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Widget Refresh in the CMS

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Widget Refresh in the CMS

We are excited to share with you a new feature we've been working on for 1.8.10 that should greatly improve the reliability of images in Media RSS and Twitter, and improve the consistency of data in all other modules.

What are we solving?

Xibo has had a long running quirk where a Player would ask for an updated Widget, the CMS would generate one containing new images, which it added to the Players required file list. The Player would show the new Widget but may not have finished downloading the associated images.

Xibo has another quirk where a Widget is loaded and the Player decides that it needs to request a fresh version. It does so, but it cannot wait for that to be returned, so its shows its current version, knowing that the updated one will be shown next time. This can result in stale data that is twice as old as expected.

How is it being solved?

The solution to this comes in 2 parts - firstly the Widget caching introduced in 1.8.8, improved in 1.8.9 and secondly a "Widget Sync" task in 1.8.10.

Prior to 1.8.8 the CMS cached all 3rd party resources (RSS, Twitter, etc) for a predefined period of time. If the resource was in the cache, it generated the Widget based on that cache each time it was requested. Post 1.8.8 the entire Widget is cached as well, based on criteria for each Widget.

The "Widget Sync" task is run by the CMS's task runner and every 5 minutes looks for Widgets that are active on any Display. If it finds any it updates their cache if required, including any images.

If this task is scheduled to run the Player should only ever be served content from the cache, meaning all of the files will be present and the Widget will be fresh at the point the Player sees it.


Xibo for webOS 1.8 R11 Available

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Xibo for webOS 1.8 R11 Available

Spring Signage are pleased to announce Xibo for webOS v1.8 R11. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8.3 onward.

This release contains 9 improvements:

  • The "Connect to CMS" options will stay on screen until manually dismissed or saved, instead of timing out
  • XMR will reconnect reliably if it becomes disconnected
  • Player will obey the logging level configured in the Display Settings
  • Fixed "Unable to read property" error shown repeatedly in the logs
  • Fix a problem with the splash screen not showing correctly on Displays with portrait orientation
  • Unplayable Videos will be skipped instead of sitting at a black screen
  • It is now possible to configure key locks to block the operation of on-monitor keys and remote control keys
  • The Mac Address of the in use interface will be reported
  • Opening the application triggers an update of all Widgets immediately as opposed to waiting for the first collection.

Download Xibo for webOS R11.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ at the end of the installation guide. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

1.8.10 Released

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1.8.10 Released

We are pleased to announce our 10th bug fix release for the 1.8 series of Xibo. The codename for this series is “Tempel”.

A new CMS is available with this release, with 68 resolved issues. We recommend that all users running 1.8 upgrade their CMS to this release.

The release notes are available in the manual and the download is available on Github.

There are some special considerations to note in this release.

Google Traffic Module

Google are making changes to their Traffic API billing and terms. Please read our blog post for more information and the actions you need to take. If you do not act your Traffic Widgets may cease to function or you may face higher than expected bills for your usage from Google!

This release also improves the drop-down selection lists for Layouts, Media and Displays in the CMS. We found that in CMS instances with a large amount of Layouts, Media and/or Displays, the user interface could become unresponsive and hard to use. We have improved this by filtering and paging drop-down lists for these types of data so that they open faster.

Widget Sync

We've also made improvements to the way we manage Widget Caching and updating 3rd party resources, such as Tickers and Twitter. Please read our blog post for more information.

Calendar Module

In response to customer feedback we have included a new Module which shows an iCal feed on a Layout - the Calendar Module. To get started with this great new module take a look at our new guide on the community.

Chart Module

Adding to the work he did with Remote DataSets in 1.8.4, LukyLuke is back with another fantastic contribution. The Chart Module can be used to show various Chart types on a Layout, based on data in a DataSet (perhaps even a remote one!). Have a go yourself with our new walkthrough guide on the community.

