Category Archives: Boxee

Netflix and Vudu Now on the D-Link Boxee Box

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D-Link and Boxee have announced that the Boxee Box will now support Vudu and NetFlix.

This will bring even more choices to the Boxee box and let it’s users have access to the 1000’s of movies and TV shows available on NetFlix via their subscription service. NetFlix subscriptions start at $7.99 for streaming only and $8.99 for 1 DVD by mail at a time in addition to the streaming. Go to NetFlix.com to check out their service.

Vudu brings HD movies, on demand for rental. They have first run movies that are available on the Vudu service the same day the DVD’s are released. Standard rentals are priced at $2 for 2 nights and HD New Releases rent for $4.99. Check out vudu.com for more information.

The D-Link Boxee box can be ordered for around $200 just about everywhere electronics are sold. The Boxee service also includes a plethora of other streaming content from various media creators around the internet (including Tech Podcast Network and Blubrry channels)

The Boxee Box itself features an SD card slot, two USB ports, optical digital audio, HDMI output, 802.11n wireless, and an Ethernet port. It has a double-sided remote featuring a built-in QWERTY keyboard and simple browsing interface, consumers can kick back and watch virtually anything. It also integrates social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, Right from your remote!

For more information on the Boxee service, check them out over at boxee.tv and check out the boxee box by D-Link at dlink.com/boxee

The Success of the D-Link Boxee Box

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Andy McCaskey chats to Joe from D-Link about their Boxee Box, which has been selling very well since it launched back in November. Key to the success is the Boxee Box’s ability to play content from a wide variety of sources, whether it’s the Internet, local storage or a USB memory stick.

Andy questions the delay in delivering the product and Joe explains that D-Link moved away from the Atom processor for performance but that necessitated changes to the software. Joe reckons that the success of the platform is because of the wide range of codecs, the flexibility of the platform, the involvement of D-Link with the community and the on-going refreshes to the software.

Andy thinks that part of the success can be due to the great remote which has simple controls on one side and a qwerty keyboard on the other side, making it much easier to enter text. It’s also an RF (radio-frequency) remote, not IR (infra-red) so you don’t need line of site between your remote and the Box.

Production of the Boxee Box is at full capacity to meet the demand in the US and abroad.  It’s on-sale now for $199.

Warning – there’s a TV playing in the background of the video and some of the pictures wouldn’t be entirely safe for children. It is Las Vegas, y’know.

Interview by Andy McCaskey of SDR News.

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Iomega TV with Boxee – Media Streamer and NAS

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Iomega becomes the second manufacturer to offer a Boxee-based product with their brand new Iomega TV with Boxee. Available in two variants, one as a media streamer device with no storage, the other with up to 2TB of storage built-in. The devices also offer NAS features such as DLNA server, iTunes server and access to your Iomega Personal Cloud.

Available from late February at $229, $299 and $349 price points. You can register to be notified of availability at the link above.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Boxee Box Press Photos

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The Boxee Box is still more than a month away and review units are not much closer.  However, the press department has put out some great photos that I was given access to.  There’s not much to say that you haven’t heard about this device already.  We have been waiting longer that we expected and much longer than we wanted.

The box itself may look as though it’s melting into your entertainment cabinet, but it’s definitely unique.  And given, in my opinion, the new Apple TV’s failure to really impress, this is the only true competitor to the Roku.

The price is not outrageous, but it’s somewhat disappointing.  At $199 it’s going to have to really blow away the competition in order to compete.  Roku is $99 for the top-of-the-line box.  I love the Roku box, but (and this may have something to do with Boxee’s media center beginnings) my heart is pulling for Boxee to make a run here.  And competition is always good.

And competition in the set-top box market is quickly becoming the story of the year.  It may be a while before we know who the winner is, but in the meantime here are a few photos to whet your appetite for the upcoming Boxee Box (click each to view in full size).

The beta home screen

The remote

The rear of the box