‘Shows’ accesses some popular programmes. As can be expected of a platform described as a ‘social media centre’, one of these is labelled Friends, and allows you to recommend content to pals if your Boxee user-account is linked to Facebook and/or Twitter. Above these are a row of icons that access the main features. The lower half of its home page totes recommended clips. From here you can, for example, tell Iomega TV what audio formats your connected equipment can handle.īoxee’s user interface gives you some idea of how the internet is dragging TV, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century. AV and network settings are only available via the device’s own menus. Instead, it deals with multimedia scanning (for the NAS DLNA server), folder/server management and enabling the ‘personal cloud’ (for securely sharing files with invited internet users). There’s a web interface, but it doesn’t support remote control. During the intervening period, I continued using Iomega TV courtesy of Boxee’s Wi-Fi-remote Android app. There’s no raised ‘pip’ on the latter, so it’s too easy to activate the wrong function.Īt one time during my review it stopped working altogether, but the next morning normal behaviour had miraculously been restored – maybe an automatic software update was responsible. The enormous joypad buttons of the Boxee side surround a tiny OK/pause button. But while it might look pretty, it’s a disappointment ergonomically. On one side are basic Boxee controls flip it over and you’ll find a keyboard for entering URLs. The accompanying handset is quite ingenious. Around the back, you’ll find Ethernet (integral Wi-Fi is onboard, though), HDMI, an optical digital output and analogue phonos for composite video and stereo audio. Its front panel is distinguished only by a USB port (for local media), standby button and remote sensor. Versions prefitted with 1TB and 2TB hard drives are available – or you can get a version with no local storage. In addition to Boxee, this incorporates a NAS for storing photos, video and music that can not only be played locally, but also streamed to other players or computers on your network. One such product is Iomega TV, which is built around an Intel Atom processor. It’s available for Windows, Linux and Apple devices, but licensed hardware products designed around the software are now available. An offshoot of the XBMC multimedia player that was installed on many hacked Xboxes, Boxee adds – amongst other things – social networking integration and plugin (app) support. Once again we have to thank the hackers for something cool. Smart media player leaves us wondering if watching TV will ever be the same again.
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