1.8.10 Released

Xibo for webOS 1.8 R12 Available

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Xibo for webOS 1.8 R12 Available

We are pleased to announce Xibo for webOS v1.8 R12. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8.3 onward.

This release fixes an issue with the Player not progressing past the "Loading..." screen when it is restarted or turned on without a network connection.

Download Xibo for webOS R12.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ at the end of the installation guide. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

1.8.11 Released

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1.8.11 Released

We are pleased to announce our 11th bug fix release for the 1.8 series of Xibo. The codename for this series is “Tempel”.

A new CMS is available with this release, with 44 resolved issues. We recommend that all users running 1.8 upgrade their CMS to this release.

The release notes are available in the manual and the download is available on Github.

Xibo for Android 1.8 R107 Available

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Xibo for Android 1.8 R107 Available

Xibo Signage are pleased to announce Xibo for Android v1.8 R107. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8 and has legacy mode for versions 1.4, 1.6, 1.7.

Features and Issues resolved in this release:

  • Press the home button when Xibo is open and choose to use Xibo as a Launcher.
  • Fix for "unexpected end of document" causing the splash screen to appear during some connection outages.
  • Fix for XMR crashing and showing a "this application has stopped" window.
  • New feature to run an intent when someone touches the screen.
  • Fix for cookie support when showing a webpage in Manual Position/Best fit mode.

Download Xibo for Android R107.

Download Xibo for Android R107 for DSDevices J18 and J19.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

Xibo launches a new Channel Partner Programme

Alpine Linux Docker Container Poisoning

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Summary

Alpine Linux Docker Container Poisoning

Alpine Linux, the container Linux distrubution upon which Xibo’s Docker containers are based has said there is a flaw in the way their package manager (apk) works. This flaw could potentially allow an attacker to inject their own code in to the container at build time.

We have no evidence to suggest that any Xibo containers have been “poisoned” in this way, however, we have issued an updated 1.8.11 CMS container and 0.7 XMR container as a precaution.

If you’re using Xibo on our Cloud service, then you don’t need to take any action. You are already protected, regardless of the version you are running.

If you are running Xibo with Docker, it's our recommendation that you upgrade to the 1.8.11 CMS container and 0.7 XMR container released today (15th September 2018).

If you are already on 1.8.11, then you will need to issue a docker-compose pull command, followed by a docker-compose up -d command (coupled with any -f switches you normally use). See below for further examples.

If you're on an earlier version of the Xibo CMS, you can simply upgrade to 1.8.11 in the normal way.

Overview

You may have read in the news that the Alpine Linux distribution, upon which many Docker containers are based, has reported that their apk package manager is potentially vulnerable to a “poisoning” attack where an attacker could use a man-in-the-middle attack to inject code in to a container during the build process.

Xibo uses Alpine as the basis for its Docker containers, as is common through the industry as Alpine is specialised for that task. Xibo's Docker containers are built directly by Docker's Cloud service, an independent trusted third party, so you have total transparency as to what is included in them.

The Vulnerability

According to reports, an attacker with access to the network in the build environment could potentially poison a container during the build process by injecting their code in to the Alpine package manager and it would include that code inside the resulting container.

Alpine have published an updated version that prevents that happening, and have rebuilt their base containers upon which our containers are based.

Our Response

We have no evidence to suggest that the Xibo containers have been poisoned in this way, however, as a precaution, we have decided to rebuild the CMS container for 1.8.11 and XMR container for 0.7 to make available a version with the fix provided by Alpine Linux included.

Our recommendation therefore if you're running with Docker is to ensure you are running the 1.8.11 container that we have released today (September 15th 2018).

