NOW TV Smart Stick: What It Is and How It Works

Cos’è NOW Smart Stick

Come già accennato in opening of the post, NOW Smart Stick is a key that connects to the HDMI port of the TV and gives access to the catalog of NOW, plus a host of apps like Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Vevo e Vimeo. It measures just 84 x 20,3 x 12,6 mm for 20 grams of weight and, consequently, you can always carry it with you. It can be powered directly through the USB socket of the TV (if this is able to supply enough energy) or through the special power supply supplied.

In the sales package of the device there are: NOW Smart Stick, remote control to control it remotely, a pair of AAA batteries to be inserted in the remote control, the USB / microUSB cable for the energy supply of the Smart Stick, thepower pack to be connected to the electrical outlet, the fast guide installation of the product and the manual with the product information. Also, there is a tab with a promo code which allows you to take advantage of 3 months of viewing a ticket of your choice between Cinema or TV Series + Entertainment or 1 month of the Sports ticket.

The device connects to the Internet only via Wi-Fi, supports reti 802.11 dual-band con standard wireless b/g/n/ac and is capable of playing videos up to resolution Full HD to 1080p. It also supports digital audio via HDMI (7.1 / 5.1 pass through).

Minimum requirements for NOW Smart Stick

The requirements to use NOW Smart Stick they are few and within everyone's reach. All you need is a TV with HDMI input (even not Smart), a Internet connection of at least 2.5Mbps in download (3.5Mbps to view HD content), a credit card or PayPal account for NOW account activation (no charges are made before the free trial period expires) and a Wi-Fi router, as the device only supports connecting to the network wirelessly.

Prezzo NOW Smart Stick

NOW Smart Stick you can buy for 29 € directly on the NOW website, in the main electronics stores and in some of the most famous online stores. It comes with a promo code for you to see 3 months of a ticket of your choice between Cinema, Entertainment e TV Series. Furthermore, if you are a new NOW user, you can activate the initial promotion of the service and take advantage of 14 days of free viewing of all three tickets. At the end of the trial period, the cost of the various contents is as follows.

• Pass Cinema - costs 9,99 euros / month. It includes over 1.000 on-demand titles with 7 new films per week and access to 8 live streaming Sky Cinema channels. HD included. More info here.
• Pass Entertainment - costs 9,99 euros / month. It includes the complete seasons and the most recent episodes of the best series and TV shows broadcast by Sky, plus thematic channels in live streaming. More info here.
• Sport Pass - costs 29,99 euros / month, 14,99 euros / week or 6,99 euros / day. Watch all major live sporting events including Serie A football (7 out of 10 matches per round), UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Moto GP, Formula 1 and NBA in HD at no additional cost. More info here.
• Pass Kids - costs 3,99 euros / month. It includes some content dedicated to the little ones selected by the other passes.

All tickets are possible cancel at any time at no cost, having the possibility to access their contents until the natural expiration of the subscription. They are all in HD on the selected devices and in simultaneously on 2 devices (except the Sport pass). Cinema and Entertainment passes can be had together for € 14,99 / month.

How to use NOW Smart Stick

At this point, I'd say we can put the chatter aside and see how NOW Smart Stick works more closely: below you will find all the information you need on the initial configuration of the device, the activation of the NOW account and the use of the contents on the latter. Enjoy your reading and have fun!

Activate your account on NOW Smart Stick

Before you connect the NOW Smart Stick to your TV, you must create an account on NOW or, if you already have one, redeem the promo code contained in the device package.

Then log in to the NOW website and click on the button Enter it here placed next to the item Do you have a NOW promo code?. On the page that opens, type yours promo code in the appropriate text field, click on the button Confirm code and choose which ticket to try for free for 3 months between Cinema, Entertainment e TV Series.

After this step too, you have to decide whether to create a new account on NOW or whether to add the promo code to an existing account. If you are not yet a member of NOW, please fill out the form Sign up for NOW by entering your address in it e-mail and Password you want to use to access the service and click on the button Continue.

