s in the U.S.A. that more and more schools are moving to chrome OS. Once the School has good network coverage in the campus, it can start implementing Chromebooks to the students and the staff. The Chromebook can cost less than 200 USD to the school and together with that, you get the great management tools of the chrome OS (Google Device Management Console). We see that schools districts which work with us have around 2000 Chrome devices or more and are happy with that.

The feedback we get from the schools on the Chrome OS is as following:

1) It is reliable;
2) It is inexpensive;
3) And it is easy to manage.

So, if they already like to use the Chrome OS at their place, now they can easily add digital signage. In the last year, other than the Chromebook, which we are all familiar with, 3 new types of device were born:

– Chromebox – Mini PC like device at a price range of 150 – 250 USD;
– Chromebase – All in one like device at a price range of 350 USD;
– Chromebit – PC on stick like device at a price of 85 USD

So, even though, the usage of signage is still low at many schools around the U.S.A., now that they can use Google Chrome Platform, which they like and trust, they can add screens connected to the Chromebit and start broadcast information to them.
More than that, here is where NoviSign comes into the picture: what we are adding the CMS (Content Management System) for that easy to use, at affordable price the schools, can create and broadcast live dynamic information to the screens.
We are working now closely with few schools to better learn the needs and to maximize our product for the education market.

See 60 sec clip of how we can help schools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKK1vA-SUOs
Learn how to install Chrome OS based digital signage: http://www.novisign.com/chrome/installing-chromebox-player/
Chrome OS management tool of Google: http://www.novisign.com/chrome/google-chromebox-device-management-console-and-kiosk-mode/

The post Why should you use Chrome OS with digital signage in Education institutes? appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

Are you familiar with this 3 letter acronym that makes someone feel very smart (he learned them 10 minutes before you…) and then, once you understand the new term, you feel, that you already knew that, you simply didn’t use the right term (some call it marketing…:-). I believe same works for SSI: once you understand what it stands for, it would be clear to you what it does and what are the great benefits of this concept.

So, what is SSI? Formally, it stands for Screen-Smart Device Interaction. De facto, it is the concept of all sorts of technologies that provide the ability to impact whatever appears on a big digital signage screen with the users’ smartphone. It is considered to be linked in general to the wider Digital Signage.

There are few technical ways to connect to a given screen with your smart device. One of the most popular is QR code. This is a standard and common way, used in most cases. Using a TinyURL is also a simple and fairly popular option. The NFC technology is another method, but not gaining enough popularity with SSI users and developers, at least not yet. Eddystone beacons is the most interesting and innovative way, powered by Google, it is a quite new technology, so we cannot yet report about its popularity among users and developers.

But why do I need to connect my smartphone to digital signage???

Well, start imagining… from participating in an online, yet visible to all poll, to playing a game on digital signage. From playing a trivia game and gaining a coupon straight to your smartphone, from the digital signage presentation on the screen to participating in a commonly viewed purchase group in the mall or car dealership – or any wild idea you can think of.

The internet scene moved from the PC towards the smart devices. But the location itself, that connects people that are sharing the same spot, if now moving into combination of the smartphone internet scenery with what happens here and now – the digital signage software and platform. SSI technology or better to say, the SSI concept – is opening the door for wide business options.

Now, you see it wasn’t complicated? Go ask Someone if he knows what SSI stands for – Feel smart

Avi.

The post SSI – what is it all about? appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

In retail marketing, an endcap (or end cap) is a display for a product placed at the end of an aisle. It is perceived to give a brand a competitive advantage. It is often available for lease to a manufacturer in a retail environment.

So what is endcap TV? End cap TV is a TV which is located at the endcap. Usually for displaying commercials or promoting a product.

And what does this has to do with digital signage? A lot! Displaying anything on a TV screen or tablet, in this constellation is definitely digital signage.