If you're running an earlier version of Xibo, you can simply upgrade in the normal way. If you're running 1.8.11 already, you will need to manually pull the new version of the container and then up the containers again:

docker-compose pull
docker-compose up -d

If you normally use a -f switch (eg -f cms_custom-ports.yml) don't forget to add that in:

docker-compose -f cms_custom-ports.yml pull
docker-compose -f cms_custom-ports.yml up -d

Full details of the original vulnerabilty can be found here:
https://justi.cz/security/2018/09/13/alpine-apk-rce.html
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/09/15/alpine_linux_bug/


Xibo for webOS 1.8 R13 Available

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Xibo for webOS 1.8 R13 Available

We are pleased to announce Xibo for webOS v1.8 R13. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8.3 onward.

This release fixes an issue checking licences in non-UTC timezones.

Download Xibo for webOS R13.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ at the end of the installation guide. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

Xibo for Android 1.8 R108 Available

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Xibo for Android 1.8 R108 Available

Xibo Signage are pleased to announce Xibo for Android v1.8 R108. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8 and has legacy mode for versions 1.4, 1.6, 1.7.

Features and Issues resolved in this release:

  • Blacklist MAC Addresses for certain Android 7 devices (00:15:18:01:81:31) and the Neo-U9-H.
  • Add extra logging to help diagnose CMS connection problems
  • Default name for new Players changed from "Android" to the Device Serial Number for easy identification in the CMS.
  • Improved system signed applications so that they do not need to run as the system user.

Please note we have had reports that some devices will show a "Launcher decision" popup on reboot. If you haven't done so already, please make sure you reboot after upgrading your device to make this selection.

Download Xibo for Android R108.

Download Xibo for Android R108 for DSDevices J18 and J19.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

Xibo for webOS 1.8 R14 Available

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Xibo for webOS 1.8 R14 Available

We are pleased to announce Xibo for webOS v1.8 R14. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8.3 onward.

This release contains 3 fixes/improvements:

  • We now support the LG E-Series of monitors! The supported monitors list has been updated to include this new series of monitors from LG.
  • We fixed an issue with On/Off Timers not working properly when lots of Timers have been set.
  • We fixed an issue where an invalid default Layout would prevent the rest of the Schedule being shown.

Download Xibo for webOS R14.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ at the end of the installation guide. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

Xibo for webOS 1.8 R15 Available

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Xibo for webOS 1.8 R15 Available

We are pleased to announce Xibo for webOS v1.8 R15. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8.3 onward.

This release contains 6 fixes/improvements:

  • We fixed a critical issue with some players getting stuck on the Loading screen.
  • We fixed an issue with expired trials and the way content was shown.
  • We improved the management of local storage and tidied up temporary files more effectively.
  • We store proof of play statistics in a local database rather than in memory.
  • We improved the logic for migrating to a new CMS if the CMS address was changed.
  • We added some extra logging so that the firmware and model number are available on the status window.

Download Xibo for webOS R15.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ at the end of the installation guide. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

Holiday Opening Times 2018/19

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Please note that Xibo Signage will close on Monday 24th December at 12:00 noon for the UK Christmas holidays and will re-open at 8am on Thursday 27th December. We will then be open as usual until Monday 31st December. We are then closed all day on Tuesday 1st January 2019 and return to normal hours from Wednesday 2nd January 2019.

If you require support during these closures, please contact our service desk and we will be in touch as soon as we are able.

The team at Xibo Signage wish you all seasons greetings and best wishes for 2019.

Linux Player - Technology Preview 0.3.3-alpha

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Linux Player - Technology Preview 0.3.3-alpha

We're very excited to be releasing today the second public "Technology Preview" of our forthcoming Player for Linux.

We're aiming to gather some feedback from the Community on how well the Player runs on the various types of hardware that you anticipate running a Linux Player on, as well as seeing what issues might be encountered.

This version builds on the functionality of the first public preview, and is now able to connect to a CMS over HTTP, and download whatever layout has been set as default, and then run that layout.

There's also been a whole raft of changes under the hood.