If, on the other hand, you already have a NOW account, click on the button Login and log in to the service using your credentials.

In case you have chosen to create a new account, after entering your email and password, you must fill out the form that is proposed to you by entering all the required information: name, last name, fiscal Code, address, city, POSTAL CODE, province e telephone number. Then you have to choose whether to receive communications and commercial offers from Sky and whether to allowbehavior and preference analysis, by checking the appropriate boxes, and you have to click on the button Proceed I will continue.

Finally, choose whether to associate one with your account credit card or prepaid card or PayPal account, placing the check mark next to one of the two available boxes, click on the button Proceed and enter the details of the selected payment method. No charges will be made until the initial NOW trial period has expired.

Subsequently, to avoid the automatic renewal of the subscription and therefore the payment of the tickets activated on your TV account, you will have to go to the NOW settings and act as I will explain in the final part of the tutorial.

NOW Smart Stick Initial Setup

Once you've created a NOW account (or redeemed the NOW Smart Stick promo code on an existing account), you're ready to enjoy your favorite content on your home TV!

Extract the contents of the NOW Smart Stick package and insert the batteries in remote control of the device. After that, colleague NOW Smart Stick to the HDMI port the TV and power the stick using the USB port of the latter (through the USB / microUSB cable included in the sales package). If your TV does not have free USB ports or cannot deliver enough power to power the NOW Smart Stick, plug the device into an electrical outlet using thepower pack Supplied.

Now, all you have to do is tune the TV to the HDMI output to which you connected the NOW Smart Stick and wait a few seconds for the initial device configuration procedure to start. The procedure in question is really simple and takes a few seconds.

The first step you need to take is to choose the language to use NOW Smart Stick: then select the option cityno from the menu that is proposed to you and press the button OK on the remote control to go forward.

With that done, select one WIFI network among those available and connected to it by entering the relative access key. Once the access key has been entered, press the button Connect and wait for the NOW Smart Stick to check the network status.

If the network check is successful, the NOW Smart Stick checks for the availability of software updates and, if successful, it starts the download and installation: to confirm, press the button OK and wait for the device to reboot (it shouldn't take long).

When starting the NOW Smart Stick again, select the item Automatic screen setup from the device menu, press OK and wait a few seconds for the resolution of the TV to be detected. If the resolution detected by the Smart Stick is the correct one, answer Yes to the message that appears on the screen.

Subsequently, accept the terms of use of NOW by pressing the button OK of the remote control for two consecutive times and presses the button I already have an account to login to your account.

Enter, at this point, username/email e Password of your NOW account in the appropriate text fields and press the button Log in to login.

In conclusion, wait a few seconds for the loading apps pre-installed in NOW Smart Stick (eg YouTube and Vevo), take a look at thePrivacy Policy e pigia his Close e Done to access the main menu of the device.

Come guardare NOW su NOW Smart Stick

Here we are: once the initial setup procedure of the NOW Smart Stick is complete, you are ready to enjoy the contents included in your subscription! To get a quick overview of the most interesting movies, TV series, shows and sporting events of the moment, select the item Here are the top picks. from the home menu of the device and browse all the categories available in the screen that opens, for example Do not miss with the titles of the moment; Recently added with the most recent releases and Recommended with sporting events and programs selected by the NOW staff.

To browse all the contents of a NOW ticket, go to the right, at the end of the titles highlighted in the "Top Picks" screen, and select the item See all relating to the ticket of your interest (eg. Ticket Cinema, Entertainment Ticket o TV Series Ticket). The NOW app will open, through which you can browse the entire catalog of the service and search even more precisely for the content of your interest.

Alternatively, you can access the NOW app by simply selecting the item Home from the main menu of the device (on the left) and then pressing on the box relative to the application NOW or, again, by pressing the keys TV Series, Entertainment, Cinema e Sport on the remote control (in this way you will directly access the app menus dedicated to the various tickets available).

