DCAWD.com

I've been using Boxee box for approximately 2 years now and Boxee software even longer than that. Something tells me I'm not going to like this iteration as much as the previous ones.

From what I've deciphered, Boxee TV is essentially a DTV converter with cloud based DVR, a handful of Boxee popular apps (namely Pandora, Netflix, Vudu, Youtube and Vimeo), and DLNA.

Boxee's vast app libarary is gone (save for the aforementioned five), the ability to connect to network shares is gone (one of the things that drew me to Boxee over it's competitors), and the QWERTY remote is also gone. All being replaced with the ability to DVR network and unencrypted cable channels then stream them to anything running Boxee TV (i.e. Boxee TV, PC, tablet, phone) for $15 a month.

Not being able to connect to locally stored media it the biggest loss for me though. Sure it still has DLNA but I've never liked the way DLNA works. Music, video, and pictures have to on certain shares or else they won't be recognized. Which for the most part my stuff IS organized but I also have catch-all folders that aren't. Plus I'm sure this also means it'll lose the IMDB resolution which pulls the movie art, cast, synopsis, and reviews for all of my DVDs I've ripped and stored.

Having the DVR is nice and the ability to stream it anywhere with an internet connection is cool but I personally never used DVR that much when I had cable. The shows I DID record were all on encrypted channels (HBO, Comedy Central, AMC, etc.) so getting a $15 a month DVR to record network TV seems pointless to me.

But I do see where Boxee is going with this. I am a power user and they want Boxee TV to be more user-friendly to better compete with Apple TV and Roku. Kinda like Toyota focusing on the Prius and doing away with the Supra. They need to dumb the software down so grandma and grandpa won't cower at the sight of it.

*where'd this box of soap come from?*



Links:
Engadget
Huff Post
Boxee Blog

i was reading somewhere that the cable companies are going to be required to license their channel encryption software at a "reasonable" rate to companies like boxee. if that ends up being true, and once would be able to do both ota and clear qam signals, this could be a handy little box.

I know I just read here that the FCC is allowing cable companies (Comcast) to encrypt all of their channels with the caveat that the basic channels have to made available through IP, in this case, DLNA. Negating the need to have coax connecting to the Boxee TV itself. Which could be cool, so long as the cable company doesn't decide to change which channels are and aren't "basic".

dang, that sucks. i picked up a roku recently and have been playing with that.

schvin wrote:dang, that sucks. i picked up a roku recently and have been playing with that.

raspbmc ftw

that's pretty sweet.

that reminds me, i wonder if my raspberry is ever going to ship ? haha.

i've been using my two little minions as airplay targets in different rooms. poor man's multizone audio

complacent wrote:i've been using my two little minions as airplay targets in different rooms. poor man's multizone audio

I've been doing the same thing with my Boxee Boxes.