Slashdot Mirror
Boxee Sold To Samsung
New submitter TheRecklessWanderer writes "Boxee, manufacturer of The Boxee Box and Boxee DVR as well as developer of the Boxee software, has been sold to Samsung. Boxee has had a hard time adapting to the quickly changing environment where appliances have converged with televisions (morphing into Smart TVs), and I'm sure Samsung is looking to integrate the software in some form or another into their smart TVs."
Come back when it runs in a 3x3 cube, runs silently, and has full codec support out of the box.
Cloud, shmoud. I wonder how many times we see variations of this over the next few years?
Microsoft Media Center. That is all.
If Samsung started building Microsoft Media Center into their smart TVs, I would stop viewing them as an option.
For a second there, my brain read "Boxxy" instead of Boxee. I thought "OMG! What a awesome spokesmodel?!"
The BoxeeBox is a neat little device, with a few flaws that could easily be remedied in software (like a better music player)
I love that it can Samba in to my main server and play .isos
Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
Yes, that certainly would have made this story more interesting, but no one was really dumb enough to assume that.
Especially not me. I didn't come here to make that exact same comment before seeing yours. Cough.
I'm in the market for a new TV. Since I'm very, very old, I'm upgrading from a 25-year-old CRT TV, and I don't think I care much about 4K. I'm prone to VR sickness, so I don't want 3D, either.
I realize that I probably can't count on my next TV lasting 25 years. But why on Earth would I want my media box built into my television, so that following the curve of technological advancement means pitching the entire huge TV into the waste stream? A media box has a single, well-defined interface to the TV -- one cord, a few if you want to get fancy -- and occupies not very many cubic inches of space. What's the advantage of integrating it into the TV, other than increasing the TV manufacturer's profit margin?
Someone upthread issued flamebait about MS Media Center, and I'm surprised the flamebait for Apple TV didn't appear even sooner. To me, buying a "Smart TV" is buying into another ecosystem just like them, only with a much tinier R&D budget, probably a less-polished UI, and much dimmer prospects for long-term support.
I know this reflects more on DLink, but I got a Boxee Box when they first came out, and while the idea is really great, the implementation sucked. The Boxee Box frequently freezes or crashes and it's underpowered. The remote control is great that it has a keyboard on the back, but the cursor control for the mouse leaves a lot to be desired. A new version did help a bit, but it's still annoying. Add to that the fact that lots of apps just seem to stop working after a while (not updating their feeds, etc.). Some content just stops working (like CityTV?) apparently because Boxee won't update their version of flash player. Overall, neat idea but sucky experience. Next time I'd just build my own media PC, not buy an appliance.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
I'm of the opinion that a smart TV is a really stupid idea.
Starting with the fact that I don't trust the vendors (not to spy on me, not to be incompetent at security, not to be douchebags), moving on to the fact that my expected lifespan for the display is longer than the software is going to be useful, and moving on to the fact that they'll eventually try to dictate how I can watch TV and feed that information back to someone else ... I just don't see this as being a good thing for me, the consumer.
My current TV (a nice 55" LCD) is used as a monitor only -- my amplifier feeds it a video signal, which it gets from one of several devices. It doesn't participate in channel selection, volume, or anything other than knowing which video signal it needs.
The way manufacturers are going, any device which isn't a full-on computer is never going to be connected to a network, and won't be bought if it requires that. Not my DVD player, not my video game, not my TV. At least not without a firewall rule which prevents it from getting to the internet.
Because they keep demonstrating they're not trustworthy.
I'm not prepared to have some asshole corporation sneak updates onto my TV, or randomly update the EULA saying they're allowed to do whatever bullshit they've come up with this week, or generally act like they own the device when I paid for it.
These smart devices mostly just seem to give the corporations more control over stuff we paid for. Which I'm sure they think is awesome, but I'll pass.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
It seems to work well enough for the purposes, and avoids the XBMC issue of needing a general purpose computing device in the living room.
Unfortunately, it swaps it for having to run your desktop PC and your media player at the same time. That's fine for people whose storage is connected directly to their PC anyway, but for those with NAS it's wasteful.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I spent extra money for a 47" "smart" TV. Picture is fine. The smart part of it SUCKS compared to my roku box. Get the dumb TV you want and then pick the streaming box you want.
What did my smart TV get me? Well, it randomly locks up while streaming. Note, by "locks up" I mean you have to unplug the TV to get it restarted. Looked online and a lot of people have the same problem. You know, restarting a buggy app is fine. Stuff happens. Having to unplug your TV to reboot it...that should *never* happen. I paid extra to get that feature.
Navigating the Yahoo TV apps sucks. With a 47" TV, a lot of them do not even use much more than 1/4 of the screen. It's like they were designed for a cell phone. If I compared the apps to the Roku box navigation, Yahoo would be 1 star, Roku would be five.
