BrightSign And Signagelive Pair Up On Networked Offer

January 16, 2012 by Dave Haynes

We’ve been talking a lot about consolidation in the digital signage sector because there are way too many solutions options out there. But not all that consolidation is going to be on the M&A side.

Sometimes, it will be two companies choosing to work together instead of competing.

Consider the news today about a deal between BrightSign and signagelive that means the former’s nice little non-PC HD video players can run on networks using the latter’s cloud-based digital signage software.

signagelive will have, says a release, a BrightSign Standard  Edition with full screen media support and a BrightSign Pro Edition with multi-zone content capabilities.

“We selected BrightSign players for their proven reliability, advanced features and ability to get the most out of our signagelive platform,” said Jason Cremins, CEO of signagelive. “For the first time, the BrightSign range of networked devices can be integrated with signagelive to provide a solution that rivals the technical capabilities and stability of more expensive PC-based solutions. It is my belief that our combined offering provides the best price/performance of any digital signage solution available today.”

“We’re very pleased to have the opportunity to expand our worldwide presence with a leading software brand like signagelive,” said Jeff Hastings, BrightSign CEO.  “BrightSign and signagelive are both strong, well-respected brands with loyal customer bases that continue to grow.  We view the combination of our brands as a win-win situation that will accelerate business opportunities for everyone involved, including the distribution and reseller channels.”

BrightSign has its own software solution for networked digital sign deployments, but the company at its core is about hardware players. The company spun out from Roku, one of the bigger players in the streaming video space. BrightSign was founded and still chaired by Roku’s CEO, so the access to R&D and low cost media decoder technology is terrific.

BrightSign has very nice little low-cost boxes that play smooth video, are easy to use and manage, have no moving parts and consume very little energy. But the platform is more oriented to small and medium business than it is to mass-scaled networks – the arena signagelive comfortably plays in.

The two companies working together means BrightSign and its resellers have options on which model best suits the requirements and scale of the  job. Instead of losing a project that might be beyond the abilities of its free BrightAuthor software, they can now compete and win the hardware deal with signagelive as the software engine.

For signagelive’s guys, they’re now integrated into a low-cost hardware platform specifically focused on digital signage and a business with a global distribution network. I have heard BrightSign moved more than 100K units in 2011, in an industry where most companies are popping champagne for 1,000-unit deals. I know signagelive’s Cremins has flat said his company is about software, and has put hardware efforts instead into partnerships with companies like Advantech, IAdea and now BrightSign.

The combo service will be demo’d at ISE 2012 in Amsterdam later this month.

This is a really interesting development in that the rap – fair or not – about non-PC media play-out solutions is that while they were lower cost and reliable, the software was pretty basic and not really built for scaled-up jobs. Meanwhile, software companies feel endless pressure to get their platform running on the lowest cost boxes possible.

The single unit prices for BrightSign units in the company online store would be in line or possibly even more than lower-end PCs, but my guess is that comes down nicely with volume, as it does with most things in this space.

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BrightSign and UK-based signagelive Collaboration Brings Affordable, Full-Featured Digital Signage Solutions to 35 Countries

LOS GATOS, CA – BrightSign, LLC®, a trusted name in feature-rich digital sign and kiosk controllers that are affordable and easy to use, announced today that it has teamed with UK-based signagelive® to ensure full compatibility between their products.  Distributed in 35 countries, signagelive’s multi-award winning, cloud-based digital signage software can now be paired with the pristine HD quality and high reliability of BrightSign’s PC-less digital players. During ISE 2012 this week, signagelive will be providing live demos of the new BrightSign-driven solutions and examples of real life applications at its ISE Stand #10P115.

 Initially, Signagelive is launching two new versions of signagelive that support BrightSign’s popular line of four network-enabled players: the BrightSign Standard  Edition with full screen media support, and a BrightSign Pro Edition with multi-zone content capabilities.

“We selected BrightSign players for their proven reliability, advanced features and ability to get the most out of our signagelive platform,” said Jason Cremins, CEO of signagelive. “For the first time, the BrightSign range of networked devices can be integrated with signagelive to provide a solution that rivals the technical capabilities and stability of more expensive PC-based solutions. It is my belief that our combined offering provides the best price/performance of any digital signage solution available today.”

“We’re very pleased to have the opportunity to expand our worldwide presence with a leading software brand like signagelive,” said Jeff Hastings, BrightSign CEO.  “BrightSign and signagelive are both strong, well-respected brands with loyal customer bases that continue to grow.  We view the combination of our brands as a win-win situation that will accelerate business opportunities for everyone involved, including the distribution and reseller channels.”

signagelive delivers a “software as a service” (SaaS) platform for digital signage.  The software provides the tools for layout creation, content uploading, scheduling, delivery, playback and reporting of digital media content over fixed and mobile Internet connections.  Key benefits of sinagelive include:

• No upfront costs — signagelive is a cloud-based application that eliminates upfront costs for installing and maintaining expensive servers to run the digital signage network
• No hidden costs — users pay a single, competitive price per month or year per connected player
• Scalable from 1 player to 1,000s — digital signage networks can grow as needed
• Powerful but easy to use — intuitive and easy to use, signagelive customers are generally up and running in 20 minutes with little or no help
• Network management from anywhere — using a standard web-browser, users can log in to their signagelive network from anywhere in the world to mange their content and players
• Both HQ and local control — signagelive enables content from the head office to be interspersed with content updated at each site location to create dynamic and targeted media
• Simplified deployment — uses the SMIL open standard

Key benefits of BrightSign network-enabled players include:

• Solid-state platform for increased reliability — no moving parts to fail
• Low power requirement — about 3-5 watts, compared to 70-90 watts for an average PC
• Full HD at 1080p resolutions — for eye-catching displays
• Network-enabled — for content updates from remote locations as well as RSS text and image feeds, SMS text messages
• Fully scalable — displays can be easily upgraded as the user’s needs change
• Easy to deploy — runs on an open API platform
• Easy to manage — for even non-technical users

BrightSign offers four networked models that are compatible with the signagelive solution.  The HD210 and HD1010 provide Ethernet ports for wired networking connections. For increased mobility and versatility, BrightSign also offers solid-state media controllers with built-in Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) capabilities.  By eliminating the complexity, clutter and restrictions of connecting cables, the wireless HD210w and HD1010w models save time while lowering deployment costs because users don’t have to run network cabling to spaces that normally wouldn’t have them.

With the benefits the BrightSign players and sinagelive software provide, combining them makes a compelling solution for a broad range of vertical sectors ranging from single-screen solutions in schools to thousands of devices around the world for retail brands and digital media owners.

signagelive Availability

Distributed in 35 countries in multiple languages, the signagelive editions that support BrightSign network-enabled players include the BrightSign Standard  Edition and the BrightSign Pro Edition. Free support and free updates to the signagelive software are included with the software.  signagelive also provides free 30-day trials. signagelive editions compatible with BrightSign players are available to distributors and resellers from www.medium.co.uk

BrightSign Availability

BrightSign offers a complete family of network-enabled digital signage controllers ranging from the HD210 with simple looping video playback and the HD210w (wireless) to the HD1010 interactive player and the HD1010w (wireless).  BrightSign networked digital players are available from the BrightSign Store with prices starting at US $399.99. Included at no additional cost with all BrightSign players, BrightAuthor is a PC software application for creating, publishing and managing BrightSign presentations.

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