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Here at Amazon Devices, we are focused on delivering experiences that empower our customers to stay connected, safe, informed, productive, educated, and entertained. As a product manager in the Amazon signage team, I’ve worked with small and large organizations to help them understand how digital signage technology is rapidly evolving to better deliver those experiences. But it’s becoming a lot more complicated.
Digital signage media player hardware has historically been dominated by expensive and complex windows-based devices and other proprietary systems (i.e. BrightSign OS). In recent years, android-based consumer devices, including the Fire TV Stick have been widely adopted as a more affordable option. Not surprisingly, more options lead to more complexity.
In this blog I’ll share why we at Amazon signage chose to develop a purpose-built device, the Amazon Signage Stick, to address some of the trade-offs inherent in consumer streaming devices like the Amazon Fire TV Stick when used for digital signage. It primarily addresses considerations for migrating to the Signage Stick, but this also serves as a guide for choosing the right media player device for a successful implementation.
The Challenges of Using Fire TV Stick for Digital Signage
While organizations have been using devices like the Fire TV Stick for digital signage due to its affordability, we’ve learned from customers that setting up, supporting and managing these devices can be complex. The Fire TV Stick and other consumer devices come pre-loaded with streaming entertainment apps that may interrupt playback (i.e. “Still watching?” pop up) and take up valuable local storage – this can be a critical resource when your media player is offline and needs to play locally stored content. Setting up the devices for digital signage use in a business or educational setting requires users to navigate through consumer app stores to find and download signage software for each device – without the tools for bulk provisioning. The Fire TV Stick and similar devices also lack remote monitoring and management capabilities, requiring the use of a local remote for resetting or rebooting the devices.
Finally, as the primary purpose of the Fire TV Stick is to “elevate your entertainment”, it’s designed to return users to the Fire TV home screen after rebooting. While this is terrific for consumers at home, it’s disruptive for your audience and labor intensive for your support team to return your digital signage back to the desired content experience for customers, employees or students.
The Professional Edge: Purpose-built for Digital Signage
At Amazon, we are constantly inventing on behalf of our customers. Our Amazon signage team listened to this feedback and responded to these challenges – and desire for more - by creating a purpose-built digital media player for professional signage. The Amazon Signage Stick represents a significant leap forward - it is designed to be simple, affordable, and reliable while addressing the various signage needs of businesses and organizations of all sizes.
By selecting or upgrading to the Signage Stick, customers can simplify and elevate their digital signage.
Key benefits of Amazon Signage Stick vs. Fire TV Stick include:
Optimized for digital signage
- Seamlessly integrates with 30+ content management software (CMS) ecosystem providers.
- Auto-launches CMS in native kiosk mode for continuous content display; operating in secure “lockdown mode” removes the risk of viewers, employees, or unexpected updates exiting your content to disrupt the display.
Designed for continuous (24/7) and unattended operation
- Signage Stick automatically launches the CMS app in kiosk mode after unplanned outages (i.e. power loss, network outage, app crash etc.) to improve uptime and quality of the experience.
- Whereas, auto-launch of the CMS app for Fire OS 8 devices like Fire TV 4K Max requires manual adjustment of system settings and/or developer tools; manual involvement is frequently required to restart the app at the device level.
Improved performance and increased storage capacity to enhance the quality of experience
- Immersive, high-quality video experience with 4K UHD vs. 1080p Full HD native to Fire TV Stick HD and Lite models
- 850 MHz GPU vs. 650 MHz GPU for Fire TV Stick 4K, HD and Lite models, which can enhance video quality.
- 12 GB of available storage for content delivery and offline playback. With no need for consumer streaming or other apps, that’s 20% more than the Fire TV Stick Max and 7GB (140% more) than the Fire TV Stick 4K, HD and Lite models.
Streamlined updates and operations increase uptime and reduce maintenance
- To ensure continuous playback and eliminate manual intervention, Signage Stick seamlessly and automatically relaunches the CMS in kiosk mode following any planned firmware, security, or CMS over-the-air update, or an unplanned outage.
- Whereas, Fire TV Stick users must download CMS app updates from the Fire TV home screen or app and Fire OS 8 updates require a full device reboot and manual relaunch of the CMS app. Both require manual intervention to minimize downtime.
Easy setup and centralized monitoring and management
- Setup times are typically 4x faster than consumer devices with the plug and play Signage Stick; with bulk provisioning, quickly setup one or hundreds of devices simultaneously with Mobile App and reuse saved profiles with device upgrades.
- Centralized and remote monitoring of all devices (i.e. reboot/ restart and status visibility) via Mobile app or online Signage Manager; whereas most consumer streaming devices require use of an app or remote control to manage at the display level.
Real Impact from Making the Switch
The University of Utah's transition to Signage Stick demonstrates the benefits of upgrading. As their team highlights, "the growing complexity of maintaining consumer media players…resulted in rising operational costs and declining system performance. Amazon Signage Stick offered the stability and design functionality we needed, along with the assurance of long-term support.”
Making the Transition Easy to Upgrade your Digital Signage Game Today
Organizations looking to upgrade – or even begin their digital signage journey - will find the process straightforward and well-supported, without the need for deep technical expertise. As previously referenced above, Signage Stick is designed for rapid and bulk deployment across displays and multiple locations while maintaining consistent performance and reliability.
The transition from consumer streaming devices to our purpose-built Signage Stick is an investment in reliability, efficiency and professional grade performance. An investment that organizations that are serious about digital signage are making to focus more on what matters most - delivering impactful content to their audiences to drive engagement and impact.
We look forward to being a big part of your journey.
About the Author:
David Lubinsky is a product manager on the Amazon signage team, helping both CMS providers and customers define and deliver the optimal digital signage solution for their unique business and organizational needs.