

The Boxee interface, even on first install, is very slick and easy to manage.
MEDIA STREAMER BOXEE FULL
If you don't like the remote control for whatever reason, it's also possible to download free remote control applications for iOS or Android smartphones, using the touchscreen to run the full Boxee experience wirelessly. It's also possible to synchronise your social media accounts with your Boxee Box, allowing you to view videos recommended from most feeds directly on the Boxee itself. The notable exception to this are files with embedded Digital Rights Management, such as downloaded movies purchased from most online stores.įrom an in-built applications viewpoint, Boxee will aggressively seek out video files on the local network for playback and then seek out relevant cover art and synopsis information for each file it finds. Basically, if there's a video format or video-playing website out there, the Boxee Box will most likely play it, and if it doesn't, it almost certainly will soon.


This goes well beyond the features that get added in dribs and drabs by other major players, and it's a big plus for the Boxee. Boxee is constantly updated, adding new features, and also supports a robust apps-based model for accessing all types of web video. If you want Boxee's features but don't want the box itself, the only thing stopping you doing so is a little time and patience. It's free to download and works across a variety of hardware types.

Boxee is a free media centre application based itself on the open source XBMC media centre software. Then there's the Boxee software, and this is both the genius of the Boxee Box and its biggest single sales flaw.
MEDIA STREAMER BOXEE 1080P
As media-streaming boxes go, the Box itself is quite powerful with support for 1080p video, something that even the Apple TV can't manage. Out the back of the Box you'll find 10/100 Ethernet, HDMI, optical and RCA audio output and power connections 802.11n Wi-Fi is also supported if you don't have Ethernet anywhere near your TV. The Box is just a streaming device with very limited cache, in other words. The hardware part - the Box, in essence - is a simple nettop-style device, running an Intel CE4100 Atom 1.2GHz processor with 1GB of RAM and 1GB of flash memory.
MEDIA STREAMER BOXEE SOFTWARE
It's important when talking about the Boxee Box to split the software out from the hardware. The green rubber bottom also gives it a fair amount of grip. As a box, you can always place it any way you'd like, but to make the most sense out of its cables and power button, green face down is the way to go. Where the design gets really quirky is that the bright green chopped away side is actually meant to be the base of the unit, hiding some of its most lurid features. If you didn't know any better, it'd be easy to suppose that Boxee Boxes were meant to clip together in pairs. For something that carries such a nondescript suffix as "box", D-Link's gone all out (with help from design firm Astro Studios, which also puts together the original Xbox 360 design) with a cube-style design that's had most of one face chopped away, revealing a bright green interior. It's fair to say that it doesn't look like anything we've ever seen in the media streamer space before. The Boxee Box is a premium-priced proposition best suited for those who want an easy out-of-the-box Boxee experience.