If you'd like to test the new Player, a small patch needs to be applied to your CMS to allow it to support the new type of Player. To make the patch:

  • Download the XiboForLinuxMiddleware PHP file, extract it, and put it in /shared/cms/custom if you are using Docker and /custom on a manual installation.
  • Update your settings-custom.php file, or add to your settings.php file for non-Docker based installs, the following new Middleware
$middleware = [new \Xibo\Custom\XiboForLinuxMiddleware()];

If successful you should see a new Display Profile for Linux added to your CMS whe you visit the Display Settings page.

Once your CMS is prepared, we'll need to get the Player installed. We're now using an improved distribution system based on snapcraft "snap" packages to package the Player for deployment. It offers a clean, dependency free installation, as well as the potential for automatic upgrades in the future.

Many Linux distributions support snap packages out of the box now, but we've tested with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 64 bit and 18.04 LTS 64 bit.

To install the Player, simply run:

snap install xibo-player-test --channel=beta

The Player will be installed without affecting any other software you might have installed on your machine.

To run the Player, change in to a directory where you want us to store the layout and media files (a temporary directory or a new empty directory is perfect), and then run

xibo-layer-test --host yourcms.example.org --server-key yourkey --hardware-key yourhardwarekey

The server key is the one you would normally use to register Players with the CMS. The hardware key is normally generated for you (and in the future it will be, but for now you can use a random string to identify this display).

The Player will register with the CMS. Press Ctrl+C in the terminal window to quit.

Now in the CMS, authorise the display as normal. You can set a default layout for the Player to show, and then run the Player again.

On each run, the Player will download the layout from the CMS, and render it for you.

Please let us know of any rendering issues you encounter in the comments below. Depending on the respose we get to this we may not be able to answer each comment individually, but will be reading the responses and investigating where feasible.

When you're finished testing, you can safely delete the files the Player created in your temporary directory, and if you want to remove the Player from your system, simply run

snap remove xibo-player-test

and the Player will be cleanly removed.

2.0.0-alpha Development Preview Released

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We are proud to announce the release of our first development preview for the 2.0 version of Xibo. The codename for this version is “Swift”.

Originally discovered on November 27, 1869 by Tempel (the codename for our 1.8 release), the 11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR comet was rediscovered by Swift on October 11, 1880, lost and rediscovered again by LINEAR on December 7, 2001.

2.0.0-alpha is a development preview only and should not be used in production. You can upgrade to this release from 1.8 series.

We have had 4 focus points for this version:

  • Improved Layout Design experience
  • Playlists
  • Draft/Published Layouts
  • Database Schema migrations for Upgrades

This alpha is a CMS only release - Player releases will follow in due course and you can use a 1.8 Player against a 2.0.0-alpha CMS.

Layout Designer

We've redesigned our Layout Designer from the ground up, with the new design being based on feedback from thousands of users with years of experience. The 'key brief' to bring about a simplified process for designing a Layout and to make that experience flow without interruption.

There is a new Toolbox, located at the bottom of the screen for adding Widgets and Library Media which includes tabs for searching in the Library. We've also given the toolbar a memory so that when you next open Xibo, you can pick up right where you left off.

We've enhanced how you position and size Regions on a Layout by using a Layout Navigator, located in the top left and made the Region timeline always visible. We've also included smarts to estimate when items will be shown in time with each other.

Playlists

Xibo has always had Playlists, but they've been single-use and hidden away inside Regions, making them inflexible.

We've extracted this concept out into its own Playlists Page accessible from the Library. You can now name and reuse these Playlists across multiple Layouts and Regions. Each Playlist you create has a timeline which can hold all Xibo's Widgets, even Sub-Playlists, which are assigned using the Toolbox. With the use of search criteria, Playlists can also be pre-populated on creation or dynamically kept up to date.

To assign a Playlist to a Layout you simply use the Sub-Playlist Widget. This Widget allows one or more Playlists to be selected and, if more than one is selected, you can decide how the Widgets on that Playlist are combined in the Region.

200a-subplaylist

Draft/Published Layouts

We've all been there - you have a Layout playing across your inventory and notice a typo, wrong logo being used, or that the date isn't quite correct. Currently, you need to go into Xibo to change it, make an adjustment and all Displays immediately download and play the Layout while you are still making changes...

