Boxee updates: Windows alpha gone public, MLB.tv HD streams and more

Just as promised, the Windows alpha of Boxee media center software is now open to all, but that's far from the only big announcement made, so hang tight for a second. MLB.tv has been added as a partner, allowing subscribers to catch games live and even in HD within the Boxee interface, as well as other new and upcoming integration with Digg, Tumblr and Current. Speaking of the interface, there's a new look (pictured above) to separate internet and locally-hosted content more clearly, and among the more granular tweaks Jaunty Jackalope support is official and Ubuntu users can enjoy 1080p playback via NVIDIA hardware acceleration. Check the blog for all the details including one more that probably only we can appreciate, it's now officially "Boxee" with a capital B, so the grammar police can set their weapons back to stun.

[mike @ Jun 24th 2009 12:48PM]

giddy up

[xcrunk @ Jun 24th 2009 2:10PM]

Yay, all 10 Boxee folks, you can now dance the cabbage patch in unison!

[anonymous @ Jun 24th 2009 12:49PM]

long live the queen of /b/!

[Mike @ Jun 24th 2009 1:41PM]

Doth queen smiteth you.

[yode @ Jun 24th 2009 4:49PM]

rules, bro
and no non raid bs

[rock99rock @ Jun 24th 2009 12:50PM]

Installing now.

How boxee er sorry, "B"oxee landed mlb.tv is beyond me. Isnt that normally a subscription service from the mlb.tv site?

[Dan @ Jun 24th 2009 12:53PM]

Pretty sure it still requires a sub.

[webran61 @ Jun 24th 2009 12:51PM]

This actually exciting.

Now if only they would change that weird logo. It looks like a mentally-challenged monster.

[kjb434 @ Jun 24th 2009 12:55PM]

You have to realize they are carrying Current TV. You'd have to be mentally challenged to watch any of that content.

[marc @ Jun 24th 2009 9:26PM]

Current TV is great, don't know what happened to your brain.

[BJ is Gooder @ Jun 24th 2009 12:58PM]

Thanks for the heads up! Going to d/l right when I get home!

[Jimmy Jones @ Jun 24th 2009 12:59PM]

shame on Hulu.

[Jimmy Jones @ Jun 24th 2009 12:59PM]

To be precise, shame on Hulu and its Desktop app crap and its sponsors...

[dan2600 @ Jun 24th 2009 2:03PM]

shame on hulu for still using FLV based HD video feeds that choke your processor/battery life because flash still hasn't gotten GPU acceleration right.


Ya...I'm a sliverlight fan....you have to admit netflix streaming has gotten a lot better since they started using it!

[dan2600 @ Jun 24th 2009 2:27PM]

divx streaming (like on ABC.com) is awesome too.

[SteveH @ Jun 24th 2009 1:00PM]

Nice! $90/yr. for mlb.tv premium vs. $209/yr. for dtv's mlb extra innings.

[terminator2366 @ Jun 24th 2009 1:13PM]

is boxee hard to install i dont wanna mess up my apple tv

[dubious @ Jun 24th 2009 1:20PM]

Its quite easy to put on your apple tv, and it doesn't mess up your existing apple tv interface.

I highly recommend giving it a try.

[kkilby @ Jun 24th 2009 2:08PM]

does the appleTV version of Boxee support mlb.tv? If so I am in heaven

[RHollister @ Jun 24th 2009 3:13PM]

That is my question as well. This writeup leads me to believe just the windows version supports it. If so I am going to buy an AppleTV right now.

[sal.tepedino @ Jun 24th 2009 3:18PM]

The reports of success are spotty.
See here: http://forum.boxee.tv/showthread.php?t=9881

[Robert @ Jun 24th 2009 1:16PM]

Hmmm... I always wanted to try boxee!

[marc @ Jun 24th 2009 9:27PM]

Do it! Its great!

[Marcus @ Jun 24th 2009 1:21PM]

Looks like Ubuntu just got a competitor for Mythtv. Right now there is a custom kernal (you have to compile it yourself) of Mythbuntu that supports VDPAU (the hardware acceleration mentioned here). Is Boxee going to eventually be a pay service? If it is I see no reason to go to it over Mythbuntu.

[norm @ Jun 24th 2009 5:33PM]

Too bad there's no 64-bit support on Ubuntu yet. Looks like updating will a bit of a pain... but most likely worth it.

[Wii60 @ Jun 24th 2009 1:23PM]

Boxee is good, but XBMC + Aeon is great.

I don't think I could have said that before they lost Hulu.

