DeviceGuru

Now don’t get all hot and bothered. After all, Netflix instant video streaming has been one of the most asked-for capabilities among the Boxee A/V platform’s early adopters. Soon, a host of additional PPV (pay per view) and subscription-based A/V content may be streaming to consumer TVs via Boxee.
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Boxee has quietly moved its long awaited Beta release onto its public download site. The new version of this free Internet — and local — A/V-streaming player currently supports PCs running Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Ubuntu OSes, with an Apple TV version coming soon.
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Following closely on the heels of the December announcement of D-Link’s BoxeeBox, Syabas Technology today said it will ship a $129 Internet-based A/V streaming set-top box (STB) in March. Both new gadgets have the potential to give Roku’s popular Netflix-streaming STB a run for its money.
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Hey, we just discovered that our very own DIY BoxeeBox has made LifeHacker.com’s list of the “Most Popular DIY Projects of 2009.” This certainly shows the popularity of Internet-based multimedia streaming to the big screen in the family room — and of Boxee’s free, easy-to-use multimedia access platform. Check out LifeHacker’s article, and be sure to cast your vote for our BoxeeBox!

Technology market analyst ABI Research has published its annual prognostication of technology trends and events that won’t happen in the coming year. The 11-page article is available for free download (after registration) from the firm’s website.
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D-Link unveiled its soon-to-be-released “Boxee Box” at Boxee’s preview of Boxee Beta in New York last night. Few details have been disclosed other than that it runs Boxee on Linux, provides HDMI and both analog and digital audio outputs, and hooks up to the Internet via either WiFi or Ethernet.
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Boxee gave a preview of the long-awaited Boxee Beta release in New York today. Frustratingly, the Boxee Beta won’t be available for public download until January 7 (at the soonest).
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Shipments of Ultra-Mobile Devices (UMDs), including a range of emerging devices such as UMPCs (Ultra-Mobile PCs), netbooks, and MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices), are expected to grow to 385 million units annually within five years. Their main obstacle will be smartphones, such as the iPhone and various Android models.
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A 20-page downloadable whitepaper compares 10 free media center applications, with an eye toward discovering their potential synergies. The study, from the Telematics Freedom Foundation’s “Freedom Box Project,” aims to standardize and promote open, free, and user-friendly web-based TV media center platforms.
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Despite today’s gloomy financial climate, Boxee has just closed a $6 million Series B round of funding. The investment will go toward improving the product, increasing the number of content sources, attracting independent application developers, and embedding boxee in consumer devices, says the company.
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Mediafly’s A/V podcast aggregation service will be added to Roku’s $100 digital video player set-top box (STB) this Fall, the companies report. According to Mediafly, its service will provide free access to “tens of thousands of audio and video podcasts” from NBC, CNN, ESPN, Comedy Central, and other sources.
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After losing patience with waiting for Netflix video streaming to come to the Linux version of Boxee, and needing to relocate my Roku Netflix Player to the garage’s fitness equipment zone, I decided to add a Windows partition to the BoxeeBox (my DIY media center STB) so we could continue to enjoy instant Netflix downloads on our family-room TV.
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DeviceGuru recently reported on a reader’s discovery that his “Energy Star compliant” Sony HDTV was consuming 200 times its advertised standby power. Now, he’s back with good news: the Environmental Protection Agency has decided to plug this gaping energy-draining hole via a new release of its Energy Star TV specification.
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The Linux version of Boxee’s eponymously-named multimedia platform has finally been updated to include several new features introduced into the OS X and Windows versions over the past few months. Key additions include an “App Box” and restored support for Hulu.
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In recent years, two new sub-$500 mobile device categories have burst onto the scene: the “mobile Internet device” (MID), with the iPhone representing its greatest success; and the “netbook,” popularized by the Asus Eee PC. Get ready for the third wave: the “netpad.”
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Boxee has restored support for Hulu to its free media center platform for PCs and Macs. The support, a hack to Boxee’s RSS feed functionality, has a DIY aspect to it.
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Amazon’s video-on-demand (VoD) service has just been added to Roku’s Internet-based VoD set-top box. The upgrade, pushed out to the devices over the Internet, is the first to expand the Roku box’s content beyond its Netflix-centric origins.
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Having recently constructed the BoxeeBox, I naturally was eager to check out Neuros Technology’s somewhat similar IP-TV set-top box. Though currently at a “gamma” release, the Neuros “Link” shows great promise.
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Boxee disclosed today that Hulu has asked to be removed from its open-source media center platform, at the request of Hulu’s content partners. As a result, Boxee will discontinue Hulu support this Friday.
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Inspired by Roku’s awesome Netflix video download box and impressed with Boxee’s free A/V media center platform, it was merely a matter of time before I’d create the BoxeeBox, an Ubuntu-powered HTPC that I call my “one box to rule them all.” Here’s how it’s done.
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Myka, which recently began shipping an IPTV set-top box (STB), is offering a $100 discount to entice developers to roll up their sleeves and contribute to its device’s open-source, Linux-based software stack.
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Boxee has just opened up its free A/V media center platform to all Ubuntu, Mac, and AppleTV users. Additionally, Boxee for Windows has entered “private-alpha” phase, during which prospective users apply for the software online and wait for a download link.
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On February midnight on Feb. 17, 2009, all full-power television stations in the U.S. will cease broadcasting in analog and switch to 100% digital broadcasting. In case you have yet to upgrade your TV to digital TV (DTV), here’s a convenient step-by-step video tutorial, courtesy of TV talkshow host Spike Feresten.
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A recent online survey found that eight in ten consumers use electronic gadgets in the bathroom, primarily for communications, entertainment, and wellness purposes. This leads us to wonder if the “iLoo” might be a good candidate for Apple’s next hot product.
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Neuros Technology is offering “bounties” to developers who come up with software that fills in a few gaps in the functioning of its “open,” Linux-powered, Internet-enabled Neuros Link set-top-box (STB). The rewards range from $500 to $2,500, depending on what’s implemented.
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