We've solved that problem with Draft/Published on Layouts!

Before you can make any change to a Layout in 2.0 you need to Checkout to change the Layout to a Draft Layout. Changes made to a Draft Layout are never sent automatically to Displays, so you can take your time with edits. When you're done you can either Publish to make those changes permanent, at which point the Layout will be sent, or Discard to go back to the original Published version.

Database Migrations

We have adopted a tool called Phinx to help us manage database schema changes between versions. 1.8 and earlier had a tool developed in-house, which grew complex over time. Phinx gives us a strong framework to author and test migrations so that we can improve our database updates moving forward.

Download

We're making this alpha available for people to try using our recommended installation method, Docker. We will be providing release files for the stable 2.0.0 release for those of you running without Docker in due course.

Future development

Our immediate development work will be to prepare a 2.0.0-beta release which will add more polish to all the features we've put in 2.0 so far. We will also be responding to your feedback and any bug reports.

Beyond 2.0 we've begun working on 2.1, which will focus on improvements to Proof of Play statistics.

We're improving our release cycle - you can read about that here.


Xibo for webOS 1.8 R16 Available

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Xibo for webOS 1.8 R16 Available

We are pleased to announce Xibo for webOS v1.8 R16. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8.3 onward.

This release contains 1 fix:

  • We fixed an issue processing schedules which contain a mixture of priority and non-priority schedules

Download Xibo for webOS R16.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ at the end of the installation guide. It’s also well worth having a look at the Knowledge Base.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

Linux Player - Technology Preview 0.4-alpha

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Linux Player - Technology Preview 0.4-alpha

Today we're making available another preview of the forthcoming Player for Linux.

This new version supports downloading and processing the schedule from the CMS and is for the first time long-running, so it will switch between layouts as dictated by the CMS schedule. Overlay and command schedules are not supported.

It has no file management yet, so will download everything from the CMS on each collection, so it isn't suitable for use on anything other than a test CMS at the moment. It should not be used for production use.

Please see the post for the 0.3.3-alpha release for instructions on configuring your CMS to support the new Player.

Note also that you must have the File Download Mode in your CMS set to Apache or NGINX and your webserver correctly configured to support that. If you're using Xibo with Docker, then that has already been done for you.

Once your CMS is prepared, we'll need to get the Player installed. We're now using an improved distribution system based on snapcraft "snap" packages to package the Player for deployment. It offers a clean, dependency free installation, as well as the potential for automatic upgrades in the future.

Many Linux distributions support snap packages out of the box now, but we've tested with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 64 bit and 18.04 LTS 64 bit.

If you previously installed 0.3.3a and haven't removed it, then it will automatically upgrade in due course to 0.4a. You can force that to happen now by running:

snap refresh xibo-player-test --channel=beta

You can check to see what version of the Player you have installed by running

snap list

You should see an entry in the output like this:

Name                  Version         Rev   Tracking  Publisher     Notes
xibo-player-test      0.4-alpha       50    beta      stivius       -

If you've never run the test Player before, or you previously removed the snap package, then to install the Player, simply run:

snap install xibo-player-test --channel=beta

The Player will be installed without affecting any other software you might have installed on your machine.

To run the Player, change in to a directory where you want us to store the layout and media files (a temporary directory or a new empty directory is perfect), and then run

xibo-player-test --host yourcms.example.org --server-key yourkey --hardware-key yourhardwarekey

The server key is the one you would normally use to register Players with the CMS. The hardware key is normally generated for you (and in the future it will be, but for now you can use a random string to identify this display).

The Player will register with the CMS. Press Ctrl+C in the terminal window to quit.

Now in the CMS, authorise the display as normal. You can set a default layout for the Player to show, and then run the Player again.

On each run, the Player will download the layout from the CMS, and render it for you.

