Boxee Box delayed until November
By Nilay Patel 
posted June 11th 2010 7:01PM
posted June 11th 2010 7:01PM
If we had to guess, we'd say at least part of the delay can be attributed to Adobe, since Flash 10.1 just went final yesterday and Boxee is depending on it as a core feature, but either way, the company's goal to provide the full PC Boxee experience complete with full-res 1080p video playback from virtually any local or remote source on a small embedded platform is an ambitious one -- we've got our fingers crossed, let's hope we hear good news from Avner Ronen and crew come November.
MAN...I FUCKING LOVE BOXEE!
@Bruce Willis
Do I need to say anything?
GAH! I've been waiting for this since it was announced. Now this? Awful news. Just awful.
Most odd. I don't think I've ever seen a slower development team than the Boxee devs.
Yes, it's a nice front end, but they started two years ago with a fully functional product (XBMC) and they're barely back to where they started.
I love the product, but with the existing software development process so slow, I don't hold out much hope of ever seeing the hardware box. The new Apple TV will have been and gone by the time they get around to releasing anything.
They kept saying they wanted to release the QWERTY remote first. Now I have no doubt in my mind that the remote will indeed arrive first. At that point I might as well build my own HTPC. Effin' Boxee. Jeez.
@Bruce Willis
I love you. make love to me?
@Bruce Willis
hmm...okay.
@Bruce Willis
Did someone say Boxxy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xDO6CH7yX4
I just noticed now that a Boxee isn't actually a box
@commenter7
hopefully after this starts selling for a while, they will make a nice small rectangular shaped media player.
I personally believe building a small dual core cpu based computer is the best media player option, either just use a real OS or use XBMC which plays anything that I know of.
Boxee is awesome.. but... where will that fit near my other TV stuff? Not very shelf-friendly.
Hi, most of you know me as um... well most of you probably don't know me as moldy lunch box, you probably know me as boxxy! Moldy lunch box is my gaia online username.
@semperverus
::bitch slap::
Jeez, that is bad move, consider Nov is shopping season, when many device like netbook and notebook will be on sales, i rather get a netbook or notebook if can do 1080p smooth and under $300.
@techlord But it doesn't sit under your TV with decent UI and remote control. Your talking about a completely different product.
@techlord and they are aiming for a $200 price tag... it's still guna be cheaper than anything that can play 1080p consitantly
@Playos Acer Revo?
so is it going to be google or apple tv with ads saying "think outside the boxee?"
I like Boxee and what they're doing, but this set-top box is just taking way too damn long to release. No one will even know who Boxee is once Google starts releasing their TV devices.
@s2m0
Or perhaps we can start some conspiracy theories on why the Boxee Launch is now so close to that of Google TV?
Partnership, anyone?
@Invader Par Boxee has previously stated that it's their goal to get their software into as much hardware as possible. That said, I'm not sure a partnership totally makes sense for either, they are competitors who can deliver very similar media. Hard to make a win-win unless they find some content, excuse, etc. Besides that it'd just be dual loaded by OEMs/Users, which is nice enough in its own right if they come with strengths/weaknesses...which of course could also lead to a partnership, but still I don't see it.
I would guess more that it has to do with Tegra 2 than anything else. I've always thought that anything sooner than Q4 for release of that was a little too optimistic, when ARM's prediction all along has been that A9-based systems would go into mass production in Q4.
The other announced Tegra 2 based product won't be shipping till around then either.
I should point out that I can obviously read that Boxee is claiming software-related issues as reasons for the delay, but I just don't believe them. They say it's software-related, and that it will still use the Tegra 2, but the fact that they're using the Tegra 2 as planned doesn't necessarily imply that the issues are software-related.
6 months out? Do they realize how fast products like this advance? I'm sure by then, a new Roku will be release and WD will have another one. Oh wait...WD just did...
As impressed as I was to see it at CES, I doubt this thing will ever see the light of day.
So this will put it pretty much in direct competition (time-wise) with the Google TVs then yes? Possibly not the greatest move but hopefully they'll put in a strong performance.
