art review 2: boxee

ART REVIEW 2Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Art Review 2: Boxee | Winter 2011

Boxee

Megan CaryITGM 705-OLProf. MeyersArt Review 2

Art Review 2: Boxee

Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC) technology is not a new concept by any means. In the early 1990s companies began to build tuner cards into PCs, which marked the first major at-tempt to integrate televisions and personal computers. Echoing the near future, one such device was created, Macintosh TV, which was simply a tuner card built into a Macintosh LC 520 chas-sis. Only 10,000 units shipped in 1993 before it was withdrawn from the market. HTPC tech-nology continued to evolve over the years with the rise of DVD players, software like Microsoft Windows Media Edition and devices like Tivo entering the mainstream market.

One of the most interesting HTPC technolo-gies on the market today is Boxee. Wiki-pedia sums up Boxee as a “cross-platform freeware Home Theater PC software ap-plication with a 10-foot user interface and social networking features designed for the living-room TV.” The Boxee software is programmed, for the most part, in C++ and uses the Simple DirectMedia Layer frame-work with OpenGL renderer for all versions. It uses a Python Scripts Engine and WindowXML application framework which allows for a widget-type add-on system for its applications.

Boxee’s site offers two options to consumers who want to use their software applications - they can buy a Boxee or build a Boxee. Customers who choose to buy a Boxee pay $199 for a set-top device built by D-Link. The set-top box runs the Boxee sotware and simply plugs into a TV


Boxee

Figure 1. Boxee Options


Boxee

with an HDMI cable and connects to the Internet via wireless or ethernet connection. An innova-tive remote is included that features basic controls on the front and a QWERTY keypad on the back for easy data entry.

Customers who choose the option to make a Boxee, download the Boxee software for free and install it on a computer that is capable of being connected to a television. The user must provide a capable computer, television, and cable to connect the two. To control the Boxee the customer has the option of downloading free Remote applications on their Android or iPhone device or they can buy a remote seperately.

However, the real value is what the Boxee software offers to the consumer. According to Boxee’s website the soft-ware comes pre-loaded with thousands of television show episodes and mov-ies that are available on the internet. The software also includes hundreds of applications or channels that can be accessed including on-demand stream-ing subscription based services such

as Netflix and Vudu and online internet content from the likes of Pandora Radio, Last.fm, Ja-mendo, NPR, Shoutcast, ABC, BBC, Blip.TV, CNET, CNN, CBS, Comedy Central, Funny or Die, Joost, Major League Baseball, NHL Hockey, MTV, Revision3, MUBI, United Football League, VEVO, TED and Youtube.

Additionally, Boxee can access many social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, giving users access to their friends videos, music and photos on their television. The soft-ware also connects to users additional personal computers to access video, music and photo content that is stored there. Users can also send online web videos to a Boxee from any internet browser for viewing at a later time. Suprisingly, Boxee also includes a BitTorrent client which al-lows users to participate in popular, however controversial, peer-to-peer file sharing.

Figure 2. Boxee on-screen interface


Boxee

That being said, the Boxee software does have some limitations because of its source code (which is based on XBMC Media Center software source code). Boxee software cannot play en-crypted Digital Rights Management (DRM) soft-ware and it cannot receive TV signals from a PC tuner device (which means it does not have the ability to become a DVR-type device.) Also, Boxee software is not available for ARM, PowerPC, MIPS or SPARC processor architectures.

Despite these limitations, the creators of Boxee have managed to create a software application (and physical device) that would allow people to bring internet content and social media appli-cations not only into people’s homes but into their living rooms. Furthermore, by allowing the software to be downloaded for free onto existing devices Boxee is accessible to a wider range of consumers than other similar devices produced by Roku and AppleTV.

Figure 3. Boxee Box by D-Link


Boxee

References

“Boxee” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxee

“Home Theater Personal Computer” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_theater_PC

“Macintosh TV” Applehistory.com. http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=tv

Boxee Website. http://www.boxee.tv/

“D-Link Boxee Box Review” C-Net. http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-media-receivers/d-link-boxee- box/4505-6739_7-33900853.html

“ARS HTPC Guide” Ars Technica. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2010/12/htpc-guide-1.ars

art review 2: boxee

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