Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Tuesday evening everyone. Today was a pretty big day as far as news goes, with Apple sending out invites to an upcoming event, which is where we’re assuming the company will announce the iPad Mini. Not one to be outdone, Microsoft finally gave us some substantial details on Surface today (including information on pre-orders), and Samsung was right there to put its line up of new Windows 8 PCs and tablets up for pre-order as well.

We heard that there could be as many as 24 different iPad Mini models when Apple finally gets around to revealing the device, and we got to see the insides of the new iPod Nano thanks a teardown from iFixit. Excited for the Padfone 2? If you are, you’ll be pleased to know that its tablet dock can stand up to some abuse. We found out that Intel’s Q3 profits were negatively influenced by slowing demand for PCs, and heard that the average screen size is on the rise for all types of devices except for “mobile PCs.”

A mysterious Texas Instruments-made chip was found lurking inside Apple’s Lightning cable today, and Verizon is catching some heat for monitoring user activity. PlayMG revealed a dedicated Android gaming device called the MG, and AVADirect put a number of Windows 8 PCs up for pre-order today. We heard that T-Mobile might be getting the iPhone 5 early next year, and were told that LTE customers in the US pay 10 times more than LTE customers in Sweden. If you’re a hardcore gamer, you might be pleased to find out that the rechargeable battery in the Wii U Pro controller could potentially last up to 80 hours on a single charge, and you also might want to check out this snazzy Black Ops II launch trailer.

Bethesda might be working on a new piece of Skyrim DLC called Dragonborn, and controversial company Foxconn admitted to hiring underage workers today. The Xbox 360 was given a new dashboard update, Beats Audio unveiled a new portable speaker that has been aptly named “The Pill,” and Boxee announced a new service called Boxee TV. Finally tonight, we have a review of the LG Optimus G and the Motorola DROID RAZR HD, both by Chris Burns, and Vincent Nguyen talks with Microsoft to get the inside scoop on what makes the Surface such a game-changer. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: October 16, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re an owner of the Boxee Box, originally launched back in November of 2010 and distributed up until today, the announcement this morning from the creators of this lovely bit of technology isn’t going to be your most welcome update. In introducing the Boxee TV, a machine that links together Live TV, Internet Apps, and Cloud DVR, the team has let it be known that the original Boxee Box is done for. With a single software update to bring about a better working Flash player and a selection of bug fixes, the Boxee Box will officially go into maintenance mode.

This doesn’t mean that the Boxee Box will not have any more software updates at all, as bug fixes will continue here and there, but you shouldn’t expect any “major updates” from the company as they move to the Boxee TV. With the Boxee team’s partnership with D-Link praised here in 2012 and the original November 2010 launch date now called a milestone, the Boxee TV will now take over the major bit of attention over at the Boxee business.

“Our small team has poured our hearts and souls into the Boxee Box and it has been great to meet users from all over the globe. Some loved it, some wanted more features, others complained, but everyone was passionate.  We hope you have enjoyed it and will continue to use it in your living rooms, dens, bedrooms or wherever else you set it up (I met one guy who installed it in his yacht!). If you are living in the US, we would love for you to continue our journey with us and order Boxee TV when it comes out.” – Avner Ronen, Boxee

The new Boxee TV is a device that’s made with a brand new chipset coming from Broadcom, software that’s been written “from the ground up”, and support through the future from the Boxee team. Of course you never know, support could be done in just a couple of years. By that time you’ll be on the next machine anyway though, right?

Have a peek at our short collection of Boxee updates in the timeline below and let us know how you feel about this news of discontinuation of Boxee Box support. If you own a Boxee Box now, will you buy a Boxee TV in the near future?

[via Boxee]

Boxee Box user support ends entirely is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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 Boxee HTPC software hit 2008, which was followed by the Boxee Box made in partnership with D-Link in 2010. Boxee has since moved on from both products, putting development on both in a sort of holding pattern where the company will address issues but will no longer provide product updates. It’s all about the Boxee TV now, although the company doesn’t see the Boxee TV as a replacement for the two year old Boxee Box.

The Boxee TV attempts to address a large void in the TV segment: DVRs for cord cutters and casual cable subscribers. The D-Link-made set-top box can pull in over-the-air HDTV signals and unencrypted cable signals. The dual tuner setup also allows it to record two channels at once. Built off the lessons learned with the Boxee Box’s Live TV dongle, the Boxee TV includes every feature found in a traditional DVR. Best of all, like TiVo, it’s not tied to the cable provider and even works with over-the-air signals. But, also like TiVo, there is a monthly charge to use the cloud DVR of $14.99 a month. Yeah, that’s a lot.

The Boxee TV offers a novel approach to the DVR. Referred to by Boxee as the No Limits DVR, the Boxee TV is the first DVR that offers truly unlimited storage that also allows for remote viewing — for $15 a month. With the Boxee TV, owners can watch anything stored on their DVR from a mobile or desktop device. This is a stark departure from the traditional DVR that utilizes local storage to hold recordings.

The Boxee TV hits a major retailer in November, but the company is systematically rolling out access to the No Limits DVR to better manage scaling and customer support. The cloud DVR will only be available in the following markets at launch: NYC, LA, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Washington DC and Philadelphia. Boxee’s Avner Ronen tells me this accounts for 30% of the consumers in the US and that the company will open access to additional markets based on demand starting in 2013.

However, the cloud DVR is just part of the magic of the Boxee TV. The box utilizes Boxee’s fantastic user interface for the live TV programming guide and also includes a host of apps.

Boxee TV is not a Boxee Box replacement. To the company, they are different products aimed at different demographics. Avner tells me “The Boxee Box was built by geeks, for geeks” and then awkwardly follows it up with “The Boxee TV is made by geeks, for…people.”