Here in NoviSign, we have digital signage software solutions for all types of sectors, including the retail. In retail they like to use tablets, small tablets, big tablets and yes, big TVs as well to be hung from above. You can have it horizontal (landscape) or vertical (portrait). A big plus for the retail is the polls widget which allows people in the store to vote and get a coupon directly to their smartphone to be used in the cashier, on their way out. What can be better than that?
Not to mention the social widgets (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) which allows the visitor in the venue to interact with the store. Wonderful.

So, combine the force of the digital signage with the endcap strategic location and you get endcap digital signage. Just imagine.

Gil.

The post What is end cap TV? appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

We have just added a new customer case study of the Church on the Queensway at Canada.
Church on the Queensway is a Bible-based church on Queensway, Toronto in Canada. The church has four TV screens located in the lobby. They chose NoviSign Windows digital signage solution to display slideshows for current events and schedule of the church.
Click on the case study of the Church on the Queensway digital signage in order to read the full customer story we wish to share with you.

The post A New Customer Case Study – Church on the Queensway (Canada) appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

Fonts in Chromebox and Chromebit are different than what we are used with Windows or Android. Also, the web is very thin with posts about this issue (more likely that you will find posts about Chromebook font issues rather than Chromebox font or Chromebit font issues), that’s why we have published this post.

In Windows, you just need to copy the font TTF files to the C:\Windows\Fonts folder and you can immediately start using them (here is how to add fonts in our Windows digital signage app). In Android, you also need to copy the font files to somewhere in the file system (here is how to add fonts in our Android digital signage app) to be used by a certain app or to the system font folder, if you want them to be used by the whole Android (for that, your device should be rooted).

But when it comes to Chrome OS, it’s not straight forward as one might expect it to be. The thing is that you cannot add fonts directly by copying and pasting the font files (as far as I know).
You might need extra fonts in case you use your Chrome OS device for Chromebox digital signage or Chromebit digital signage or in some other cases.
In order to add fonts to Chrome OS based device such as Chromebox or Chromebit, you have to take another turn.

Before everything, one must know that the Chrome OS uses WebFonts (which can be TrueType or OpenType fonts, like in Windows for example) or actually called “Woff” or CSS fonts. Woff is just a container with compression; Chrome OS supports all TTF, OTF and WOFF fonts as well. Another thing is that there are “system fonts” while there are just “fonts” for applications, etc. System fonts are the fonts which are being used by the Chrome OS operating system to display the operating system itself. Google has an extensive font database for that. You can change your system font settings by going to the profile icon on the bottom right corner of the screen, then choose the “Settings” and type “font” into the “Search Settings” textbox at the top of the screen.

The more interesting are the “other” non-system fonts which should be useful in apps, like Chromebox digital signage and Chromebit digital signage apps.

When it comes to Chromebox, all is based on the web as the app’s lifecycle scope is within a web browser. Even though, you install an app (as a digital signage app) that opens in the app’s window and not in a browser, still it is a local website which you watch via the Chrome browser.
Therefore, the attitude should be looking at website fonts. If you need to use a font on a website, all that matters is not that the font is on your Chromebox, but that it is in the web service or website you’re in. In digital signage app, when the app plays locally, you need to have the fonts somewhere, in the cache probably.

So, what to do? Either the app should have the extra fonts in the cache or you should install an app that adds more WebFonts to your Chrome browser. If you search for “install font” in the Chrome Web Store (https://chrome.google.com/webstore) you may find few things, but not necessarily those fonts which you are in need of. So, if you’re the app’s developer, make sure the WebFonts are already included in your app.

Nurit.

The post Fonts in Chromebox and Chromebit appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

So, that’s the last missing piece in the puzzle. After having a laptop (Chromebook), TV box (Chromebox) and a dongle (Chromebit) based on the slim operating system known as Chrome OS, the last thing to appear was a tablet called Chromebase.

Like most of the other products, the Chromebase is not manufactured by Google itself, but rather than that it is manufactured by Google’s partners, such as Acer, LG and AOpen. Acer and AOpen already sell a Chromebox, so it was natural for them to move forward to the tablet. All of the Chromebase manufacturers call it “All-in-One” computer, as you have the screen + the computer in a one piece.
 

