Section: Macintosh / Apple Hardware, Peripherals, Video and Digital Cameras / Video Capture, Reviews
Provides: Video streaming to TV
Developer: Boxee
Minimum Requirements: TV with HDMI port, Internet connection, Boxee account
Price: $199.00
Availability: Now
Boxee has made quite a name for itself in the set top box and streaming content market. After starting out on jailbroken Apple TVs, it eventually reached the point that the company could create and release their own set top box. While it may not have offered much content early on (as is the case with many set top boxes), Boxee has been able to land some great deals with content partners. For instance, recent support for Netflix streaming, Vudu purchases, and more has been quite awesome to see.
And now, we’ve had the chance to try out the Boxee Box itself.
The first thing many people ask about the Boxee Box is what’s going on with the design. And it’s true, it’s much unlike the common flat and rectangular boxes we’ve all grown used to. You’ve probably heard gripes about how its design also makes it impossible to stack with other set top boxes people may have for their TVs. While it certainly does, I personally like what they’ve done with the design. Not only does it stand up from the usual, it’s simple, straightforward, and works well with the image Boxee is trying to create. And once you’ve seen it in person, you realize it is actually quite small (which makes sense since all it really does it connect to the Internet) and constructed quite solidly. And the coolest part is definitely the glowing green logo on the front.
Setting up the Boxee requires basically just power, HDMI, and the Internet. When you first turn it on, you are asked to sign in to your Boxee account. This will obviously only work if you’re connected to the Internet, so you must first enter the password to your WiFi or use the Ethernet port on the back of the device. However, once you’re logged in, you’re basically set to go. Boxee will automatically know what to offer to you. Better yet, the device does allow you to switch between different Boxee accounts fairly easily in case your family doesn’t share similar tastes.
The Boxee Box creates a custom filtering interface that pulls content in from tons of different online sources. Movies, web videos, video podcasts, or anything else you might want come with a Boxee account. However, connecting your NFL, MLB, Netflix, or other online accounts can add even more content to the device. If you have none of those, though, services like Vudu will allow you to purchase one time rentals of movies to watch directly on your Boxee. A quick browse through all of the available content will be enough to see that it has a majority of the content you’d want on a streaming device.
That said, even if there isn’t content you’d want, Boxee supports local UPnP file sharing on your home network. This means that content from your Mac or PC can also be streamed to your TV through your Boxee Box provided you set it up correctly. If that’s still not enough, the Boxee Box has an SD card slot in the top that allows you to play files directly on the box from external storage. And when you consider that the Boxee Box supports a large assortment of video file extensions, it’d be hard to find something you can’t watch.
The general navigation of the Boxee Box relies on the remote you see above. As you can see, it’s quite simple and has a minimal amount of buttons. Basically, you move around using the D-pad in the middle, select content with the center, and go back using the button on the bottom. As the Boxee Box draws from many sources, it’s often useful to simply search for the content you want. That’s why Boxee also put a keyboard on the back of the remote so you don’t need a keyboard in your living room and aren’t required to move around a virtual keyboard. That said, the Boxee keyboard certainly takes some getting used to as the buttons require hard pushes.
In terms of navigation of the software, the remote is definitely suited well for it. However, if you’ve got an iPhone or iPod touch, you can also download the free Boxee remote app from the App Store. Basically, it connects to your WiFi network and then controls your Boxee using an interface very similar to that of the remote. Two nice things the app offers are the ability to search for stuff using the iPhone’s keyboard (read: faster typing) and the ability to navigate using gestures.
What affects your experience with the Boxee Box the most, though, is the software, which is based on a series of tabs to access different content. While there is a “home page” that has content that Boxee picks that you might be interested in, there are also sections for Movies, TV Shows, etc. Going to any of these perspective tabs, as you’d expect, presents you with content that you might be looking for. If it isn’t you can simply search for it as well. However, one of the coolest parts of the Boxee box is probably the apps.
The apps tabs on the Boxee OS allows you to, for instance, connect to a Pandora account to stream music with a visualizer or browse the web via a browser. This is also where you can find a lot of custom tailored podcast applications like feeds for Rev3, TED talks, and other popular services. Seeing as how the Boxee Box is basically an internet device, these apps are apparently “downloaded” from the Internet each time you launch them as indicated by a notification in the top right of the interface. Unfortunately, the Box doesn’t appear to cache them for very long, which can sometimes be a pain. If your Internet is fast enough, though, it shouldn’t matter.
The software in general is easy to use and navigate once you get used to it. However, there is still a minor feeling it isn’t 100% complete. For instance, I’ve already had to restart it by unplugging it due to freezes while attempting to do too many things at once. However, based on images I saw of earlier releases of the OS, it seems to have come quite a ways. Tasks such as installing updates, for instance, are all done via one click of the OS. If you’re used to using a Mac and Apple software, the interface of their software may be welcome to you. However, it’s just not as snappy as I’d like to see.
All in all, the Boxee Box is definitely a great way to get Internet content to stream to your TV easily. Unlike the Apple TV, the Boxee Box has content from almost everywhere and will most likely continue to add services. The set up is just as easy as any other piece of technology you’d purchase. It also serves as a great way to discover new content in a way that, in my opinion, is better than searching in front of a computer. For instance, a quick glance at the content brought up a TED talk application which then compelled me to watch a few TED talks in a row before bed one night. That’s the kind of experience I’d want a set top box to create.
Unfortunately, the price of the Boxee Box is a tad high. At $199, it’s $100 more than the Apple TV and $140 more than the Roku, both devices which offer similar abilities. If Boxee can somehow bring the price down, I think they’d be in a much better position to gain more users of their platform. Only time and future Boxee Box releases will show what’s going to happen.
Appletell Rating:
Buy the Boxee Box
Full Story » | Written by Josh Holat for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »
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