Viewsonic won’t be selling the Boxee-powered smart TV it showed off at CES earlier this year: The company has told us that consumer interest is too low and hardware costs are too high. This is bad news for Boxee, but also the industry as a whole. Read more »
A big part of Netflix’s growth has been its embrace of connected and mobile devices, which now contribute 80 percent of all Netflix traffic. With the company expanding to Latin America, one has to wonder: How many of these devices are available in countries like Brazil? Read more »
Hackday.tv, which takes place September 10 and 11 in New York City, will bring together startups and developers in the online video and connected TV space. The event is focused on creating applications to advance content and distribution in the new digital living room. Read more »
Things are heating up in the social video recommendations space, as startups seek to become the Pandora of online video. One of them — Shelby.tv — just got some huge validation from Hulu, which is now allowing its videos to be viewed in the startup’s recommendation system. Read more »
VHX.tv is going mobile in a big way. The social video discovery startup, which launched its website earlier this year, has optimized its platform to work on Apple mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad. It even has AirPlay for watching videos on your Apple TV. Read more »
Boxee is releasing an iPad app to entice new users to check out its media center software and maybe buy its broadband set-top boxes. But while the Boxee Box has been focused on adding premium content, the app is all about social sharing and video bookmarking. Read more »
Users of Sony’s PS3 can now access a special TV version of the BBC’s iPlayer, complete with a navigation optimized for remote controls, personalization and video overlays. The new iPlayer is based on HTML5, showing how important the emerging standard is to the connected-TV world. Read more »
Third-party developers have begun to work on a SageTV app for Boxee, bringing DVR functionality to the media player. The integration only works if users also run SageTV on a PC, but it could nonetheless be a big deal both for Boxee and SageTV’s fan bases. Read more »
Boxee will soon roll out a firmware update that will group its growing app catalog into categories. This may seen like a small improvement, but it touches on a bigger issue: As connected devices become more popular, content discovery on them will become more challenging. Read more »
It may have taken consumers a while to warm up to Blu-ray, but now they’re buying both players and discs. Lower prices may be part of the reason for that trend, but many consumers cite Netflix as the primary reason to buy a Blu-ray player. Read more »
Boxee provided a London audience with the first look at its new iPad app today, which will be submitted for review to Apple very soon. Boxee also celebrated the launch of the iPlayer and a cooperation with VOD provider Blinkbox. Read more »
Fanhattan just released an iPad app and is working its way onto connected devices. But instead of launching as a channel on someone else’s device, Fanhattan might try to build a device of its own, which would put it up against Roku, Boxee and Apple TV. Read more »
Indie distributor SnagFilms continues to find new ways to reach viewers in their living rooms, with the launch of a new channel on Roku broadband set-top boxes. Through the SnagFilms channel, viewers can now get access to 150 different independent movies on Roku set-tops. Read more »
Blinkx rolled out a new channel for Roku devices, making its index of premium videos available through the broadband set-top box. The video search and ad company is expanding to reach the big screen, taking videos from its content partners and displaying them on connected devices. Read more »
Verizon could soon make its Flex View VOD service available on connected devices like Roku and the Boxee Box. In a press briefing, it showed off some new features, including a channel that could allow Verizon FiOS customers to access the VOD service on Roku devices. Read more »
Plex just published a beta version of its Roku channel, making it possible to access media stored on your computer as well as Internet content sources on the popular media player. The channel is currently considered beta and still seems to have a few kinks. Read more »
After a year in which over-the-top video services grabbed most of the media’s attention, some of the online video headlines shifted back to traditional pay-TV providers in the first quarter of 2011. Device manufacturers rolled out new offerings, while cable-TV providers moved to expand their in-home footprint beyond the TV itself. But over-the-top continued to encroach, with Roku adding its first linear channels to the Roku store and Netflix acquiring exclusive rights to high-profile original series House of Cards. Finally, traditional web powers like Google, Yahoo and Apple made moves to reassert their presence in the living room after their early stumbles. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Comcast, Cablevision, Viacom and VUDU. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Boxee violated the GPL v3 by closing down its Boxee Box platform and making it impossible to install user-submitted software, alleges an open source developer. Boxee says that it isn’t shipping any GPL v3-licensed software anymore and promises a complete audit of its open source code. Read more »
Navigating a browser with a plain old TV remote is no fun. Hillcrest Labs wants to improve that experience with point-and-click input devices, and the company just secured an additional round of funding to deal with the increased demand for a different kind of remote control. Read more »