 
You know what? Maybe this is not the last piece of the puzzle of Google Chrome OS. Maybe the last piece will be a wearable watch or a smartphone based on Chrome OS. That’s my hunch, but let’s wait and see.

Now, let’s take a look at the specs:

LG Chromebase
Size (diagonal): 21.5″
Weight: 7.7 lbs
Suggested price: 350 USD
Operating system: Chrome OS
Builtin webcam: yes
Processor: Intel dual-core Celeron 2955U (1.4Ghz)
Resolution: Full HD 1080p
Virus protection: yes
Memory: 2GB RAM
Storage: 16GB SSD
Wireless: 802.11a/b/g/n, BT Combo
LAN: RJ45
USB 3.0: front
USB 2.0: x 3 rear
Headphone out / Mic in combo: yes
Chrome keyboard (wired) and regular mouse: yes

Acer Chromebase
Size (diagonal): 21.5″
Weight: 9.7 lbs
Touch screen
Suggested price: 300 USD
Operating system: Chrome OS
Builtin webcam: yes
Processor: Nvidia Tegra K1 quad-core (2.1Ghz)
Resolution: Full HD 1080p
Memory: 4GB RAM
Storage: 16GB SSD
HDMI port: rear
Bluetooth: 4.0
Wireless: 802.11a/b/g/n
LAN: RJ45
USB 3.0: rear
USB 2.0: x 2 front
SD card slot: rear
Audio jack: rear
[Requires a keyboard and a regular mouse]

AOpen Chromebox (commercial grade)
Size (diagonal): 21.5″
Weight: 14.3 lbs
Touch screen: supports 10 points
Suggested price: 1,000 USD
Operating system: Chrome OS
Builtin webcam: yes
Processor: Intel N2930 quad-core (2.16Ghz)
Resolution: Full HD 1080p
Memory: 4GB RAM
Storage: 16GB SSD
HDMI port: yes
Bluetooth: 3.0 and 4.0 compatibility
Wireless: Long range A/B/G/N/AC – 2.4 and 5Ghz
LAN: RJ45
LAN: RJ50 Type RS232 x 4 powered (12v, 5v, 0v selectable)
USB 2.0: x 6
Combo audio jack: mic-in / mic-out: yes
Chrome keyboard (wired) and regular mouse: yes

These are definitely news for the Chrome OS digital signage as now we have a Chrome OS based tablet. Welcome Chromebase digital signage!

Nir

The post Chromebase – Google’s tablet of Chrome OS appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

We have added a new queue (line management system) widget to the online Studio which allows you to manage a line, like you have in a reception of a hospital, clinic, post office, stores, etc. In this kind of virtual queue, there is no use for papers anymore. The visitor needs to use his/hers smartphone to scan a QR code or type a tiny URL, then the smartphone browser will give the visitor a number in the line and will also tell him/her when the line arrives.
We also upgraded the Chrome OS, Windows and Android player apps to support the new widget.

Studio v4.2.25-0-9

Queue widget

So, how do you create a line management system? Here are the steps:

1. First thing is to create a blended creative in your account in the online Studio (app.novisign.com), by pressing the “Compose” button from the Creative tab.

2. When you’re in the creative composer, drag the queue widget (has an icon of a “Q” letter) from the widget list in the left to the canvas in the center. This will open the queue list popup window. You can choose an existing queue or create a new one. You can later access this popup window by pressing the “Change” button which is in the properties pane of the widget, in the right side.

3. If you decide to create a new queue, just press the “Add Queue” button. Give your queue a name (will be used later to log into) and an access code (password). The queue is ready to go!

4. Now, just reshape, replace and set the style of the widget: this is the incrementing number which will appear on the digital signage screen in the venue.