Please let us know of any rendering issues you encounter in the comments below. Depending on the respose we get to this we may not be able to answer each comment individually, but will be reading the responses and investigating where feasible.

When you're finished testing, you can safely delete the files the Player created in your temporary directory, and if you want to remove the Player from your system, simply run

snap remove xibo-player-test

You can see a list of known issues here:
https://github.com/xibosignage/xibo-linux/blob/13f698c439533d659c2ffa9a553e24122ccc08a9/CHANGELOG.md

In addition, we know there are issues with the Player connecting to servers that support only HTTPS connections, or that run on non-standard port numbers.

2.0.0-beta Released

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We are proud to announce the release of our first beta for the 2.0 version of Xibo. The codename for this version is “Swift”.

Originally discovered on November 27, 1869 by Tempel (the codename for our 1.8 release), the 11P/Tempel–Swift–LINEAR comet was rediscovered by Swift on October 11, 1880, lost and rediscovered again by LINEAR on December 7, 2001.

2.0.0-beta is a should be used for testing only and not be used in production. You can upgrade to this release from 1.8 series.

We have had 4 focus points for 2.0:

  • Improved Layout Design experience
  • Playlists
  • Draft/Published Layouts
  • Database Schema migrations for Upgrades

If you're interested in reading more about these things and what they mean for Xibo, please take a look at our 2.0.0-alpha blog post.

This beta is a CMS only release - Player beta releases will follow in due course and you can use a 1.8 Player against a 2.0.0-beta CMS.

We will leave you with a teaser screenshot of the new Layout Designer!

layout-designer-screenshot-for-blog

Download

We're making this beta available for people to try using our recommended installation method, Docker. We will be providing release files for the stable 2.0.0 release for those of you running without Docker in due course.

Subscription pricing is here!

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At Xibo we have a big plan, which is to make digital signage available to everyone! We want every business and organisation to be able to leverage the benefits that digital signage can bring. That is why we have introduced subscription pricing for our commercial players and hosting products.

What does this mean?

To put it simply, you can now purchase our Android, webOS and Tizen commercial players on an annual or monthly basis, and remove the upfront expenditure. And the same applies for our Xibo in the Cloud product.

If you prefer you can still purchase our licenses on a perpetual basis, choose whichever model is best for your business.

Stay current with free upgrades

If you are not already convinced, bug fixes, minor and major software version upgrades are available also for free. As you are on a subscription, you can keep up to date with the latest Xibo releases at no extra cost.

Some pricing examples

Here are some examples of what you would pay per display (excluding applicable taxes).

  • One Android display license = $18 per year or $1.50 per month
  • One webOS or Tizen display license = $72 per year or $6 per month
  • One Xibo in the Cloud display slot = $20.40 per year or $1.70 per month

So if you had 10 Android displays with Xibo in the cloud, that would cost just $32 per month. Bargain right?

Note: Examples use pricing on 25/01/2019, please check the shop the latest pricing. Taxes may apply.

Minimum volumes do apply for monthly purchases as per below.

  • For Android you need to purchase 10 or more display licenses
  • For Xibo in the cloud you will need to purchase 10 or more display slots
  • For webOS and Tizen you will need to purchase 3 or more display licenses.

Get started

Visit our shop and get started. Or if you need help, get in touch with our sales team on sales@xibosignage.com

1.8.12 Released

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1.8.12 Released

We are pleased to announce our 12th bug fix release for the 1.8 series of Xibo. The codename for this series is “Tempel”.

This release improves the stability and scalability of the Xibo platform through 84 bug fixes and improvements.

Download

Please use the links below to download this release:

You may use any 1.8 series compatible Player with this release. We are pleased to provide an updated Windows Player as part of this release. Download Xibo for Windows.

Upgrade

The CMS can be upgraded to later versions - we recommend all users upgrade when possible to take advantage of the latest bug fixes and features. Please refer to the upgrade guide.

Changelog

Please find below a complete list of changes in this release.

bug

enhancement

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