March 27th, 2013

Boxee TV Update Adds Vudu 3D Content And DLNA Streaming From Computers And Mobile Devices

BoxeeTV-straight

Boxee TV has a new firmware update making its way out to its connected set-top boxes this week, which includes a number of big improvements including the addition of DLNA streaming. Spotted by GigaOM, the update also adds 3D streaming of content from Vudu, the video streaming service from Walmart, and changes to its TV guide and notification settings. → Read More

January 9th, 2013

Boxee Is The Poster Child Of A Lean Startup: They Just Happen To Ship Hardware

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Boxee launched the Boxee TV shortly before Christmas. At 3,000 Walmart stores. And a major feature is still in beta. Boxee is the poster child of a lean startup — they just happen to ship hardware. → Read More

October 31st, 2012

Boxee TV Hits Walmart Stores Tomorrow

BoxeeTV-Television

Boxee has grown up. It was just a few short years ago that the NYC startup was simply hawking beta copies of its innovative media center software. Then came the D-Link-made Boxee Box, which sold in limited numbers through Best Buy and several online retailers. But now, with the Boxee TV, the startup has pulled off something special (or devilish depending on your view of the retailer) and managed… → Read More

October 16th, 2012

The Boxee TV Offers Unlimited DVR Storage, Dual Tuners, And Netflix For $99 (And $15/Month For The DVR)

BoxeeTV-Television

Meet the Boxee TV: A $99 TV tuner/DVR aimed squarely at cord cutters and casual cable TV subscribers. It packs a DVR with unlimited storage, dual ATSC/QAM tuners, and several key apps including Netflix, Vudu, Pandora and YouTube. But most important, it’s built with Boxee’s DNA, which guarantees a class-leading user experience.

The Boxee TV is the company’s third major product release. The… → Read More

September 26th, 2012

Boxee’s Video-Sharing Service Cloudee Goes Public With Desktop Software, iPhone 5 Support & More

cloudee-mobile

The service operates in a crowded space, where dozens upon dozens of apps offer ways to stream, record, broadcast, and/or share video recorded on mobile, but Cloudee’s niche was in the emerging “private sharing” space. That trend has more recently taken root as companies try to find new ways to engage in a social networking arena dominated by the likes of Facebook. Cloudee, then, put its focus on… → Read More

September 25th, 2012

QVIVO Raises $1M From SingTel For Media Cloud To Store And Watch Movies

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Qvivo has raised $1 million from SingTel Group’s corporate venture capital fund for a media-only cloud that people can use to store and watch movies and television shows, as well as and listen to music available in its library. The Singapore-based company will use the funding to build out its service and white label program for telecommunications providers, media companies, and others.

The… → Read More

March 1st, 2012

Boxee’s Newest Adult Resident: Pornhub, the ‘YouTube Of Porn’

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Boxee has slowly but surely been building out the adult content offered through its streaming service, and now there is one more in the mix: Pornhub (NSFW link) — which informally calls itself the YouTube for porn, offering a mix of user-generated and more professional content — is now also coming to the service.

But although adult material has long been one of the dead-certs in the world of… → Read More

February 8th, 2012

Boxee Stands With The CEA Against Cable Companies, Courts The FCC Chairman To Stop Proposed Ruling

cable-vs-boxee

Anti-consumer legislation SOPA and PIPA might be all but dead, but there isn’t time to rest. There is a seemingly never-ending flow of proposed legislation, statutes and bills queued up, ready to bust down doors and storm living rooms. One of the latest involves the forced transition from analog to digital cable — something I wrote about back in 2008. If the FCC caves to massive lobbying from the… → Read More

January 24th, 2012

Full Circle: Boxee Brings OTA HDTV And Basic Cable To The Boxee Box

Boxee Live TV (1 of 1)

Boxee just reinvented the box. The Boxee Box is no longer just a media streamer, thanks to the just-released Boxee Live TV. 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 little box is now the cord cutter’s best friend (if it wasn’t already). → Read More

January 18th, 2012

Boxee Brings The SOPA Protests To Living Rooms

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SOPA protests are everywhere today. The Internet is collectively up in arms about the proposed legislation. Major sites are shut down, banners are everywhere, but that’s online. Boxee is taking the fight to living rooms.