5. The teller in the venue has his/her own user interface. The URL is specified in the queue widget’s properties (called “Teller URL”) and will be something like this: https://queue.novisign.com/momento/assets/console.html?n=<the queue name>

6. The teller needs to log in to the queue teller console, using the queue name, access code and also provide his/her name.

7. Inside the queue teller console, the teller can do 3 things: a) press the “Call Next >>” button, in order to call the next number to come to the desk; b) press the “Skip >>” button, in order to skip a number (a number which was skipped will appear in the bottom table as a skipped number, so the teller will be able to accept that number in a later stage, if s/he likes to); c) press the “Reset Queue” in order to reset the queue and make it start from zero. In the top part of the console, the teller can see which number is being served now and how many people are currently still waiting for their turn in the line. In the table which appears in the bottom of the console, the teller can see the details of the person who is being served at the moment, including his/her verification code (a combination of digits to verify that the person really has that number in the line) and details of people which were skipped.

8. The visitors in the venue should get their line numbers using their smartphone. How is it being done? They need to type a URL or a tiny URL or even better: scan a QR code. The visitor page has a URL which appears in the properties pane of the queue widget (called “Visitor URL”) and will be something like this: https://queue.novisign.com/momento/assets/mobile.html?q=<number>. To make it easier for your visitors, better create a QR code of this queue URL (you can use a web QR generator like this one: http://goqr.me/) and place that image as part of the blended creative, so the visitors will be able to scan it with their smartphones.

9. A virtual queue page will appear on the visitor’s smartphone browser and s/he will need to press the “Take a Number” button, in order to take a number in the line.

10. After taking a number, the visitor will see, on his/her smartphone his/her number, who is being served now and a verification code, which s/he might be asked to tell the teller.

11. Once his/her turn arrives, s/he will see a proper message in his/her smartphone browser (if s/he hasn’t turned it off), telling him/her that “It is your Turn”.

Native Android player v4.3.7-0-12

Will be released very soon. Supports the new feature of the queue widget. Can be downloaded or upgraded from the Google Play market (just search “novisign” and click the app with the black background).

Air (Windows) player v4.1.0-0

Supports the new feature of the queue widget. The Air file can be downloaded from our download website: http://app.novisign.com/downloads/

Native Windows player v4.3.7-0-11 (beta version)

Will be released very soon. Supports the new feature of the queue widget. Can be downloaded and installed using this Windows signage app installation manual.

Chrome OS player v4.3.7-0-12

Will be released very soon. Supports the new feature of the queue widget. Can be downloaded and installed using this Chrome OS signage app installation manual.

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Our native Android player app supports connecting RFID reader.

There are many hardware vendors of RFID readers. We integrated with RFkeeper‘s device as it was easy. You can find any hardware vendor you like, get a unit and test it based on the below instructions. You might like to use a barcode scanner as it is more available and cheaper, while it works in a very similar way to RFID reader in whatever it comes to digital signage. 2 good examples for barcode readers which we have tried are Honeywell Voyager 1450G2D, USB imaging barcode scanner and Motorola DS9208-SR4NNU21Z USB barcode scanner.

As far as we know, RFKeeper with 50 passive tags is around 1,500 USD per unit. You may find other types of readers in price range of 250 to 900 USD.

1) We can integrate with RFID readers or with barcode scanners.
2) The RFID device should have a USB connector.
3) The device would connect using the USB port to a Minix Neo X7 (16GB) or Minix Neo X7 mini (8GB). Other Android devices might work, but it was not tested on other devices.
4) After it is connected, you need to see that when scanning a tag or a barcode, the ID of it (or barcode number) is sent to the Minix and at the end of each scan there is a Carriage Return (the Enter key character).
5) In order to test the above, you can start a text pad or any document editor app on the Minix, start to scan and see that ID + Enter will appear in the text pad after every scan. It should look like this: Tag1, Tag2, Tag3. You might need to configure the RFID reader to send a Carriage Return after each scan.
6) Once you find the device you like to use, send us a list of all the IDs of the tag you are using, the Studio account name which will have the ability to edit the RFID events and we will send you a player version with the tags listed there so it would appear on your Studio and you’ll be able to configure the RFID/barcode events. For this operation (updating the tag IDs to your online Studio account and updating the player) we charge 95 USD.