I do have a remote with a full QWERTY keyboard on it, though. That was worth at least an extra 150.00! :)
Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, religion destroys spirituality
FTA: "Boxee has had a hard time adapting to the quickly changing environment where appliances have converged with televisions (morphing into Smart TVs), and I'm sure Samsung is looking to integrate the software in some form or another into their smart TVs."
No. Boxee shunned the very people who championed their product, locking down their previously open software, based on already-open software, and mating it to poor hardware. Boxee abandoned all that made them Boxee to begin with. (I can't seem to find the multi-page comment thread from Boxee's blog when they announced EOL for the still-buggy Boxee-box - maybe someone can get it [FIXED].)
For those who aren't in the loop, a simple (and not yet fully exploited) "hack" was found: http://boxeeplus.com/
Plex Media Server can run natively on many NAS boxes. I personally run it on UnRaid, but i know it works with Synology and a few others
If you can't be good, be good at it!
You've obviously only seen the stills.
Watch one of the videos. She would be a terrible spokes model, unless you could get her to shut the fuck up.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Tom Sellout.
Well, I hope you did good for yourself. That was an Open Source XBMC fork, and a lot of folks worked on Open Source Boxee, too.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
And what's wrong with having a general-purpose computing device in the living room? I run XBMC on a little Atom-based PC dedicated to that purpose. It's about the size of a hard-back book, draws very little power, and is silent. It uses a little wireless keyboard that's about the size of a game controller, so it's not like I have keyboard and mouse cables stretching across the room. For me it's the ideal set-top box.
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
Serious? How can Microsoft Media Center be worse than the thing they put into them now?
* Extremely poor UI
* Minimal DLNA support
* Crappy "remote-control" software on handheld devices
* Not compatible with video recorded on SAMSUNG devices
Disclaimer: I have a 2011 BD player that features the same software as Samsung SmartTVs from the same time.
Its not wasteful if you use the right tool for the job Drinkypoo and for those that want a ULV HTPC with the ability to do just about anything a standard desktop can do as well i recommend the AMD Bobcat builds which can be as flexible as you want while still pulling only 17w under full load and less than 8w most of the time.
I personally prefer the ones with a PCI-E slot so they can add a midrange card and get hybrid crossfire if they need more graphical power down the line but the nice thing about these is how flexible they are, its not like these little ARM boxes where it can only do the job the OEM intended. I have used these to replace P4s in office boxes, used them for kid's PCs, used them for HTPCs,media servers, hell i have a friend that uses them as his go to system for carputers, that is what is so great about these Bobcats, they are cheap, flexible, low power, just great little units for all kinds of jobs.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Funny as this old greybeard read that and thought "Wouldn't it have been better to use the robo-daggit instead of the annoying kid?"
And am I the only one that used to watch that show and wanted to see the robo-daggit just come waltzing up with a Cylon arm in its mouth like the way dogs and cats will bring dead animals as 'prezzies' for the owner? Just once i wanted to see the daggit just loping around in the background dragging an arm or a leg and have the rest of the cast go "Ehh its a dog, what can ya do?" and go right back to talking.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Its not wasteful if you use the right tool for the job Drinkypoo and for those that want a ULV HTPC with the ability to do just about anything a standard desktop can do as well i recommend the AMD Bobcat builds which can be as flexible as you want while still pulling only 17w under full load and less than 8w most of the time.
But then you might as well put that machine in your living room connected to your television (whether it's acting as NAS or not) and run XBMC on it directly.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Intel NUC is 4x4" and can do all that........The Haswell NUCS are going to be even better.
Good-bye
I have tried everything from Raspberry Pi to Boxee to Android crapsticks. NOTHING works as well or is as powerful as a Windows MCE box. Its the Rolls-Royce of media players. I know, because i tried everything else first.
Good-bye
I have my Rokus pretty well pimped out - Plex, PlayOn, tons of channels, and a wireless router configured to allow VPN access to virtually any country so I can watch region blocked vids when I want. Plus I'm learning how to write channels for Plex in Python, which is pretty cool. Maybe ActionScript is next, or maybe I'll improve my LUA skills for writing Playon channels (and World of Warcraft add-ons).
Cord cutting and skills honing, a win-win situation for me!
XBMC runs on ARM too........ The official XBMC 'device' is a Pivos android box.
Good-bye
Here is the thing. You dont want to record on the same device you WATCH on. I have learned this through 13 years of HTPC.
Good-bye
AMD Bobcat builds.....
I have one of these as an HTPC. It doesn't have quite enough power to do the job perfectly, but it has enough power that I can't yet justify replacing it with something else. Extremely frustrating when Youtube runs at a slightly choppy 20fps instead of 24.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
and that's why a Roku box is a not an options for me.
