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Boxee TV becomes Boxee Cloud DVR, adds free 'Basic' DVR service

Following the trend of everything accentuating its connection to the "cloud," Boxee has rebranded its new box as the Boxee Cloud DVR. GigaOm reports the company made the shift to emphasize its DVR features as a differentiator from other $99 set-tops like those offered by Roku and Apple. Other than the name change and a website redesign, one other new tack is a free "Basic" service package. Buyers still get the "All-access" $10 service tier free for a month upfront on a trial basis, which has unlimited storage and playback across different devices. Once that runs out however, they can opt for basic service where cloud-stored DVR recordings are limited to 5 hours of monthly playback on the box itself and expire after 90 days. While the DVR service's availability is still limited to eight markets, the plan is to expand to 26 by the end of this year. Once it rolls out to more areas and the DVR features come out of beta, we'll see if buyers are ready to give this second attempt at blending online and OTA video a shot.