TCG Marquee is coming to Fire TV
Along with Google TV and Android TV, TCG Marquee is coming to Fire TV. It's one app for both: the same code goes to Google Play and to the Amazon Appstore.
Why Fire TV
A Fire TV stick is about the cheapest way there is to turn any TV with an HDMI port into a price wall. Plenty of you already have one in a drawer. Plug it into the TV in the card room, or a monitor at your show table, and that's your display.
Making it work on a small stick
Fire TV runs a version of Android, but it isn't quite the same as Google TV, so a few things are built with it in mind:
- No Google services. Fire TV doesn't have them, so the app doesn't use them for anything. The QR code for pairing is drawn by the app itself.
- Easy on memory. Some sticks have only 1 GB of memory, and card art at TV size is big. The app saves card pictures to storage and only loads the ones it's about to show, so a long collection doesn't slow it down.
- The screen stays on. The app keeps the TV awake while it's open. I'll be checking how that holds up against Fire TV's own sleep settings over a full day of running.
Everything else is the same as on Apple TV and Google TV: card pages, movers, binders, show mode for vendors, collection mode, and the ticker, paired to your account with a code on the screen.
Where it stands
The app is written and the Amazon Appstore listing is set up. I have a Fire TV stick for testing, and it gets the first build right alongside the Google TV box. No date yet: it ships when every page looks right on both.
Try your wall on Fire TV today
Fire TV has a web browser (Silk), so you can try screen mode on it now. I haven't tested it on Silk myself yet, so if you try it, tell me how it goes on the contact page.
Not in the beta yet? Request an invite and you'll be first in line for the app too.