I still waiting on a small player that combines the best of Boxee Box, the DVR functions of BoxeeTV with LOCAL storage, an integrated canistreamit feature, back-lit radio remote like the Boxee Box's and DOESN'T run Windows. All these media players are missing key things between them, just one box guys. The Boxee Box is as close as I've seen.
Here is the thing. You dont want to record on the same device you WATCH on. I have learned this through 13 years of HTPC.
That's a valid point, but unimportant if you download instead :)
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I actually don't remember anything cool about the show besides the launch tubes and the WW2 like dogfights in their starfighters.
Of course these days, I always mention the disco, but really it was the launch tubes.
So yes, if they had decided to do anything interesting with any character other than ummm Faceman?, it would of been awesome.
Sig. Sig. Sputnik
Alot has changed since your 2011 model. I used to have a D model Smart TV and just replaced it with this years F model and for example the DLNA now supports everything that I throw at it (even flac and ogg) without the need for transcoding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdiz0k0Rudw
lulz
Mostly resource starved - the resource being my time.
I've done it with Mythtv and XBMC, and the fact of the matter is I have fewer issues with the Roku/Plex solution. Plex runs on the household ESX server along with the firewall and assorted lab boxes which require power anyways, and the Roku plugs into the TV and provides a frontend simple enough for my 4 yr old to use.
Min
On the whole, I find that I prefer Slashdot posts to twitter ones because I don't get limited to 140 chars before
XBMC on the upcoming Mad Catz Mojo with an android phone or MID (but used GB phones are cheaper) running XBMC remote? Probably still missing some of your functionality, but getting closer with every plugin.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Windows Media Center has detected a change in the channel you're viewing. Please restart you TV for the changes to take effect.
Serious? How can Microsoft Media Center be worse than the thing they put into them now?
* Extremely poor UI
* Minimal DLNA support
* Crappy "remote-control" software on handheld devices
* Not compatible with video recorded on SAMSUNG devices
Disclaimer: I have a 2011 BD player that features the same software as Samsung SmartTVs from the same time.
DLNA es really a bunch of protocols stuck together; and most of then are the "alternative" to an RFC. I'd rather see support for standarized protocols than a handful some alliance picked.
"video recorded on SAMSUNG devices"? Really? That's your reference format? It doesn't even have a name!?
Why not? With hardware encoding an old A64 won't even be breaking a sweat recording two shows while watching something else. haven't tried HD since I don't own an HDhomerun yet.
I've got better things to do tonight than die.
TV is overdue for an "Apple-ization".
If Samsung integrates this before it addresses the EDID negotiation on "inactive" input channels problem that most of their televisions suffer from, then they are just adding widgets to a poorly performing product. I shouldn't have to have an input be the active input before it is willing to negotiate EDID, and the reason Samsung TVs often make poor computer monitors for Samsung computers/laptops is that they won't dod an EDID negotiation on an electrictically active channel which is not selected for input. In other words, Samsung products don't interperate, unless you connect them on the primary input channel, or unless you can select an electrically inactive input channel as the primary before attaching/powering up a device connected to it.
When Apple did the iPhone, it was done with the idea that it would be closed, have a limited set of functionality, and there would not be apps offered on it. Steve was deathly afraid of building another Newton. The reason he wanted it was because he had gone through a lot of cell phones which were no good for making phone calls.
Bringing this philosophy to televisions/LCD displays, it would be more important to make them work as televisions/LCD displays, before you go off and attempt to add programming guides, DVR capability, streaming video capability, and so on.
So I repeat: TV is overdue for an "Apple-ization": it needs to be good at its primary function before people go adding crap to it and "gilding the turd", as Woz would perhaps put it.
That's nice and all, but why on Earth would I want to turn on the television just to listen to some music?
Kid-proof tablet..
Old Android phones are getting more scarce, at a time when they should be plentiful and cheap.
There is even an automated, vending-machine style kiosk at the mall, here, which eats phones and pays money for them.
Where do these devices go? One theory suggests that they're refurbished and resold. Another (which I personally favor) suggests that they're paid by carriers to get old phones off the market, thus (hopefully!) eliminating the used market for useful "old" phones, and that the devices themselves end up being scrapped for metal recovery.
Kid-proof tablet..
I don't know, I presume they're sold used in other, less fortunate countries. I also know that a lot of people are stashing them in their desks. People on G+ occasionally post about how they have collected a whole line of phones... every one still useful, but just sitting in a drawer and honestly, what percentage of them will ever care again?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Yeah it's not ideal but for me since I already have all the functionality in the TV it feels stupid to get an extra gadget that does the same and so on, so for me it works quite nicely. Interesing enough they (Samsung) implemented a "Screen Off" function that works for everything _except_ for the Smart apps where it's greyed out, nice work Samsung...