Turn on a Boxee Box today and you’ll be greeted with three large black boxes that clearly state STOP SOPA. There’s no way to miss them. Featured videos generally occupy the… → Read More

November 16th, 2011

Boxee Box Gets Ready To Do It Live: USB TV Tuner/Antenna Coming In January

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Many people think of television antennas as relics of the past: bunny ears and ugly wires, black and white, and fuzzy snow pictures. So, instead, we’re happy to plop down upwards of $50 (or $85, or $100) a month to get cable, which comes loaded with HD content and (sometimes) high quality programming.

Turns out, TV antennas are a lot more useful than most people think: most of the shows people… → Read More

October 19th, 2011

TechCrunch TV Launches On Your TV

AOL HD

TechCrunch TV is now really TechCrunch TV. When TCTV launched last year, the focus was on viewing our videos on the computer. Not on TV. Ok, we called it “TechCrunch TV” because it sounded a lot better than “TechCrunch Video”. But today, we are launching on the AOL HD platform and you can find us on your connected TV set.

Our videos are live on Roku, Boxee, Divx and Yahoo Connected TV… → Read More

October 14th, 2011

At Long Last: Spotify App Now Available On Boxee

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Boxee Box owners who are also paying Spotify users, rejoice, for the two have been combined into one sweet music streaming app.

Boxee users with a Spotify Premium subscribers ($9.99 per month) can now enjoy on-demand access to Spotify’s millions of available tracks directly on their TV. → Read More

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August 11th, 2011

GroovesharkNowFoundLurkingInBoxeeWaters

Grooveshark is now singing and swaying with Boxee as the music streaming service just hit the platform. The somewhat-underground music service streams lands on Boxee in a slightly different form than its online counterpart. The service not only looks different, but costs $9 a month after a free trial. Ouch. Grooveshark likely wants a slice of that sweet revunue pie Spotify is currently enjoying. → Read More

May 11th, 2011

Boxee Outs The Boxee Box 1.1 Firmware, Revamped Browser And New On-Screen Controls Highlight The Update

Boxee Box owners rejoice! It’s new firmware time! Boxee previously committed to a three month update cycle, which meant the next firmware was coming out sometime this month. Boxee just so happened to announce it this morning and it brings a world of changes to the little streamer including 16 new languages supported out of the box.

There’s so much more, though, too. The browser reportedly got a… → Read More

March 30th, 2011

Boxee Outlines The Upcoming Boxee Box Firmware Changes

Talk about timely. Boxee’s Avner Ronen just posted the worklist for the next Boxee Box firmware, which is schuduled to drop in May. Among other fixes the browser is getting a major update that seems to address many of my concerns. Also, Boxee Box support for the iPad app is coming. May can’t get here soon enough. → Read More

March 29th, 2011

The 4 Boxee Box Issues That Must Be Addressed ASAP

I’ve thrown big props towards the Boxee Box lately calling it the best media streamer for cutting the cord. It’s a solid device that provides a memorable user experience. That’s rare these days but the Boxee Box nails it, which is why I give it so much credit. But it’s not perfect. I seriously believe that the pros greatly outweigh the cons. Still, there’s room for… → Read More

March 1st, 2011

Boxee Raises $16.5 Million For Its Vision For The "Future Of TV"

Boxee has announced on its blog that it has raised $16.5 million in third-round funding. This brings the total of capital raised by the company to $26.5 million.

The investment comes from new investors Pitango and Softbank, with participation from prior backers General Catalyst, Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures. → Read More

March 1st, 2011

Boxee Raises $16.5 Million For Its Vision For The "Future Of TV"

Boxee has announced on its blog that it has raised $16.5 million in third-round funding. This brings the total capital raised by the company to $26.5 million.

The investment comes from new investors Pitango and Softbank, with participation from prior backers General Catalyst, Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures. → Read More

January 28th, 2011

Video: Experiment Shows Cord-Cutting Simply Too Difficult For Average Families To Grasp

Here’s more evidence that regular people have zero time for things like Google TV, Boxee, and Roku, if only because they’re too complicated for their own good. Hill Holiday, a “caffeine-fueled ad agency,” asked five Boston-area families to participate in a cord-cutting experiment. For one week each family was asked to forgo traditional cable TV in favor of one of the following devices: → Read More

January 20th, 2011

Boxee Box Gets Another Firmware Upgrade, No Netflix Yet

Everyone likes the Boxee Box, even Viewsonic is adding Boxee inside their new TVs. It just that, most of the other streaming media boxes have Netflix — even Apple TV. When Boxee CEO responded to complaints about Boxee’s lack of Netflix he said, “[they] are working hard to get Netflix out the door.”