Once you have entered the NOW app, you can browse the available contents based on their categories and sub-categories: all you have to do is take advantage of the menu located in the left sidebar.

For example, selecting the item TV Series from the app menu, you can view the list of the episodes most recently added to the catalog, while pressing the key > on the remote control you can view all the categories of TV series available: Do not miss with the most interesting series of the moment; Latest episodes with the most recently added episodes to the catalog; Complete seasons with full seasons of the series available on NOW; Sky Original Production with the original series produced by Sky (eg "Gomorra" and "1992") e All with the complete list of series in the catalog. Within each category, then, it is possible to find sub-categories. For example, in the category "Complete Seasons" you can find sub-categories to view the series of Sky Atlantic, Fox Box Sets o abc Studios.

The categories and sub-categories available in the section Entertainment they are also numerous: there is the category Do not miss with the most interesting contents of the moment; the category Show & Serie which contains within it the best reality, show & talent and series included in the NOW Entertainment ticket; the category Documentaries & Lifestyle which includes numerous documentaries dedicated to modern art, actuality, Biography, music, history and more and, finally, the section Kids with contents intended for children.

As for the films, however, by selecting the item Cinema from the NOW sidebar, you can view the list of first views available in the service catalog, while pressing the key > on the remote control, you can browse movies based on various criteria: Collections to view the film collections dedicated to various themes (eg superheroes, love, film festivals, etc.); Genres to browse the titles in the catalog based on their film genre (e.g. animation, adventure, comedy, drama or horror) or All to view the complete list of titles included in the NOW catalog.

Do you want to search for content based on its title, rather than browsing the NOW catalog? Very easy: select the item Search from the NOW Smart Stick side menu (or press the magnifying glass on the remote) and use the virtual keypad you see on the screen to type in the title of the movie, series or TV show you want to find. The results will automatically appear on the right.

When you find a content of your interest, you can start viewing it simply by selecting its cover image e pigging your pulse Look now present in the screen that opens (i.e. its descriptive card, with plot, duration, resolution, etc.).

In the case of TV series and programs consisting of several episodes, however, you must first select the season and l 'episode of your interest and then press the button Look now.

In the descriptive tab of films, series and TV shows you will also find the button Add to My TV, which allows you to add content to your favorites list, and the button suggested, which instead allows you to see a list of titles similar to the one selected (in order to discover potentially interesting content within the NOW catalog). Content added to favorites becomes accessible from the menu My TV> Favorites di NOW.

Once you have started watching a content, you can control its playback using the controls that appear automatically at the bottom of the screen (and can be recalled at any time by pressing the v of the NOW Smart Stick remote control): in addition to the classic buttons to go forward, back and put in play / pause, there are the button [I] which allows you to view the plot and other information on the content being played and the button with the icon comic which, on the other hand, allows you to activate or deactivate subtitles.

Alternatively, you can control content playback and increase / decrease the volume of what you are watching using the appropriate buttons on the NOW Smart Stick remote control.

Once you start playing a content, NOW will automatically store your viewing progress and allow you to resume viewing from the point you left it, regardless of the device used. The started contents will be automatically added to the list My TV of the NOW app side menu.

As already mentioned above, NOW Smart Stick does not only allow access to the immense catalog of NOW's on-demand contents, but also to the live broadcasts of the channels included in your subscription.

To view the live broadcast of a channel, all you have to do is select a ticket from TV Series, Entertainment, Cinema e Sport from the sidebar of the NOW app and choose the item Channels on air from the menu that opens: a screen will appear with the list of all the channels available in the ticket and their schedule (therefore the list of programs currently on air). To start playback, all you have to do is select the channel of your interest and press the button OK remote control.

Do you want to expand your offer and activate new tickets on NOW? Then select the item My account from the sidebar of the app, choose the ticket of your interest from those available (eg. TV Series, Entertainment, Cinema, Sport or Option +) e pigia sul pulsating Buy Now but I will complete the operation.