Because you shouldnt have users doing things on what is essentially a server. Believe me, i tried it for YEARS. You dont want to have to reboot the machine because the UI hung while in the middle of a recording or conversion. My HTPC certainly has the hardware to do a ton of stuff, but running a user interface is not one of them.
Good-bye
So, a new 2000+$ TV every two years .. Sounds about right.
How could you not remember the robo-daggit? I was a kid of the 70s and anything to do with robots was cool. the only problem was they didn't really explore what would have REALLY happened, I mean you have a race whose home worlds are destroyed and are on the run, and they build a robot dog for a kid who has lost everything...duh! Robo guarddog!
What SHOULD have happened is any time a Cylon got into range that thing should have turned into a fricking killer, it should have been happy to rip out a Cylon's guts and kill every single cylon that came within 100 yards of the kid, no way you'd build a dog under those circumstances and not give it some defense and attack capability! hell that would make a GREAT movie or show even today, imagine a sweet and adorable child's plaything but if you try to hurt the kid? Say hello to Cujo.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Give more info and maybe old Hairy can help a feller out. What OS? What amount of RAM and what speed? because I have found RAM speed makes a BIG difference when it comes to APUs, just going from 1066 to 1333 boosted my E350 enough that I'm running 1080P over HDMI. are you using DXVA? Having the GPU take up part of the load is what those APUs are designed for, CCCP or Klite Codec Pack can help a lot in that regard. What browser? that matters too, FF runs like ass on a Bobcat whereas anything based on Chromium runs pretty good. Does yours have the PCI-E slot? as you can get the low midrange cards CHEAP right now and hybrid crossfire works pretty good on the APUs.
Anyway feel free to post here or shoot me an email and when i have a little free time I'll be happy to help, I've found with a lot of the APUs all it takes is the right OS, software, and a little tweaking to get them to run at their best. my personal setup is as follows...E350 APU, 8GB of 1333 RAM, 500GB HDD (does more streaming than media tanking) and a tweaked Windows 7 Home Premium with DXVA via Klite. I also went in and tweaked the buffer times on MP Classic to take advantage of the extra RAM along with a few driver tweaks in CCC.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Yep,same here partner. With older boxes so plentiful and cheap (Go on any Craigslist and keep an eye out and its not hard to find an Athlon X2 or C2D, or go to Starmicro and pick up one of those cheap Phenom I ULV chips) the hassle of trying to run both server AND HTPC is frankly too much hassle and not worth the effort, not when you can remote into the box to set up the jobs and have it setting in a corner somewhere.
And frankly most of the recording software quality wise hasn't changed much since the Win9X days as far as stability, too many times it'll choke if you try to do too much at once so it really is better to just use something like the bobcat for the player and have the recording and storage on a box in a corner somewhere. of course if you are just ripping your DVDs, streaming or downloading from the net this doesn't apply but recording TV is one of those jobs where its better to have a dedicated system for the job.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Well I had no choice, the kids threw a Wiimote right into my 64" plasma so it was either no TV or ordering the 2013 F-model...
As an anecdote: One of my primary clients has a number of cell phone stores. I used to be able to raid their junk bin for old Android devices and I'd come up with at least a couple of "whole" phones during each raid. (Obviously broken screen on one handset + one that doesn't power up == one "whole" phone, plus or minus some wrenching.) Sometimes, I'd even be able to score a phone that actually worked, didn't need any wrenching, and actually had a useable battery...though I always wondered why it was that such a device ended up in the junk bin to begin with.
Lately, within the past year, there have been zero whole Android phones.
I'll ask the next time I'm in there, but I strongly suspect that these devices are being traded to another party for pennies on the dollar. And since it's all Verizon, which is CDMA at heart and really not very useful in very many other, less fortunate countries: I really think they're just being scrapped.
Again, I'll ask.
Kid-proof tablet..
Yeah, but: Meh.
Right now, worst-case, with any manner of STB (including a PS3 or an Android widget): I can turn on all of the appropriate gear, select an album/playlist/podcast/whatever, play it, and turn the TV back off.
The music continues.
So I guess I don't care if a modern TV can grok FLAK and OGG, if I have to keep the expensive (in terms of lifetime and energy) display running during that time. I'd rather get a cheaper TV, with the same LCD panel (and color gamut and viewing angle and refresh rate and contrast ratio), without the extra stuff that I won't use..
I'll still need a device to work with OGG and FLAC and MKV and [...], but that's now independent of my display device.
But, you know, that might just be me: For my home theater, I have a preamp and a bunch of amplifiers. I've always been a fan of separates. Even my desktop PC has a good soundcard feeding an active crossover feeding a pair of amplifiers, with one of them driving the subwoofer and the other the satellites.
Some people buy simplicity over and over again; I strive to complicate it from the beginning and simplify as I go.
Kid-proof tablet..
Even if they're CDMA phones, perhaps they have parts in common with real phones? Displays, case parts...
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"