That said, it's nearly impossible to screw up. Getting the Boxee Box up and running isn't complicated, but it's tedious because you must update the firmware, which involves multiple downloads, installations, and reboots until there are no more updates. Eventually, you learn to hold the remote with the tips of your fingers along the edges, but it's awkward. We witnessed Boxee reps, who've logged far more hours with the box, have the same problem. Inevitably, you occasionally press one of the buttons when you're trying to type on the QWERTY pad-this occurred several times during testing. The playback and navigation buttons on the flip side of the remote are situated almost exactly where you rest your fingers when typing with your thumbs. ![]() The keyboard's rubber keys feel great, and typing on it is, initially, a breeze…until you realize the remote's fatal flaw. How clever of Boxee to use both sides of the remote-why isn't that the norm? One side is a QWERTY keyboard with numbers, symbols, and arrow navigation, while the other has a Play/Pause button, four directional navigation buttons with Enter in the middle, and a Settings/Menu button that doubles as the Power control when held down long enough. The unit ships with a power adapter and an HDMI cable-another thoughtful inclusion lacking in most of the competition's packages.Īlso included is the essential-and at first, seemingly excellent-remote control. When the unit is powered up, the Boxee Box by D-Link logo lights and appears behind the surface of the front-facing panel. There is also an SD/SDHC memory card slot on the right-hand panel for cards up to 32GB. The back panel houses a modest but useful set of connections-HDMI, Ethernet, two USB ports, Optical (S/PDIF) out, and analog stereo RCA outputs-a notable inclusion for those with analog stereo receivers (and one that is woefully absent on the Apple TV and Google TV products). Measuring 4.6 by 4.5 by 4.5 inches (HWD), it's glossy black plastic, with a neon lime green rubber underside. Unlikely to blend with your home theater components like the Apple TV or the Logitech Revue, the Boxee Box is shaped like, well, a square box, sitting on an angle, with some corners cut away to create the appearance that the cube is embedded in whatever surface it sits upon. It took a full year for the Boxee Box by D-Link to morph from an exciting concept to in-store product, and in that time, we've become familiar with its unique design. We will revisit the Boxee Box rating once Hulu Plus is added. Since our review, Boxee has added support for Netflix and Vudu. It's saved, however, by a quality user interface and robust file support-ideal for those who, um, "find" free movies on the Web.Įditor's Note (): One of our major complaints with the Boxee Box was that key content including Netflix, Vudu, and Hulu Plus, all which were promised at launch, weren't available when the box went on sale. But it was hobbled at launch by a lack of some video service apps that the company claims are on the way. The box is based on the free Internet-based Boxee service, which rounds up videos from the Web and puts them in an easy-to-search user interface on your HDTV. Along with the Roku XDS ($99, 2.5 stars) and the Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player ($399, 4 stars), these are the Boxee Box's chief media hub competitors, each offering a unique take on the Wi-Fi-connected set-top box. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security SoftwareĪt $199.99 (list), the Boxee Box by D-Link is priced halfway between the Apple TV ($99, 4 stars) and the Logitech Revue ($299, 4 stars).Delivering playlists and enabling consumers to discover new tracks and artists from your TV, Spotify provides access to over 15 million tracks. Today, Spotify announced that the Boxee Box by D-Link is now making Spotify available on it's platform. Instead of being a relational, synthetic, adaptive Internet radio, Spotify grants you access to exactly the music you want, when you want it. It's taking on such software as Rhapsody and Pandora and honestly, while it's a different animal altogether, it's very compelling. Spotify is incredibly cool, but it keeps getting better. Spotify is an incredibly on-demand streaming music service that is sweeping the nation, after having swept a lot of international consumers over the past few years. If you haven't yet experienced Spotify, well, you really have to re-evaluate your commitment to music.
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