Review: Adfotain Manager Express

This is a review of the Adfotain Manager Express software is bundled with various SMIL player appliances from IAdea.

At first I didn't expect much, considering this is a freebie that IAdea throws in with their players. I was surprised to find this software packs a lot of useful features and can substitute for a paid software as long as you don't need to update your screens over the Internet. The software works great over a private LAN and you can also update your players using a CF card or a USB memory stick.

I think this product will be more than adequate for many small businesses and corporate environments.  I can also see someone using this product to program and manage content on players that are not connected to a network like you sometimes find in a trade show or in high security environments.

Here are some of the main features:

• The software is easy to learn and use 
• Online documentation and knowledge database available
• Auto-discovery of all compatible player appliances on a LAN
• Complies with the SMIL standard
• Includes a few HTML5 templates with calendar, clock, RSS, social media widgets
  (assuming you are using a HTML5 compatible appliance from IAdea)
• Non-HTML5 IAdea devices have access to templates that don't include widgets but you can still display RSS feeds in a scrolling ticker  
• Supports external triggering of media at the player (requires additional hardware module)
• Updates are really quick on a LAN but you can also push updates to a CF card or USB dongle for disconnected players
• Supports many multimedia formats in HD
• Audio is also supported
• You can set screen on and off times
• The software displays the status of the connected players on a LAN and you get confirmation when the updates have been received
• Cost isn't an issue... It's free!

My testing revealed a few irritating problems:

• You're limited to the template layouts that are provided.  There is no way of modifying the size and locations of each zone
• Not much control over the HTML5 widget's look and feel.  You can only change the widget's duration and background color
• There is no support for Flash animations (SWF)
• The playback of successive video files can cause the appliances to display a few black frames.  To alleviate this IAdea recommends inserting a static image between video clips to reduce this effect

These are by no means show stoppers but it's important you take these into account when deciding if you should give this software a try.

 

In conclusion...

If you are deploying a few screens on a private LAN (like in an office, a small restaurant or retail store) and you settle on the IAdea player appliances, you may find this product will serve many if not all of your needs.  Given this software is included for free, I would recommend giving it a shot and see if it works for you  If you find it doesn't meet your needs, simply switch to one of the many commercial products that support the IAdea players (like signagelive, Dynamax or Scala).

Please note that everything mentioned above also applies to the Viewsonic branded appliances.  They are essentially the same product and include the same bundled software.  The names may change but what's under the hood remains the same.