D-Link Boxee
Box Set-Top-Box
"We get it – you want to the freedom to watch whatever you want on your TV: Movies, TV Shows, Sports, but also any other video that is available online. You want to do it without having to connect a computer to your TV or use a keyboard and mouse. We’re all over it. The Boxee Box by D-Link: watch, organize, share – you are now in full command of your TV for the first time. No rules, no contracts."
D-Link Boxee Box: A Look At The Software Behind The Veil
Since the Boxee Box is brand new to the market let's look at the bones behind the hole thing, the Boxee software. There are no changes to its functionality so if your familiar with the Boxee Software then you'll already have your opinion if not and your looking at the D-Link Boxee Box to enhance your TV experience, read on. This review will more focus on the software.
The following is an excerpt/review from Zath.
Boxee is currently my media centre software of choice. Based on XBMC, not only is it compatible with all major platforms (Windows, Mac OS X, Ubuntu and even Apple TV!), but offers a great all round media experience too.
D-Link Boxee Box: Social Network Integration
Dubbed as the
‘social media centre’,
Boxee incorporates all of your feeds from social networking sites
such as Facebook, Twitter and Digg. You’ll need to sign up to Boxee
before you can use it, which makes sure that all your account
settings follow you wherever you install Boxee.
The social
aspect of the media centre is what makes Boxee stand out from other
media centres on offer. When you’ve watched a video, locally or
otherwise, you can choose to “Love” it, and share with your
followers on Twitter, or post on Facebook. You can also choose to
view your feeds from social networking sites too, so you can stay
updated even when you’re away from your computer.
D-Link Boxee Box: Interface
Boxee’s interface was recently given a face lift with the release of Boxee Beta at the beginning of this year. The home screen is a central location where you can access all of your feeds, featured content from the Boxee team, and of course, your personal media.
The interface is designed to make it extremely easy for users controlling the media center with a remote to get around their content. I’ve installed Boxee on the ASRock ION-330 HTPC, and I’ve been using the supplied media center remote to navigate the interface. Not only is it intuitive, but I can start watching a show in less than 10 seconds from the home screen.
Boxee organizes your movies and TV shows really well, using IMDB to supply metadata and other information such as release and air dates, although as you can see, this requires an internet connection, which I clearly didn’t have when navigating through my Star Trek folder (note the original air date for these episodes)!
Boxee’s interface was recently given a face lift with the release of Boxee Beta at the beginning of this year. The home screen is a central location where you can access all of your feeds, featured content from the Boxee team, and of course, your personal media.
The interface is designed to make it extremely easy for users controlling the media center with a remote to get around their content. I’ve installed Boxee on the ASRock ION-330 HTPC, and I’ve been using the supplied media center remote to navigate the interface. Not only is it intuitive, but I can start watching a show in less than 10 seconds from the home screen.
Boxee organizes your movies and TV shows really well, using IMDB to supply metadata and other information such as release and air dates, although as you can see, this requires an internet connection, which I clearly didn’t have when navigating through my Star Trek folder (note the original air date for these episodes)!
D-Link Boxee Box: Easy Layout
Both movies and TV shows are organized in a grid-like layout. If you select a TV show, you can see all the seasons and episodes available to you. If you don’t have a complete series, Boxee will also offer other sources for the content, such as Hulu if you’re a US resident.
When you’re viewing content, you can bring up a discrete, unobtrusive overlay to access various controls. There are also extra settings, which I’m extremely grateful to have, that allow you to manage aspects of your media such as sound output, audio delay if you have A/V sync issues or the aspect ratio of your content. To see advanced settings in a remote-based interface implemented so well is great to see, as you don’t lose any of the control you would have if you’re coming from a media player such as VLC.
These advanced options are also well hidden, only being displayed in a slide out pane from the left hand side of the screen when required.
The D-Link Boxee Box can provide an interface that will allow you to access not only the internet but your home computer network as well. So if your looking for a way to do just that then look no further.
Both movies and TV shows are organized in a grid-like layout. If you select a TV show, you can see all the seasons and episodes available to you. If you don’t have a complete series, Boxee will also offer other sources for the content, such as Hulu if you’re a US resident.
When you’re viewing content, you can bring up a discrete, unobtrusive overlay to access various controls. There are also extra settings, which I’m extremely grateful to have, that allow you to manage aspects of your media such as sound output, audio delay if you have A/V sync issues or the aspect ratio of your content. To see advanced settings in a remote-based interface implemented so well is great to see, as you don’t lose any of the control you would have if you’re coming from a media player such as VLC.
These advanced options are also well hidden, only being displayed in a slide out pane from the left hand side of the screen when required.
The D-Link Boxee Box can provide an interface that will allow you to access not only the internet but your home computer network as well. So if your looking for a way to do just that then look no further.
