boxee took full advantage of its space at
CES this year, and according to a recent post on its blog, it fielded quite a few inquiries from other companies about crafting a boxee-branded set-top-box. Currently, the only way to get boxee running is to install it on your TV-connected PC or inelegantly onto an Apple TV. A number of companies approached boxee asking for its thoughts on embedding the application into "existing or future products," so the cats at boxee are coming right out and soliciting your opinion on the matter. boxee does caution that getting it baked into a device would take "a long time," but it certainly seems like that ball is rolling. So, what say you? Would you snap one up? Or would you balk at the notion of adding yet another
STB underneath your television?
[Thanks, cros13]
posted Jan 22nd 2009 8:33AM
I'm probably one of the few that just isn't interested in something like this at all, at this point anyway. I don't get into online videos too much. And if I want to watch something specific, I just download it and stream it to the PS3.
In some situations this may be a better solution, but not something I'm ready to bother with.
I agree with your opinion and I don't have a "need" yet, but at the right price point, say $99, I would pick one up for the bedroom TV in a second. Any more than that and I'll stick with my crappy D-Link Media unit that's taped to the back of my LCD.
well, then obviously everyone must be just like you. so this thing is clearly worthless.
not everything streams to the ps3, btw.
I just wish you could install this on the original Xbox. XBMC started there and I still use mine more than my 360, so why don't they have a version for it?
I use boxee/xbmc on AppleTV and it is very very nice. Probably the best solution for watching movies whilst avoiding a PC! It is still in Alpha, so it does tend to crash occasionally. I only wish I could view Hulu outside the US!
I have hooked up my Mac mini to my 26" inch TV and configured the Apple remote to work with Boxee. Its perfect!
BTW, to stream hulu, you could use VPN (I had seen a plug-in on the net.) Just Google it !
Yeah, That would be sweet.
Can't be that difficult to get something rolling, they should take a crack at installing on a Popcorn hour (since that's the crux of most set-top boxes - Hard drive, Audio I/O, Video I/O, and an IR receiver).
I would be very surprised if there was not a factory in china manufacturing something similar already.
If Boxee doesn't make a simple, easy to set up/use AVI/Net video box, someone else will, very soon. (PH is almost there, besides the quirky UI, and AppleTV is almost there, sans the support for AVI and Hulu etc).
"I would be very surprised if there was not a factory in china manufacturing something similar already."
Absolutely, there are plenty of companies in Asia that pre-build every piece of consumer electronic imaginable; you sign up a production deal, hand in the desired specs, they slap your logo on it, and out it goes.
Boxee only makes sense to me in conjunction with a movie rental service. If they were to strike deals with the Movie studios, then that box would be quite compelling (especially if it had an OTA HDTuner).
well they have integrated netflix, on mac (so far) and it's awesome.
Well since I don't own any of that other hardware and the PC alpha is closed I have no idea. I've never used boxee.
Nice of you to share your lack of opinion, I've never met you so I was basically just saying I have no idea who you are....
I guess my "Opinion" is that opening up signups for the other alphas then starting a closed alpha is kinda silly.
They are two different development cycles. It's not silly. The Windows alpha is a completely different application than the Mac and Linux alphas, meaning it is at a much earlier stage and likely has many more bugs. If they open the Windows alpha now, they'll get flooded with the same bug reports over and over, when they could have started small to get the big things out of the way, then moved on to opening it up.
The windows alpha is not really closed. It is limited. You can sign up for it on their site if you are interested, and you'll get an invite when they are ready to handle more users. I've been using boxee on linux for a few months now, and it is pretty slick, but also still buggy. I just got my windows invite today, so I'll be downloading and playing with it tonight. Word out of CES was that they were planning to open up the windows version for everyone by the end of the month, but now it seems that it may be a little bit longer. There are a whole lot more people who run windows than linux/mac/appleTV, so their servers can handle the load of potential users at the moment. When they open up to the windows world, they're going to need to have a lot more capacity than they do right now. Boxee is an much a service as it is a piece of software. It needs to be logged into the service for it to work. That is core to the design and the revenue model, but it also has its drawbacks.
As long as it's not called Boxxy.
Exactly what I was thinking.
What an unfortunate name...
I'm not trolling!
Cancer!
my name is boxxy - sorry I had to. This looks good though.
gtfb2/b/
I downloaded Boxee the other day. It pretty much rocks, and I'll be surprised if it doesnt take off in a big way.