[freediverdude @ Jun 24th 2009 1:31PM]

boxie. *gets out machine gun and points at grammar police* You're not taking me alive!

[glenn s @ Jun 24th 2009 2:04PM]

No longer officially supports Ubuntu 8.04, is a really odd choice, since 8.04 is Ubuntu's current long term service OS. Other than that, lots of goodness in this release.

[thequestor @ Jun 24th 2009 2:05PM]

Wii60. Boxee IS XBMC. I guess it is a fork in its own right. But let us not forget where its roots come from.

[Wii60 @ Jun 24th 2009 4:43PM]

Well, you're right, it's a fork. Kind of a weird situation, and I've followed it closely. That said, I really like Aeon these days and just don't see the need to move over to boxee.

[jjrudey @ Jun 24th 2009 2:32PM]

yea it sucks i cant watch a vid without my computer freezing

[Art @ Jun 24th 2009 2:42PM]

partner ship with major sports leagues? 100,000 people JUST canceled their cable/sat service.
Seriously-sports finding alternate distribution channels will spell an end to the TV providers. polling found that many people would switch over to using things like Hulu, torrents, etc with a HTPC, but sports are keeping them

[kaslings @ Jun 24th 2009 3:07PM]

So does boxee support id3 tags yet? I refuse to rename 12,000 songs so it can use its screwball lookup format instead of just using the information stored in the fricken file to begin with....

[sal.tepedino @ Jun 24th 2009 3:21PM]

According to the patch notes, yes. I have yet to test it myself.

From the patch notes:
"MP3 files indexed based on id3 tags."

[daniel.omorrow @ Jun 24th 2009 3:37PM]

In the blog they mention that Movie names now skip "The" and MP3's are now indexed by ID3 tags.

Seriously though, Boxee FTW. It runs on my eeePC when plugged into ethernet (need the faster connection). I'm strictly OTA HD(3 tuners), Boxee and Netflix now.

[Todd @ Jun 24th 2009 3:13PM]

Unfortunately, MLB.TV won't play games local to your market. here in Boston, the only way to watch the RedSox is by subscribing to a premium cable package that has NESN. I looked into the MLB.TV, and would gladly have paid the cash for it...but all local games are blacked out on it.

[xsirxx @ Jun 24th 2009 3:30PM]

So can this work on the 360 as a media center? Or can any others?

[Marc @ Jun 24th 2009 3:40PM]

Actually, mlb.tv expects to get rid of blackouts soon.

http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_business_of_online_vi/2009/05/mlbtv-expects-to-do-away-with-blackout-restrictions-sooner-than-you-think.html

As a mets fan in NC, the blackout was only a minimal problem anyway, so we dumped cable as soon as hockey season ended. I'm pretty excited about the boxee announcement. Unfortunately, unless the NHL can push a decent feed online, I'll have to crawl back to TWC this winter. :(

[DarkFox @ Jun 24th 2009 4:33PM]

Awesome update... too bad it totally breaks digital audio output...

[gerrrg @ Jun 24th 2009 4:36PM]

It plays ISO and FLAC too!

Unfortunately, it doesn't do a good job of distinguishing the different bitrate streams on Shoutcast; you have to do a trial by error to find the right feed with the highest bitrate.

[Craig @ Jun 24th 2009 6:13PM]

Don't see what the fuss is over Boxee on Engadget vs players who have been in the space for years now, doing stuff just as well - like Mediaportal (www.team-mediaportal.com)

If this were a software update blog, great - but this is a gadget blog. Why are boxee alpha updates reported? Might as well report Mediaportal beta updates... it all snowballs from there.

Seriously, checkout Mediaportal - it's an amazing piece of kit - it's free - and open source.

[thequestor @ Jun 24th 2009 7:15PM]

MediaPortal is another ripoff, Er I meant fork of XBMC. From what I hear though Boxee actually gives back some to the devs, MediaPortal not so much. Both seem to add some non opensource code to the open source that is XBMC. Seriously head on over to http://xbmc.org and their forums. With all the great skins out there, there are few things these ripoffs, er I mean forks can do that XBMC can't with the proper skins and scripts. I guess I'm just a little partial since I make nightly builds of XBMC from SVN. http://www.xbmcsvn.com

[Jammer @ Jun 26th 2009 3:59PM]

I thought NVIDIA just said, when talking about the ION platform, that Linux couldn't yet do video acceleration. That was why NVIDIA is going with Windows CE on ION. Now Boxee gets video acceleration on Linux if you have NVIDIA hardware? I'm confused.

[Jammer @ Jun 26th 2009 4:02PM]

Crap, not ION, I meant Tegra.