boxee

Boxee TV early adopters get 3 months of free service, reduced $10 monthly fee

Boxee TV is already beginning to show up at Wal-Mart, and now there's a good reason to head there sooner, rather than later.

Boxee has released some additional promotional details for early adopters of Boxee TV. If you purchase a Boxee TV during the holiday season, you'll get three months of free month of "No Limits DVR" service, plus you'll get a reduced $10 monthly fee for the lifetime of your subscription.

Early adopters will also get three months of free Netflix, for both new and current subscribers; if you're a current subscriber, three … Read more

Wal-Mart to start selling Boxee TV set-top box

Boxee has just won a big one.

Wal-Mart tomorrow will start carrying the $99 Boxee TV set-top box at 3,000 locations nationwide. Bloomberg, which was first to report on the news, spoke with Boxee CEO Avner Ronen, who said that the Wal-Mart partnership could deliver "a big launch" for his set-top box.

Boxee announced the product earlier this month, calling it a "No Limits DVR." The device, which connects to a television set, has no onboard storage but acts as a DVR thanks to cloud storage. In addition, over-the-air television programming can be watched due … Read more

iPad Mini steals Surface presale thunder

Tuesday's CNET Update scratches beyond the Surface:

Microsoft is now taking preorders for the Surface tablet, which starts at $499. Today's tech news roundup looks at the prices and keyboard accessories for Microsoft's competitor to the iPad.

But just one hour after Surface details are released, Apple sends out a notice that it will have a media announcement on October 23, which is likely the iPad Mini. So the speculation continues for another week.

Facebook has added some quirky emoticon options to use in comments, chat and private messages. When a <3 isn't enough, there'… Read more

Rumor Has It: The ultimate cable killer coming from Boxee?

According to the report, the rumored new device would combine a TV tuner with a DVR and media-streaming capabilities, so you could record over-the-air TV. Do you care? Emily does, but she could be alone on this one -- just like she's alone in not knowing who one of America's favorite stars is.

Also, Facebook might finally release a native Android app so HTML5 will stop holding everyone back from stalking their friends at the speed of light.

Speaking of light, Sony's next flagship phone could be made out of a Norse god's lightning bolt and … Read more

Boxee readying new set-top box with DVR support?

The makers of the Boxee Box set-top box appear close to releasing its successor in the coming months, and it could offer support for over-the-air live television, as well as DVR support and the usual cast and crew of Web apps.

Sadly, those looking for the next great aesthetic breakthrough from the company might find the leaked device a bit uninspiring. Photos supplied from The Verge indicate that the Boxee TV might shed its predecessor's cube-like design for a more conventional rectangular prism look with a matte black finish. … Read more

D-Link ships streaming-only MovieNite media player

D-Link announced today its latest streaming device, which is a stripped-down version of its Boxee Box, called the MovieNite.

Unlike the Boxee, that in addition to streaming can play back content stored on a plugged-in external hard drive, the MovieNite is a stream-only device. It supports popular steaming services, including Vudu, Netflix, Pandora and YouTube.

To make up for this, the new device costs just about one third the price of the Boxee Box, at around $60.

The MovieNite comes with just one HDMI port and supports up to 1080p high-def streaming content. It supports wireless N standard and a … Read more

Boxee now selling Live TV tuner for cord-cutting users

Boxee Box users now have a way to watch traditional TV as well as online content.

The company has just started selling its new $49 Live TV tuner, which connects directly to the Boxee Box to deliver over-the-air broadcast television channels, potentially making it a useful option for cable TV cord cutters.

Of course, as CNET's Matthew Moskovciak pointed out in a column in November, all HDTVs these days include a built-in ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) tuner, so most cord cutters already have a way to grab broadcast TV without coughing up extra dough.

Still, the folks at … Read more

Why Boxee Box's TV tuner needs DVR support

Boxee co-founder Avner Ronen took to the official Boxee blog this morning to announce the Boxee Live TV tuner.

It's a $50 TV tuner dongle coming in January that connects to one of the Boxee Box's USB ports and works with either free over-the-air TV signals (which typically include the major networks, plus PBS) or unencrypted Clear QAM cable channels. (There's a useful overview on Boxee's site.)

The pitch is that the Live TV tuner makes the Boxee Box an exceptional cable-cutting device, letting you still watch major TV events like local sports and award shows, while catching up on other TV and movie content via streaming video services like Netflix and Vudu. (But not Hulu Plus, which still hasn't been added to Boxee, despite the announcement over a year ago.)

The catch? That all sounds great, until you remember that every modern HDTV already has a built-in ATSC tuner that allows you to watch live TV.… Read more

Boxee Box price drops to $180

The Boxee Box has always seemed overpriced at $200, but D-Link is about to make it slightly more palatable. Effective September 4, D-Link is dropping the price of the Boxee Box to $180, down from $200.

Pricing was definitely one of our major hangups when the Boxee Box was first released, and Boxee has also made some strides to fill in its content gaps, now supporting Netflix, Vudu, Pandora, and MLB.TV. (Still no update on when Hulu Plus support is coming.) We'll be re-reviewing the Boxee Box this month in light of all the changes that have been made this year.

While the new $180 price helps, the Boxee Box still has an uphill fight against more affordable rivals like the Roku 2 or Apple TV. Boxee's big advantage has always been superior support for a wide range of different file types, but that won't be enough to transcend its enthusiast-only appeal.… Read more