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Boxee, new mediacenter software |
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Friday, 13 June 2008 |
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| The new Boxee mediacenter software will be available next week. Boxee is a free, open-source software platform that lets users control their media from a HTPC. |
Like other media applications, you can watch movies (at 1080p) or web video, listen to music, look at photos & more, controlled by a mediacenter remote control. Boxee also has social features so you can make recommendations & share your media with friends.
Currently Boxee only works on Mac & Linux, with a Windows version due out later this year. Boxee began in earnest back in 2007 & is based on XBMC, an open-source project that turns Xbox game consoles into media centers. Based in New York, the company has 10 employees, has raised a seed round & is ramping up its search for funding.
Though Boxee is currently built for computers, the goal is to get it on any set-top or Internet-connected device plugged into your TV. The company wants to be the Switzerland of the connected media home. It’s talking with cable companies, networks, movie download companies — just about everyone in the content biz.
Because the platform is open source, anyone will be able to write an application for it, so the eventual list of functions will only be limited by the imagination of Boxee’s community.
There are a few roadblocks in Boxee’s way. The software works with just about any video format — except DRM’d ones — so no accessing your iTunes library (at least your movies and TV shows). It has to get all those cable companies, networks, and movie download companies to sign on. And while installing an open-source application and connecting your PC to your TV might be easy-peasey for people who run Linux, the process will need to be greatly simplified for it to reach mass adoption.
Boxee will be available Monday & you can sign up at Boxee.tv
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