TechCrunch is still relevant? I think not...

The Onion is prophetic: gameshowhost: *not going to post boxxy.jpg*

You know somebody will, though.



I'd like to own a Boxxy...

NowhereMon: TechCrunch Apple TV is still relevant? I think not...

FTFY.

bah I use a 5 year old headless laptop tio stream movies to my TV, it gets everything + plus nothing to buy

!@#$ it I ain't hiding behind seven of those. No way, no how!

i wouldn't mind having a boxxy if she's legal.
she annoys the hell out of me, but she's oddly attractive.

/weird
//going back to my weird basement
///slashy?

I tried a Boxee Box when they first came out and was disappointed. I liked the free Windows version and assumed, quite wrongly, that their standalone device would have the same features. Turned out to be stripped down quite a bit and it was missing significant features. Very disappointing considering they charged twice the price of the competition. I returned it and went back to using the free version.

These guys are out on the bleeding edge!

Except Youporn, skankfree, redtube...etc etc etc.

So I got the roku for a gift for someone not really knowing what it was, can anybody tell me exactly what I'm supposed to do with this thing? I browsed all the apps and channels and things and they were all really, really, bad. I mean i get the whole netflix/amazon player, but why wouldnt i just get any modern bluray player for that? Plus the roku doesnt even have youtube? Was really surprised to see that has my 2 year old bluray has youtube.

I've read some articles on what to do with a roku but they were all variations of 'get netflix' or 'get amazon'. So far, I've got to say its the most overrated over priced peice of junk ive come across. I guess it is a little cheaper than a bluray player, but i would probably price it at 20 bucks or so as its inherent value. Something you pick up at the checkout line of best buy. Are people really this amazed you can stream netflix to a TV?

Torrent and PS3 too complicated? I don't even need my computer in the same room.

If you get seven boxees and hide behind them, no one can find you.

jtown: I tried a Boxee Box when they first came out and was disappointed. I liked the free Windows version and assumed, quite wrongly, that their standalone device would have the same features. Turned out to be stripped down quite a bit and it was missing significant features. Very disappointing considering they charged twice the price of the competition. I returned it and went back to using the free version.

You can no longer download the free version from boxee.tv.

Boooooooo

I've bought 7 of 'em



/haters gonna hate.

FTA: The bulk of Pornhub's viewing at the moment is on its own web site. That brings in 100 million page views per day, with around 25 million visitors and 3 billion page views per month.

Wow. That's enough jizz to fill the SuperDome.

DrPainMD: FTA: The bulk of Pornhub's viewing at the moment is on its own web site. That brings in 100 million page views per day, with around 25 million visitors and 3 billion page views per month.

Wow. That's enough jizz to fill the SuperDome.

If we could harness all of that energy, we could solve all of our energy problems.

I like my Roku and I've got my computers connected to the tv's also. Technology is fun!

RodneyToady: "Pornhub - which informally calls itself the YouTube for porn"

Huh... I figured PornTube or YouPorn would be the YouTube for porn.

PornPorn? (NSFW)

I'm wailting for the totally hands-free bluetooth version.

jtown: I tried a Boxee Box when they first came out and was disappointed. I liked the free Windows version and assumed, quite wrongly, that their standalone device would have the same features. Turned out to be stripped down quite a bit and it was missing significant features. Very disappointing considering they charged twice the price of the competition. I returned it and went back to using the free version.

Fortunately, they finally got the software to a decent point as of version 1.5, and it now matches the PC version pretty closely. Probably worth a second look if you're still in the market.

RoyBatty: I think Roku definitely had the best interface and the smallest player and the least expensive compared to boxee, BUT, boxee does claim to support private libraries of ripped DVDs out of the box, and while it's something that can be done with Roku, it's also a third party app option, and it's definitely not its focus.

The reason Boxee is more expensive is because it can do a lot more than streaming. It can play most any file format, and has built-in scrapers for TV shows and Movies. That's something Roku struggles with in the case of the former (it completely lacks the latter), because the hardware decoders on the Roku aren't as robust. It's also why Boxee costs more. If you want to play local files and stream, Boxee is the clear leader right now. The interface changes introduced in 1.5 allowed it to leapfrog Roku in the interface department, as well.

It took awhile, but Boxee finally became a decent product.

My WDTVLive plays just about anything I can throw at it and it connects nicely to my samba server.

