RetailPlayer Firmware V6.0.0

Change Log

New Features

• Retailplayer v6.0.0 uses an all-new playback and control engine, including many enhancements:
  • fade-in when starting the player
  • fade-out when stopping/restarting the player
  • cross-fade of streams when switching channel
  • cross-fade a dying stream with the incoming stream, as long as there is enough buffer
  • fade-out dead streams when no other material is available for playback
  • fade-in streams when starting playback
  • gap-less playback of local files
  • cross-fading when transitioning to/from playback of local tracks from/to playback of internet streams
• network buffer of 60s
• typical startup time of stream playback: less than 10 seconds (depending on the stream provider)
• new API  to communicate with portal with improved reliability and reporting of status
• Support for playback of files from root folder of USB drive (gap-less, with cross-fade):
  • Portal Mode: Priority playlist, with precedence over MAIN url.
    • Allows the enable/disable of the USB drive via portal
  • Standalone Mode: Failover tracks may be provided in a USB drive
• Failover tracks are reloaded automatically if they are changed in the portal
• When playing from a playlist/local files, report the name of the file playing currently (portal and local web ui)

• When playing a stream, report the actual URL of the stream (portal and local web ui)

• Report buffer level (seconds and percentage) to the portal

• Added support for decoding Opus encoded stream-types
• Premium*: Insertion of local audio clips (ads, announcements, etc) over the background music with schedule set by the RetailPlayer Portal
  • support for custom volume when playing it back (defined by the schedule)
  • Automatic management of audio clips in cache for instant playback

*Premium functions will be part of RetailHero subscription plan. Currently free to use. Pricing and final availability will be published soon. 

Changes/Improvements

• The player generates less network activity when recovering from a loss of connection to the portal
• Automatically obtain the date from the portal when NTP is not available
• Brand new look and feel of the local web UI of the RetailPlayer device
  
• Improved compatibility ot the local web UI with Firefox browser
• Removed METADATA PORT FORWARD
• Removed support for Barimon
• Reduced the time the unit took to shutdown/reboot
• Improved quality of the audio re-sampler
• Addeed support for OPUS codec

Fixes

• Fixed: Audible artifacts during shutdown/reboot of the device
• Fixed: The "enable Web Interface" from the portal was not persistent 
• Fixed: Some HTTP streams would not play 

Known Limitations

• Ethernet interface must be kept in DHCP mode to allow Wireless LAN operation
• WLAN interface is not identified by Discovery Tool
• Priority URL supports only HTTP protocol 
• .wav audio files are not supported
• Local Web UI is not protected by default with the password printed on the backside of the RetailPlayer device.  the device asks for no password when shipped. 
• Local Web UI is currently accessible only with HTTP protocol (no HTTPs support)
• The RetailPlayer device plays all audio clips and scheduled streaming channels when there is a backward time change (i.e. when the time zone is changed by mistake to a western zone or when there is an automatic change of the time due to winter time change) 
• The first time a device running FW 6.0 connects with the Portal doesn't report the Main Stream and Fallback Stream fields. Those are reported correctly after one channel switch operation. The Active stream and Active Resource fields are displayed correctly.
• Volume is not consistent with FW V5.X, it is lower by 30%
• Update of the Firmware cannot be done using WiFi only connection, wired connection must be used
• The player opens multiple HTTP connections when connecting with an http stream, this causes waste of network resources and might result in the RetailPlayer device being banned from some strict streaming service providers 

Deployment