I installed it on a Mac Mini connected to our TV that has an Elgato EyeTV Hybrid connected to it. We use the machine as a DVR and to watch movies. The pimp thing about Boxee is that it has things like Hulu built in, which has legit HD shows to watch. Once they get in with ABC, CBS, NBC, etc, you will basically have a DVR that requires no hard drive space. On demand shows rock.
I am using boxee on AppleTV and have been very impressed with it so far, especially with it being an Alpha. I can only say that if they have done this good of a job with it in it's Alpha stage I can't wait to see what's coming in Beta. I am very interested in seeing them make progress towards getting NetFlix to work on AppleTV/boxee. I would also like to see them incorporate more networks like Fox and NBC as part of the streaming (albiet they do have Hulu).
I have tried several streaming solutions such as the 360 and PS3 and all are great but we're a Mac family and everything just works better for us uing Mac/iPod/AppleTV and having boxee running on AppleTV is a nice alternative for streaming media from the net and other machines.
I don't know that I would purchase a set top box made by boxee (even though I think it would be a great box) simply because I already have so many alternatives right now. Heck even my DirecTV HR20 can do some streaming and has some other nice features. I don't need another box but it might be a good alternative for anyone who doesn't have something already. The issue here is that most people that know about boxee probably already have something else so I don't know how successful they would be.
Does anyone fancy match making tvcatchup.com and boxee together, This would mean live TV streaming for UK audience. I have made a post on the tvcatchup forum and boxee forum.
http://forums.tvcatchup.com/showthread.php?t=1157
http://forum.boxee.tv/showthread.php?p=31078#post31078
Or you could just use a Windows Media center and install TunerFree MCE, which gives you full access to all of BBC,ITV,C4&C5 catch up content and even live streams.
Don't get caught in the same rut as TiVo has gotten themselves into. License your software to as many hardware vendors as you can, don't produce your own labeled devices.
You'll make more money off of licensing, in the long run, than you will by have a small niche all by yourself.
They should drop the "we don't do windows" mantra and write a version for Vista. That would allow boxee to run along side media center, netflix and amazon VoD all on a single box. Admittedly that would force them to nestle up to their competition on the same hardware, but gives them a bigger channel reach and they could outmaneuver their competition with software....
...or, they could stay in the lower half of the market penetration with their current strategy...or try and foist another set-top box on people...and then fade into obscurity no matter how slick it is. Cuz that NEVER happens.
Um, they do, it is called the Windows alpha version. Also, keep in mind that Boxee is an offshoot of XBMC, which only just recently introduced Windows support. I would suggest that Boxee focus on working out all the bugs first before they start considering their own set top box...
I would love the ability to install Boxee on my PCH (I am an alpha tester of Boxee on my Windows HTPCs)
the windows alpha version was just released..
I really like Boxee's service. Mine is installed on a MacBook. At first, I thought, "Awesome! Boxee would be a great add to my home entertainment system." Then my brain kicked in and realized that I wouldn't buy it - I already get their service to my TV.
As far as their business model is concerned, they are software experts and they do that very well. They should focus on adding more feeds and services and not on going the hardware route. I agree with Tom Gladstone's comment - license your software to dedicated hardware makers.
Best of luck!
Step 1: Add DVR capabilities
Step 2: Get motorolla to spend a total of $25 per cable box rather than the 50 cents they spend now (their hardware sucks)
Step 3: Get cable company to license boxee as firmware for cable box
Step 4: .....
Step 5: $$$
for anyone wondering about the PC version - it rocks and is very stable. I've been hooked catching up on some shows for hours :)
If boxee can get Netflix on the appleTV, i would be happy with keeping boxee as software only.. But if not, then I wouldn't mind a set top box
I would be way more interested in an XBMC/Plex STB. Granted my time spent in boxee beta has been limited, but it just doesn't seem to be nearly as good of a media center. I suppose one benefit making STB's would have, is that it would get the market saturation higher, so you might actually, you know, have a friend who also has boxee, and be able to use some of it's functionality.
All of this being said, it would have to come out cheaper than a mac mini, and be able to play back 1080p AC3 content as easily.
A stand alone box would be fine. I had planned on getting a refurb Apple TV, but did not know it could not run the Netflix streaming option. If they do a box, it would have to be under $200, otherwise I would go for an Asus EEE box and roll my own.
I can haz it on my xbox 360? Please?
