Apr 09

boxee’s App Box and API go live, could come to other hardware soon

Posted in: AppStore, boxee, content, hulu, Today's Chili

Not that there should be any shock surrounding the formal introduction of boxee’s App Box and API — after all, both were teased sufficiently during last month’s bleeding edge alpha release — but we’re still thrilled to see things moving along nicely. This week, the open source media platform launched both an API and an application portal, both of which will act to bring all manners of third-party gems to the media browsing world. boxee doesn’t plan on being any sort of gatekeeper (at least for now), which hopefully will spur innovation and get more developers interested. In related news, ArsTechnica has also found that boxee is currently in talks with a few big players in the hardware space, essentially hoping to get its 1s and 0s onto game consoles, Blu-ray players and other set-top-boxes. There’s no clue as to the whens and wheres, but we suspect this means there will be no dedicated STB in the near future — for better or worse.

[Via ArsTechnica]

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boxee’s App Box and API go live, could come to other hardware soon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 06

Hulu returns to boxee via RSS feed support, in flies App Box and Auto Update

Posted in: boxee, content, hulu, media streamer, MediaStreamer, stream, streaming, Today's Chili

Before we get you all excited, we’ll quote boxee‘s ending of its announcement before anything else: “This is a bleeding edge release, not for the faint of heart since it didn’t go through much testing.” If you’re the brave type, you’re going to want to install the latest version of boxee this instance, as it not only brings back Hulu (in a sense), but it also throws in a boxee application market (App Box) and a much-needed Auto Update feature that will inform you automatically of future builds. So, you’re hungry for more on that Hulu bit, right? This version of the application brings along a built-in RSS reader optimized for video, and obviously, it fully supports Hulu’s public RSS feeds. Needless to say, we’re loving the direction this little app is going, so make sure you give it a go and report back with any praises or complaints.

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Hulu returns to boxee via RSS feed support, in flies App Box and Auto Update originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 04

DirecTV shows interest in internet TV initiative, TWC chief gets even more serious

Posted in: content, Today's Chili

We heard that the cable industry (or at least TWC and Comcast) could begin offering up a lot of pay-TV content to subscribers via the web by this summer, but frankly, we didn’t believe it. But thanks to new quotes from Time Warner chief executive Jeff Bewkes and DirecTV CEO Chase Carey, you can safely put us in the “believer” camp. Reportedly, TWC is looking to provide pay-TV content via the internet and even on mobile devices for no extra charge. Bewkes even noted that “everything on television should become available to [customers] on broadband for free,” which is pretty amazing for a cable guy to say. DirecTV also seems kosher with the idea of giving in before customers simply jump ship, with its head honcho intelligently stating that “in the past, when a company tries to stop or block something from happening, it’s usually failed.” Oh, and this whole regime could totally be the shot in the arm mobile TV providers have been yearning for.

Read – TWC names TV-by-internet offering
Read – DirecTV following suit

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DirecTV shows interest in internet TV initiative, TWC chief gets even more serious originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 04

ZillionTV brings ad-based streaming content to the television

Posted in: content, Today's Chili

Just in case hooking up ZeeVee’s ZvBox and getting access to all available online media is too difficult, there’s ZillionTV. This admittedly interesting startup is looking to pick up where Hulu, ZeeVee, Netflix Watch Instantly and all the rest have left off by bringing true on-demand content to one’s television (read: not PC or mobile device) for almost nothing. For a one-time fee of “under $100,” users will be given a ZBar and a ZRemote, both of which enable interaction with the VUI interface. Put as simply as possible, ZillionTV is hooking up with ISPs, content producers and advertisers in order to bring loads of popular material to the TV sans a subscription, though you will have to watch ads (which are optionally customizable to preferences) in order to play along. The company asserts that SD quality content can be achieved with a 3Mbps connection, while HD material will need upwards of 7Mbps. Currently, a beta program is ongoing, but a nationwide launch is expected by Q4. To be frank, this whole setup is rather complicated, so we’ll point you past the break for a more detailed breakdown.

Continue reading ZillionTV brings ad-based streaming content to the television

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ZillionTV brings ad-based streaming content to the television originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 20

Cable companies work to bring new online content to pay-TV subscribers

Posted in: cable, content, stream, streaming, Today's Chili, TV

In an effort to maintain relevancy during a time when online TV viewing is on the rise, a number of big name cable companies are looking to throw in online companion packages to sweeten the pay-TV equation. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that top cable providers (namely Comcast and TWC) and TV networks are looking to assemble a large swath of online programming — some of which has been previously unavailable — and deliver it only to subscribers. As it stands, loads of shows are available right now for free via Hulu and broadcast websites, but some channels without online portals can only be caught via cable. From what we’re gathering, it seems that these operators could be working to bring some of that content to the web, essentially providing a means to tune into a Comcast or TWC lineup without having to be in front of the set-top-box.

Update: Due to some quotes taken out of context, we have revamped our story above to show a clearer picture of the cable companies’ intentions.

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Cable companies work to bring new online content to pay-TV subscribers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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