CEDIA 2013

Unlike other custom installation, high end media servers, Fire-FX boasts that their system is easy to install. It auto detects the network, maps itself and connects. It is so easy, in fact, that the non-techie father of one of the principles was coming to the booth to demonstrate its simple set up.

Fire-FX is designed for the formal home theater. A customized splash screen can be created to say the name of the customer (e.g., “Barb Gonzalez Films Presents”). The Fire-FX server then pulls current movie trailers from online to play before your “feature presentation.” It will also display a “turn off your cell phone” screen for the complete Multi-plex cinema-type experience. While Fire-FX boasted this cinema type of experience, Ripwave also demonstrated a similar splash screen and preview experience.

There is no optical drive for ripping Blu-ray discs, instead movies must be downloaded from online as it supports Ultraviolet and other legal download sites. It does not play torrents as they are often illegally obtained.

After the easy setup, I don’t see how this media server can compete with ReQuest or Ripwave. It simply doesn't have anything special, and it's not easy to add content.