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!

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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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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In another sign of these tumultuous times, Intel announced that it plans to acquire embedded software market leader Wind River for around $884 million. Wind River’s renowned VxWorks real-time operating system (RTOS) is found in myriad consumer gadgets such as LinkSys wireless routers.
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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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At last week’s TED2009 conference, two researchers from the MIT Media Lab demonstrated a “Sixth Sense” device that gives its wearer supernatural abilities. What’s next — Google implants?
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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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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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With the Debian Linux project officially designating “Lenny” as its new “stable” distribution, I decided to install it on an old Thinkpad to see how well it performed on a low-end machine. Without doubt, the results surpassed my wildest expectations!
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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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Visitors to DeviceGuru over the past week may have noticed an ugly page announcing to the world that “This Account has Exceeded Its CPU Quota,” instead of the desired content.
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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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Embedded Linux has now been around for a decade and consistently ranks as one of the top OS choices for device development. But, does it still have its mojo?
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OpenSource World — the successor to LinuxWorld — is soliciting presentations for its Mobile Open Source sub-conference. The conference will take place Aug. 10-13, 2009 in San Francisco.
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After recently reviewing the gOS Gadgets Ubuntu-remix, I decided to try adding Mozilla Prism, Google Gadgets, and a Wbar animated application-launch icon dock to standard Ubuntu. Here’s how to do that.
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DeviceGuru received an interesting email describing several less-than-satisfactory experiences with the power-saving modes of “Energy Star compliant” consumer devices. The writer’s observations suggest a pressing need to amp up regulations governing consumer electronics power management.
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The gOS (“good OS”) project has issued an SP1 release of gOS 3.1 Gadgets. This latest gOS release implements numerous package updates, bug fixes, and configuration enhancements, and continues gOS’s strong dependence on Google’s web-based applications.
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