So what’s new with the update? Read on after the break. → Read More

January 8th, 2011

Boxee Box Update Rolls Out Today, Hulu, Vudu Imminent [Update]

A cryptic Tweet from Boxee points to a new firmware version rolling out in the next few hours, one that probably promises Vudu and Hulu content on what Matt calls “his favorite box.” Matt here: Nevermind John. He meant to say Netflix, not Hulu. → Read More

December 20th, 2010

XBMC Reaches Version 10.0, Adds Hardware Acceleration For Windows Users

XBMC, the media center for Windows, Mac, and Linux, has reached the big 10 point oh. In and of itself that’s a pretty big deal, but it’s even more, I don’t know, heartwarming, when you think of some of the services that are based on XBMC, chief among them Plex and Boxee. Xbox Media Player: your legacy lives on! → Read More

December 6th, 2010

ESPN: Only 0.11 Percent Of Households Have Cut The Cord (And These Aren't Hipster Households Either)

ESPN has just released a study that sheds some light on people’s cord cutting habits—or lack thereof. Using Nielsen data, ESPN has determined that a paltry 0.11 percent of U.S. households have dropped cable and/or satellite TV over the past three months. That rounds down to essentially nobody in my estimation. Even more interesting is exactly who these cord-cutters are, and they’re not who… → Read More

December 3rd, 2010

UI Improvements For Boxee Box Incoming

While the interface wasn’t on our list of no-nos in our Boxee Box review, there’s always room for improvement. Boxee has announced in their forums that they’ll be updating the box’s firmware with a few changes that should make it smoother overall.

Here’s what’s going down… → Read More

November 26th, 2010

Death/Star (Episode 1): The Galaxy Tab, Instagram, and Boxee Box (TCTV)

Star

Welcome to Death/Star, a new show we are testing on TechCrunch TV. It’s a product review show with a twist. My co-host, CrunchGear editor John Biggs, and I give our opinions on three hot products. In the inaugural episode we cover the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Tablet, photo-sharing app Instagram, and the Boxee Box.

To spice things up, we try to go beyond the traditional thumbs up/thumbs… → Read More

November 18th, 2010

Wanna Watch TV? Don’t Cut The Cord, Get Cable

Google TV is a mess. Apple TV is a joke. Using a Roku is about as exciting as cleaning my gutters. I like the Boxee Box, but my wife doesn’t understand why; she doesn’t get it and that says something. Downloading torrents or NZBs is time consuming and only a small portion of the population actually has the know-how and hardware to do it. Sorry. Cord cutting is a lost cause.

Listen, I’m all for… → Read More

November 10th, 2010

The Boxee Box Demo (TCTV)

Tomorrow, the first shipments of the $199 Boxee Box go out to people who pre-ordered them. I got a preview demo today at Boxee HQ from CEO Avner Ronen. Check out the video. → Read More

November 10th, 2010

The Boxee Box Demo (TCTV)

Tomorrow, the first shipments of the $199 Boxee Box go out to people who pre-ordered them. I got a preview demo today at Boxee HQ from CEO Avner Ronen. The video above shows what it looks like on a big-screen TV.

The Boxee Box is a small set-top device that connects your TV to the Internet and displays Web video. It is similar to the Boxee service you can download onto your computer, except… → Read More

November 10th, 2010

CEO Expects TV Networks To Block Boxee Box, Plans Payment Platform To Win Them Over

TV is coming to the Web and there is nothing that can stop it. Just ask Avner Ronen, the CEO of Web TV startup Boxee. Later tonight, he will announce the general availability of his Boxee Box, a small device you hook up to your TV and the Internet so you can watch video from the Web on your TV. The videos come not only from YouTube, but also from ABC.com, NBC.com, CBS.com, Comedy Central, and… → Read More