We can support other RFID readers that have different API, but a development work might be required in order to build a driver that would support the API.

Gil.

The post How to add different RFID readers to NoviSign digital signage player? appeared first on NoviSign Digital Signage.

So, you got your self a brand new Chromebit (Google’s Chrome OS based dongle) in 85 USD. Now what? You’d like to establish a digital signage for your business based on the Chromebit. So, how to do it?

1. First, get your self a TV with HDMI port. Connect the TV, using the HDMI cable provided with the Chromebit to the Chromebit (if you like to use a longer cable, you’ll also need to use a small adapter). The Chromebit and TV should be plugged in to power. Now, connect a USB switch to the single USB port of the Chromebit and to that switch attach a mouse and a keyboard. You’re ready to go.

2. Now, you need to install a digital signage app to display your signage. However, since the Chromebit should run 24/7, it need to be in Kiosk mode (single app mode). Here is how to put your non-managed Chromebit in Kiosk mode and install the NoviSign software as the single app on it.

3. Google has a wonderful Device Management Console which you can use to remotely managed your Chrome OS devices (i.e. Chromebook, Chromebox, Chromebit and Chromebase). It is cheap and can come in handy. Here is how to use the Google Device Management Console and Kiosk mode on your Chromebit.

4. Once you have your Chromebit provisioned (that means it is managed by the Google Device Management Console), you can perform many actions on it by remote. Actions like: extracting log files out of it, setting its orientation to be portrait or landscape (screen rotation), take screen captures, get indication of its status, control its OS version and more.

5. Restrict the Chrome OS version (better do it using the Device Management) to 47, in order to avoid the Cryptohome bug.

6. Installing the digital signage software is easy, but what if you have many Chromebits which you have to deploy at many of your customers’? You can use Google White Glove service, which will get them to you already configured as they should be, saving you all this precious IT time.

7. Chromebit has only 2GB RAM. In most cases it’s enough, but sometimes for better performance you might need more memory (4GB) and stronger processor. In that case, you might want to use a Chromebox instead (Google’s TV box). Here is a variety of Chromeboxes you might want to consider.

May the Chrome be with you.

Nir.

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We have upgraded the online Studio and the management console. Now, as a partner using the management console, you can manage your storage and divide the available quota of storage among your users any way you like.

The quota you have is 500MB for each license. For example, in case you have 40 licenses, it means you have 40 x 500MB = 20GB. You can divide it among the users as you wish to.
The default storage for every new user is always 80MB. So, if you create a new user using the management console, you can allocate him/her more than 80MB. And if a new user has signed up using the self registration page, after s/he becomes a paying user of yours (or else), you can allocate him/her as much as you wish.

Management console v4.2.25-0-9

In order to see your quota you can access your managing user, then click the “Manage” link to get into the management console. Any user which you enter its record, you’ll be able to see how much storage is in use by that user, how much is the total storage allocated for this specific user, how much total storage you have for the whole subdomain of yours and how much storage remains unused and is waiting to be allocated for new and existing users. The screen shot below demonstrates this pretty much well.

Each user has a default storage (80MB) which you can alter. Once you decide to assign a certain amount of storage to a specific user, all you have to do is to access that user’s record and set the storage to any amount you wish to. That amount will be subtracted from the total which you have.

Way to go.

Eli.

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Recently, we upgraded the online Studio (v4.2.19-0-8). Now, partners have a new feature: User’s permissions.

Now, as a partner, you can prevent individual users of yours, if you like, from:

• Creating players
• Deleting players
• Deleting playlists
• Deleting creatives

In the management console, just enter the user’s record and click the “Edit Permissions” button. You will find 4 checkboxes there.

Check the checkboxes you like to and don’t forget to press the “Save” button.

Avi.

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