If, on the other hand, you want to disable the automatic renewal of a ticket at the end of the free trial, follow the instructions you find in the chapter of the tutorial on troubleshooting problems related to NOW Smart Stick.

How to use apps on the NOW Smart Stick

In addition to all NOW content, the NOW Smart Stick gives you access to a wide range of additional applications, some of which are already pre-installed on your device. Among the apps pre-installed on the device are: YouTube, Vevo, Vimeo, Roku Media Player (for the reproduction of the contents present in the local network) e WSJ Video. Among those that can be installed on request, however, there are: TuneIn (to listen to online radios), Red Bull TV, HappyKids TV (for the little ones), GoPro, TED, iFood e The Food Channel (both dedicated to cooking), Booking Hunter e TripSmart TV (dedicated to travel) and screensavers Fishi e Presto’s Crackling Fireplace.

To access the list of apps available on the NOW Smart Stick, go back to the main menu of the device (by pressing the Home on the remote control) and select the item first Apps and then the voice All Apps from the left sidebar. A screen will open with the list of all the applications installed on the NOW Smart Stick (marked by the green dot with the check mark inside), plus the apps available for download.

To download an app that is not yet installed on the NOW Smart Stick, select its icon, press the button OK on the remote control and then select the item Add app from the screen that opens. To start an app that is already present on the device, however, all you have to do is select its icon and press the key OK on the remote control.

How to change the settings of the NOW Smart Stick

As we have just seen together, NOW Smart Stick it is an extremely simple device to use, which does not require any particular configuration. This, however, does not mean that it does not have a large number of settings that allow you to optimize and customize its operation according to your needs.

To better understand what I mean, press the button Home of the NOW Smart Stick remote control, to access the device's home menu, and select the item Settings from the left sidebar. At this point, select one of the items that appear on the screen and adjust the settings of the NOW Smart Stick as you like.

• Network - allows you to view information on the connection in use, check the status of the network and set up a new Internet connection (in order to change the Wi-Fi network to which the device is connected).
• Screen saver - allows you to choose the screensaver that must start in moments of inactivity of the NOW Smart Stick and the amount of time that must pass before its departure (by default it is 10 minutes).
• Screen resolution - allows you to set the screen resolution (720p, 1080p or automatic).
• Subtitles - allows you to activate or deactivate the display of subtitles and to adjust all the settings that concern them, such as language, text format, size, color, opacity, etc.
• Remote control - allows you to pair a new remote control with the NOW Smart Stick, know the battery level of the remote control in use and configure the NOW Smart Stick remote control for use with the TV (the NOW Smart Stick remote control can control the ignition and volume of some TV models).
• Audio - allows you to adjust the default volume of the contents played on NOW Smart Stick, the audio mode (stereo or Dolby D +), the type of audio output (automatic, PCM Stereo, Dolby D, Dolby D +, Dolby D DTS or Dolby D + DTS) and activate or deactivate the night mode (which automatically reduces the high tones and increases the low ones).
• Privacy - allows you to disable advertising tracking.
• System - allows you to get detailed information on the device in use, set the time zone, configure the NOW Smart Stick language, check for software updates, activate or deactivate the "control other devices" function (to automatically switch to NOW Smart Stick when press any button on the remote control), set the device to turn off automatically, restart the NOW Smart Stick and adjust the advanced system settings (then return the NOW Smart Stick to its factory state, reset the network connection and activate / deactivate the control via remote control app).

How to control NOW Smart Stick from smartphone

There was one Android smartphone or iPhone, you can control NOW Smart Stick via the latter by downloading theNOW's official app. All you have to do is install the official NOW app via the Play Store or the App Store, launch it and log in to your account. Once this is done, if the smartphone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the NOW Smart Stick, you will see the icon of NOW Box at the top right of the application.

At this point, you just have to click on the icon of NOW Box, select the name of yours NOW Smart Stick from the menu that appears at the bottom and finally press the icon of remote control displayed in the lower left corner of the screen. You will then see all the controls for controlling the NOW Smart Stick from the phone: the directional arrows, the button OK central, the buttons play / pause e forward backward, the keys Home e back and so on.