Online video distribution firm Ooyala is beefing up its TV Everywhere capabilities, adding new DRM and authentication features, and expanding distribution to new connected device platforms. The new capabilities will give more flexibility to content providers who want to provide authenticated access to their content. Read more »
We can’t wait for a standard for TV apps to evolve, believes Prisa Digital’s Javier Lasa. It’s time to experiment now, give the consumers what they want, and learn from our mistakes. Lasa shares some of the things he learned developing TV apps in this Q&A. Read more »
Boxee is announcing $16.5 million in new funding Tuesday, and the company told us a little bit about how it intends to spend all that money: Those plans include improvements to its current product and new content deals, but also a very different Boxee Box 2.0. Read more »
The wait is over for Boxee Box owners, as the startup is finally making its Netflix app available today. The app comes as part of a new firmware update, which also features some added security measures. Boxee previously had to delay its Netflix rollout twice. Read more »
More exciting than examining the previous quarter is looking forward into the next 12 months and using the trends of 2010 to predict the realities that will surface in 2011. Throughout this past December, GigaOM Pro’s curators did just that, making trend predictions, pointing out companies to watch and even telling us what not to expect. Connected Consumer curator Michael Wolf’s thoughts, analyses and predictions are compiled here in a single report. Companies mentioned in this report include Netflix, Hulu, Facebook, Apple and Boxee. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Bad news for Boxee Box owners: They’ll have to wait just a little longer for the release of a long-awaited Netflix app. That app is working, but Boxee’s VP of marketing says the startup can’t release it yet due to stringent security requirements by Netflix. Read more »
Today on the Net: Boxee strikes an international VOD deal, Apple TV and iPad users can now install XBMC on their devices and Samsung sees growing demand for its TV apps. Read more »
Boxee Box owners, the wait is over: No, you’re not getting your long-promised Netflix app quite yet. But you will finally be able to rent and purchase major Hollywood movies, in HD and 3D, thanks to the official launch of the Vudu app on Boxee. Read more »
Today on the Internet: MTV discusses its social media strategy for the show Skins; Boxee considers subsidized deals to compete with Apple; and a new upgrade of RealPlayer for Android comes out, based on user feedback. Read more »
How can bookmarklets and Delicious upgrade the way you use your Boxee Box? And what’s the word on the first-ever meet-up for those enjoying the cable-free life in San Francisco? We’ve got all the details in this week’s Cord Cutters update! Read more »
Boxee announced that CBS will soon sell episodes of its broadcast TV programming on the startup’s software and connected devices that run it. The deal will soon give Boxee users access to shows from all the major broadcasters, through a mix of subscription and on-demand sales. Read more »
How about this for some out of the box thinking: Boxee has teamed up with Viewsonic to make the first TV set with integrated Boxee software. The 46″ device will launch in Q2 and marks the third device to incorporate Boxee’s media center software Read more »
Want to buy a Boxee Box but also have a need for some network-attached storage? Boxee and Iomega have you covered, with new NAS products that come with Boxee software pre-installed, so you can watch all your downloaded videos in the comfort of your living room. Read more »
It’s important to dispel potential myths and market misunderstandings when it comes to consumer electronic devices and trends. For 2011, that includes paid video chat, Apple dominating the living room and the misinformed belief that Google will rule the e-book space. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
It seemed just months ago our newfound love affair with connected TVs was in full swing. That was before two pieces of news gave us cause to question whether our new living room mates are who we thought they were. With concerns about security and half-baked ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As the CEO of Boxee, Avner Ronen has become a fierce advocate for the viability of streaming content. For today’s Five Questions With…, he addresses the potential alienation of early Boxee adaptors and proposes a radical new distribution plan for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Read more »
Boxee Box users, here are s few tips you shouldn’t miss: Learn how to use the Boxee Box as a file server, watch the BBC iPlayer, generate your very own Boxee web widget, import web bookmarks onto the Box, utilize Google TV’s web apps, and more. Read more »
Boxee is competing with the big boys this holiday season, pitting its Boxee Box against Apple TV and Google TV. Does it have a chance? I tested the Boxee Box for close to two weeks now, and I have to say: It’s really, really nice. Read more »
Boxee made a name for itself with a cool media center application and a take-no-prisoners attitude. With its first device shipping this holiday season, the New York-based startup is streamlining its software and warming up to content owners. Question is, will its early adopters follow? Read more »
Want that cool two-sided Boxee remote control, but don’t care about the Boxee Box? Well, you’re in luck: It looks like the remote will be sold separately for a street price of $39.99. Boxee didn’t comment on the price, but said it would ship “very soon.” Read more »
The first Boxee Boxes are shipping, and we got our hands on one of them, despite the fact that review units are apparently still in transit. How does the packaging look like, and what’s in the box? Check out our unboxing video to find out. Read more »