For instance, the Boxee TV does not support as many file types or containers for local video streaming as the Boxee Box. The new unit also doesn’t have as many apps as the older model (including a web browser) although the Boxee TV does pack the major ones likes Netflix, Pandora and YouTube. The Boxee TV’s remote also lacks the QWERTY keypad found Boxee Box’s remote, though it does have dedicated buttons for Netflix and Vudu. On the flip side, the Boxee TV includes an ATSC/QAM tuner and access to the cloud DVR. Plus, it only costs $99 rather than the Boxee Box’s $199 MSRP.

We played with the Boxee TV a bit at the company’s NYC office this week. The UI is a tad sluggish but looks great. The EPG is fantastic. But the company wouldn’t let us play with several key features including the DVR, remote viewing or the apps. Look for our few review in the coming weeks.

Boxee recently stopped active development on the Boxee Box. It is now on a maintenance development cycle. Boxee will continue to support the Boxee Box and release bug patches, but the startup has shifted its limited resources to the Boxee TV. And this isn’t the first time the company has seemingly turned its back on older products.

Boxee has caught a fair amount of flack for its development cycle as users and owners have accused the company of abandonment. When the Boxee Box came out, Boxee quickly spun down development of its standalone HTPC software. And now with the Boxee TV, it has done the same thing with the Boxee Box, a product some users still report as buggy and incomplete. However, as a longtime Boxee Box owner myself, I put the Boxee Box in the same category as the iPad in terms of user satisfaction. It’s not perfect, but still a fantastic product and the best media streamer on the market. My family uses it daily.

It’s hard to argue against Boxee’s results though. Sure, the company has moved quickly from one product to another, but it’s on the verge of releasing its third product, and more telling to Boxee’s success, its second hardware product. Boxee also finagled a major retail partner for the Boxee TV, which will be announced in the days to come. Boxee’s lone downfall is that it tends to over-promise and then under-deliver. In 2011 following the Boxee Box’s release, the company promised a three month update cycle — it followed through, but only for several updates. Now the Boxee Box is effectively treading water, although, again, I’m fine with the product as-is.

So far the Boxee TV is shaping up to be every cable cutter’s dream device. Nearly every box on the wishlist is checked: it’s relatively inexpensive, packed with features not found on competitors, and uses a fantastic UI. The only downside is the crazy-high $15 monthly surcharge for the No Limits DVR, which is also only available at launch in certain markets. Still, Boxee is onto something big here. There are plenty of people ditching expensive pay TV for streaming services and this little $100 box offers a lot more functionality than a Roku or Apple for a lower price. Like the Boxee Box before it, the Boxee TV is set to disrupt a growing market.

Boxee is taking pre-orders on its website now and the unit will hit a major retailer in November.

Click to view slideshow.

The Boxee Box — that sucker had a ton of hype behind it, but things don’t always work out. After two years of fighting Roku, Apple TV and, to a lesser extent, Google TV for market share, Boxee has drastically rethought its approach. The $99 Boxee TV marks a new chapter for the company with a focus on live TV and a streamlined consumer experience. Baked right inside the matte plastic case is a dual tuner capable of pulling in unencrypted basic cable channels and over-the-air HD broadcasts. There’s a slick guide to help you navigate but, most importantly, the slimmed down software sports DVR functionality. The Boxee TV has no internal storage, however, instead all your recordings are stored online in a “No Limits” DVR. For $15 a month you’ll be able to save as many shows as you want and watch it on your TV or on your computer, tablet or phone through an HTML5 webapp. The DVR service will be rolled out to New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington DC to start, with other markets set to come online in 2013.

The selection of apps is not quite as robust as it is on the legacy Boxee Box, but CEO Avner Ronen has settled on a quality over quantity approach. Netflix, VUDU, Pandora, YouTube and Vimeo will come preinstalled on the Boxee TV and other apps will follow. But we wouldn’t expect to see Know Your Meme or PornHub on there anytime soon. Some of the other losses are a little harder to swallow for fans of the original hardware. The move from Intel to a Broadcom SOC means the streaming options for locally stored media are much less robust. There’s DLNA support, but many other networking protocols have fallen by the wayside. The beloved QWERTY remote has also bitten the dust, replaced with a much simpler device that sports dedicated Netflix and Vudu buttons. Even the distinctive “sinking cube” design has been replaced with a basic rectangle that’s barely distinguishable from other settop boxes. You can sign up for more info at the Boxee site where you’ll also be able to preorder the Boxee TV ahead of its November 1st launch.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Boxee TV delivers dual-tuners and cloud-based DVR for $99 November 1st originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As you might expect, the cable industry has been taking measures to protect its business by asking the FCC to allow encryption of basic cable — something that has never been done and that many have rightly opposed. The FCC responded by releasing new rules on Friday and while cable operators will be able allowed to encrypt all their channels, it isn’t without a few strings. The Boxee blog voiced its approval of those strings, which basically amounts to a requirement that when an operator encrypts, it also needs to make basic channels accessible via IP — with or without some hardware in your home — so that Boxee and others can still tune in. The other, less interesting stipulation, is that you might be entitled to at least one free set-top box or CableCARD for up to five years, depending on what package you subscribe to or if you are on Medicaid. The free hardware will only be for existing customers who apply within four months of when your provider rolls out the basic cable encryption. The real loser here are those few who actually use the Clear-QAM tuner in their TV, or perhaps those that use HTPC software that’ll never get an update.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

FCC to allow encryption of basic cable, with a few strings that Boxee approves of originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Oct 2012 18:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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