@d0mth0ma5 no, do you even know what Google TV does? If you have 2TB of DVD/Bluesy rips Google TV will do nothing for ya
@jonshipman - do you even know that Boxee has already confirmed that they will be doing a native Google TV Boxee app? Google TV will do everything for ya.
I suspect they're trying to sort out Netflix streaming. Since they're probably running their Ubuntu port of Boxee on this device, that means Netflix doesn't work, which is a competitive liability when all the other streaming boxes are supporting Netflix.
Oh, and there's the ongoing Hulu battle....
mtf
Anyone know the expected price? With this slip I think they are missing the train....
It's supposed to be "less than $200."
i really wanted the device, but i found that a mini-HDPC with boxee installed works as great.
What does Adobe releasing a new Flash yesterday have to do with a five month delay in hardware release?
And while the package design is interesting, it's probably going to look dated a lot more quickly than if they just used a more conventionally shaped slim box. And a more conventional box is going to be easier place.
new Apple TV or new Boxee ??
@littlea
Google TV. Apple TV is way too limited. I was really excited about the boxee box and it sucks to see them drop the ball like this.
Oh, and blaming Adobe for the delay is such typical Engadget rhetoric.
the Boxeee box has not been delayed. Anybody that has read the top of the engadgethd within the last 6-8 months has been assaulted every day with the message that the Boxee box has arrived. THE BOXEE BOX HAS ARRIVED!! oh jk it has been delayed. In all honestly is Boxee a paying sponsor of engadgethd if so i will quit my complaining.
I'm still looking out for a shuttle xs35 to turn into a xbmc machine. That was meant to be Q2.
Google TV and Apple TV are going to throttle Boxee because companies won't deal with Boxee. While you and I know Boxee would be a great way to handle your library of torrented media or ripped dvd's, the average consumer doesn't have the technical knowledge and expertise to make this a compelling buy, and Boxees content network isn't rich enough to stand on it's own. Boxee should have focused on just building an excellent software product and charging for it, $50 sounds about right.
@nickyP Why should I pay $50 for something that XBMC does for free?
@Znuff again, you're not the typical audience, xbmc is great, but people have shown consistently they will pay for decent interface to make things as easy/featured as possible for them. xbmc, last I checked, was merely lists inside of lists for UI. It gets the job done, but has none of the social features and other niceties of boxee. That said, do you really think this box has any financial hope?
they just set themselves uo for failure for releasing so late.
Sorry googletv will be my next media center purchase. Never found the social aspect of boxee anything less than annoying. I've been using it since some of my media sites I pay for use it, but now I usually just watch through a browser. I wish for those interested in it a speedy early release tho. Happy Viewing.
I knew this thing was a failure. This is the joojoo of the tv set top boxes.
I mean seriously who is going to compete with the devbase apple have?
Have any of you really played close attention to the boxee apps?
With the exception of maybe 5 apps the rest are worthless.
That place is turning out to be a joost with content.
I wish them the best the software is fuckign great but no way do they stand a chance against apple & google.
@FrankDTank Google TV slays them all.
There was a window of opportunity and Boxee just missed it along with any hope of a survivable business model.
@Bowlieweekender
Have you seen the Boxee interview on the Engadget Show? Business model isn't exactly in their vocabulary.
@Cpsheehan I did watch that, was surprised to hear the CEO say they have no profit model and that D-Link were paying them zero for the Boxee Box.
GoogleTV is looking healthier by the day!
Yeah after I saw the boxee headquarters with a non-functional prototype collecting dust I knew this thing will never see the light of day.
So anyone know what is best alternative for under $250?
@JohnMKeynes
I built myself a mini-HTPC with a Zotac IONITX-A motherboard (Intel Atom N330 Dual Core + Nvidia ION), 4GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive and a Mini-Box M350 enclosure for about $350 CAD. Runs Windows 7 x64 + Boxee and handles 1080p content like a champ :)
moonlight works on ubunto with netflix... so I doubt that is there problem