Another very interesting thing you can do after connecting your smartphone to the NOW Smart Stick is to send any content from the app to the TV. To do this, select a content in the NOW app on your smartphone, press the button Watch on TV that appears on your phone screen and… enjoy the show on your TV!

NOW Smart Stick Problems and Questions

You still have some doubts about the functioning of NOW Smart Stick or did you run into a problem while playing your favorite content? Let me help you dispel your last doubts and resolve any issues you may have encountered using the device.

• The NOW Smart Stick remote control no longer works. The problem could be due to the low battery charge of the remote control or to the lack of communication between the remote control and the NOW Smart Stick. To fix, grab the NOW Smart Stick remote, open the battery compartment (on the back) and try using one new pair of batteries. If the batteries are full, press the key located at the bottom right of the back of the remote control (under the battery compartment) and hold it down for about 3 seconds: the procedure for pairing the remote control with the NOW Smart Stick should start.
• Cannot play content on NOW Smart Stick because “the maximum number of pairing devices has been exceeded”. Each NOW account supports pairing up to 4 devices. It is likely that you have already associated the maximum number of devices with your account and, therefore, to make room for the NOW Smart Stick, you will need to delete one. To delete one of the devices currently associated with your NOW account, connect to this web page (log in to your account, if necessary) and click on the button Remove related to the device you want to unpair.
• Slowdowns or freezes when playing videos. For correct playback of the videos on NOW, a download connection of at least 2.5Mbps is required. To check if your connection meets these requirements, perform the speed test on the NOW website. Also check that the router is placed close enough to the NOW Smart Stick. If the connection is not having problems, try restarting NOW Smart Stick by pressing the appropriate button on the device or by going to the menu Settings> System> Power On / Off and selecting the voice System reboot da quest'ultimo.

• Cannot play HD content. If you are unable to play HD content, make sure you have a download connection of at least 3.5Mbps (by performing the speed test available on the NOW website) and check that your subscription includes theOption +. Also, go to the menu Settings> Screen Resolution NOW Smart Stick and check that the option is enabled 1080p.
• Disable automatic ticket renewal. If at the end of the free trial period you do not want to trigger the automatic renewal (for a fee) of your tickets, connected to this NOW page, log in to your account (if required) and click on the button Modification placed next to the name of the ticket you want to deactivate. Then put the check mark next to the reason that is pushing you to cancel the subscription (eg. I suspend NOW temporarily) and confirm by pressing the button Confirmation.
• A message about the lack of electricity is displayed. It happens when the USB port on the TV is not powerful enough to power the NOW Smart Stick. To solve this problem, power the device using the power supply included in the sales package instead of the USB port on the TV.
• Cannot play content due to an error. If you are unable to play NOW contents due to “server communication errors” or errors encoded with various numeric codes, try the following.
  • Go to the menu Settings> Network> Check Connection NOW Smart Stick and make sure your device is properly connected to the network. If not, go on Settings> Network> Set Up Connection and set up a new connection. Otherwise go on Settings> System> Advanced System Settings and select the item Restoring the network connection to reset all network settings.
  • Restart the NOW Smart Stick by going to the menu Settings> System> Power On / Off and selecting the voice System reboot da quest'ultimo.
  • Restart the router.
  • If the previous solutions didn't work, go to the menu Settings> System> Advanced System Settings NOW Smart Stick and select the item Factory reset to restore the device to its factory state (which will erase all apps and settings). Alternatively, if you are unable to access the NOW Smart Stick menu, press and hold the key which is on the body of the device for about 6 seconds - you will get the same result.

In case of further doubts, I invite you to consult the section Help NOW app on NOW Smart Stick (in the left sidebar) and the official support page of the NOW website. For more info on the operation of NOW Smart Stick, however, consult the official website of the product.

Article written in collaboration with NOW.

NOW TV Smart Stick: What It Is and How It Works