I haven't messed w/ it at all yet. Is this a replacement for a cable subscription? Can I view HD sports live?
My dream machine would be appleTV with blueray built in, and ability to run boxee including netflix.
appleTV = DRM music I purchased from them
blueray = rent Netflix new releases in full 1080p
netflix watch it now / boxee = watch all the TV shows and other stuff I dont care about high-quality with
If this standalone machine had a blueray, it'd be very nice...
How will they do this legally? Boxee along with XBMC includes libdvdcss which might not fly in countries like the United States. It's obviously used by almost all Linux users but without a company behind and money to lose it it's been no big deal. I am not so sure the DVD consortium would be up for approving them as a legit vendor anytime soon...
Boxee on the PS3!
Boxee on the PS3!
Boxee on the PS3!
Boxee on the PS3!
Boxee on the PS3!
That is most unlikely to ever happen It only runs on an Intel CPU. If you don't believe this, go to the XBMC forums are read the sticky thread about running XBMC on the PS3. You can't, and you never will, according to them. Since Boxee is based on XBMC, it can't run on the PS3 either.
Of course, XBMC is open source, so if you want to try porting it...
That's an easy question: NVIDIA's Ion Platform.
it's all well and good until someone tell me what the pricepoint is. am i dropping another 800 bucks to sit a box on top of my cable; my game system; my computer etc....
I always thought they should sell their own Boxee hardware. A lot of people are installing it on an Apple TV, but having a media center solution with supposedly mainstream appeal that you have to hack into a device, made by a company who probably doesn't want you to hack into your device, is not an optimal solution. It should come pre-installed.
I'm sure they could push the price lower than the Apple TV, and they could provide hardware features that are not available the the former.
It would be nice to see a device not much larger than a Popcorn Hour housing a 3.5" SATA drive.
Boxee runs on the Neuros LINK ( http://www.neurostechnology.com/neuros-link ) as well.
I'll only be interested in this, if it had all of the following:
1 )Wide video codec support
2) Playback of Blu-Ray rips
3) Wide Audio codec support
4) Network capability to stream from PC
5) HD Audio support (DTS-HD MA, DTS-HD, TruHD, etc), even if it's pass-through
6) HDMI 1.3 output with 1080P resolution
Popcornhour + Boxee GUI = winner for me, even though it is unlikely the PCH has the power to run it.
A year or two ago I found myself with massives amounts of video on my PC but with no easy way to view it on my television. A PC-to-TV S-Video cable was out of the question. I ended up hacking the original xbox and isntalling XBMC, hooking it up to the network, and streaming from my PC to the TV via XBMC. I have loved it. The one thing I really wish I could do was full screen Hulu playback, but that is a no go with XBMC.
Besides the standard boxee features the features that would make the "boxee box" a must have for me would be. Built in TV Tuners for recording possibly with a integrated Digital-to-Analog converter for this TV switch, a couple eSATA/USB ports on the back for storage hookups, and a nice feature would be the ability to stream media over the web like the SlingBox does. That would be one killer box.
I've been alpha testing the boxee software for a few months now, and I just don't see this succeeding as a standalone set top box. Your average consumer just won't buy into it.
The software, however, the consumer would buy into. Distribution through existing cable operators/satellite operators is a must to make this a working business model. Consumers will certainly see the value in Boxee, and may even be willing to pay a premium to use it over their existing, familiar distribution devices.
I'll be rooting for Boxee, just not in a standalone set top box.
I disagree. You could say the same thing about the Roku Netflix player, but it seems to be fairing pretty well. The hardware requirements are probably about the same or just a little bit higher. I think $150 is the top end of the price range for it though. But they ALSO need to get it on as many other devices as possible. Basically follow the same strategy as Netflix, and since Boxee also does handle Netflix service, the latter co. probably would be supportive.
I'd buy it in a heartbeat. That said, I do have a couple requests:
1) Ability to mount any standard DVD/Blu-ray drive in the STB (unless the STB is very small, in which case, I'd be happy to forgoe)
2) Ability to use said drive to rip media to the...
3) Internal HDD, preferably accessable/changable
4) USB/eSATA for when a friend comes over with a portable drive
5) Ability to output over HDMI and composite A/V at the same time (I've got a channel modulator that used to serve my DVR to the bedroom. It's been unocupied since I canceled my pay-TV service).
Oh, and keep it under $300 if possible.