Link (new window)

The biggest complaint I have with the Boxee is that it doesn't handle DLNA. All my stuff is available through NFS, and it does that just fine, but it's difficult to recommend a set top box to anyone else if it can't handle the bar-none easiest streaming system to set up. The option to do UPnP streaming is in its menus, but it doesn't actually function, something I've confirmed with DLink.

Roku is drop dead simple as long as you only want online content and don't know what to do with anything local. I like it, but for $75 to $100, it should at least be aware of network shares somehow.

WD TV Live is sort of a happy medium in that it supports DLNA and SMB shares and has some decent support for streaming services, but not enough to represent a good all in one.

My favorite set top box of all, though, is a stupid little thing called the LG Smart TV Upgrader. They're like $50 at Fry's or on Ebay. Current updates of the device allow it to stream from every major streaming service except Apple's. It does DLNA. It does SMB. It does NFS. It supports USB hard disk drives and can browse them for content. The interface blows, but it's a Swiss Army knife for actually accessing content.

ChuDogg: Are people really this amazed you can stream netflix to a TV?

I think it varies by provider, but so far Roku is the only device I own that allows me to stream HBOGO and Epix. Also in my opinion Roku's Netflix interface is the best of the three I have .

Meanwhile, this (new window) has launched.

RoyBatty: I haven't seen one of those for awhile, the page you linked to eventually links to another that says its supports VOBs, will your device support ripped DVDs?

Yeah, I just store ISO's on the server and it plays them just like a DVD

likefunbutnot: The biggest complaint I have with the Boxee is that it doesn't handle DLNA. All my stuff is available through NFS, and it does that just fine, but it's difficult to recommend a set top box to anyone else if it can't handle the bar-none easiest streaming system to set up. The option to do UPnP streaming is in its menus, but it doesn't actually function, something I've confirmed with DLink.

Are you sure about that? I run two DLNA servers (PlayOn and PS3 Media Server) over UPnP that Boxee accesses and plays just fine, and has since launch.

RoyBatty: GizmoToy: The reason Boxee is more expensive is because it can do a lot more than streaming. It can play most any file format, and has built-in scrapers for TV shows and Movies. That's something Roku struggles with in the case of the former (it completely lacks the latter), because the hardware decoders on the Roku aren't as robust. It's also why Boxee costs more. If you want to play local files and stream, Boxee is the clear leader right now. The interface changes introduced in 1.5 allowed it to leapfrog Roku in the interface department, as well.It took awhile, but Boxee finally became a decent product.

It's interesting though, I downloaded the software before intending to buy the Boxee when it came out, only to be disappointed for the next many releases that it could never figure out what my DVDs looked like even though VLC, Nero, Cyber what the hell the free thing is, even XMBC had no problems.

Now though without a download, I have no way of knowing if the thing works or not.

I agree. I think it was a stupid move on their part. I'm not sure what they were thinking.

Realistically, though, it was never possible to use the PC version to give you an idea of how the Boxee Box version would operate during playback. The PC version uses the XBMC software decoders (Boxee is a new interface laid on top of XBMC), where as the Boxee Box has a hardware chip that performs all the decoding. If it played perfectly on the PC version, there was never any guarantee that the Box could handle it just as well. The decode paths are entirely different.

does fark have a queen?
/salma hayek boobs?

RoyBatty: GizmoToy: I agree. I think it was a stupid move on their part. I'm not sure what they were thinking.Realistically, though, it was never possible to use the PC version to give you an idea of how the Boxee Box version would operate during playback. The PC version uses the XBMC software decoders (Boxee is a new interface laid on top of XBMC), where as the Boxee Box has a hardware chip that performs all the decoding. If it played perfectly on the PC version, there was never any guarantee that the Box could handle it just as well. The decode paths are entirely different.

That's interesting as well - I hadn't realized that.

And thanks zez, I'll have to look at the WD again.

I have an earlier generation that didn't have the hardware chip for netflix and hulu, but we don't have netflix anyway. I'm tempted to upgrade for hulu though. I do like how even though I have obsolete hardware they still come out with firmware upgrades that add all kinds of new things.

meh.. I got a small computer with 16TB hooked up to it. Transferred my DVD collection to it and buy my new stuff online.

I find all these media devices so limited that I don't even understand why someone would bother when the price isn't that different from a full computer anyways.

Two things:

1. Apple TV is still around?
2. I have no idea what the hell anyone is talking about in this thread. I have TV where I watch programs and I have a computer where I compute. Am I doing something wrong? Does it have to do with dongles or fiber optics or kindles of something?