I thought he was just trying to play nice with the content providers like Comcast and Viacom, feigning modesty so they wouldn’t see Boxee as an enemy. He said it was just a component, not a complete solution. That’s everything! But Ronen repeatedly insisted that the Boxee TV was not a cure-all for cord-cutters. It would have apps like Netflix and YouTube, sure, but it would also be a Boxee, so it’d play downloaded videos in that great, clean way Boxee always has, and then it’d have this cool new cloud DVR so it could record live TV shows and play them back on any device. When I spoke to Boxee CEO Avner Ronen in the run-up to the release of the Boxee TV, it was hard not to see the nascent set-top box as the best new tool for those wanting to ditch cable. However, it’s a no-brainer for Boxee Box owners without any other form of pay TV.We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. It’s a tough sell to those that use a Boxee Box for a cable TV supplement, not a full replacement (like me). Now it’s just that much better.īoxee Live TV will ship this week for $49.99. The Boxee Box was already the best device to rid oneself from the chains of subscription TV. Boxee Live TV is as easy as the rest of the media stream. Sure, most HDTVs already have a ATSC tuner built-in but using it is often a hassle. Plug in the dongle to bring live, somewhat traditional content to the Boxee Box. Users can share what they’re watching on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. Boxee should look to TiVo and others to build a more complete guide.Īs with the rest of Boxee, the app is social. Right now, it’s just a list of stations on the left side of the screen. The content guide could also use a little work. The Boxee team says they’re looking into the feasibility of a DVR so it could be in the works. For one, DVR functionality would be killer if, say, the Boxee Box could schedule and record live TV to a local or network drive. The tuner works as advertised but there are still several features missing for the Boxee Box to be the ultimate cord cutting device. Other companies pipe a full complement of unencrypted stations including HD stations through their wires that will work, too. These stations (there are usually between 10-25) can be picked up with any TV tuner including Boxee’s Live TV dongle. Some cable providers provide a basic channel lineup with cable modem service for little or no cost. Like any over-the-air tuner, the bigger the antenna, the better the reception you will receive.īut the tuner isn’t just for OTA TV. But that’s to be expected the dongle is simply an ATSC tuner. The ancient aerial antenna on my roof pulled in eleven. The Live TV dongle ships with a small, passive antenna (pictured top), which managed to pull in just two ATSC stations in my area. There’s even a basic content guide like that on most cable boxes. From there, just select Live TV from the main menu to start watching after an initial channel scan. Connect an antenna or cable line to the dongle and then plug it into one of the Boxee Box’s two USB ports. The little box is now the cord cutter’s best friend (if it wasn’t already). The little USB ATSC tuner integrates OTA HDTV and basic cable seamlessly into the Boxee Box’s menu system, and I found it’s as wonderful as it sounds. The Boxee Box is no longer just a media streamer, thanks to the just-released Boxee Live TV.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |