Boxee was already gaining great publicity and plaudits for being one of the most promising. But at the recent Consumer Electronics Show, the company behind the platform added new content providers to its line-up, making it an even more intriguing and useful prospect.
In case you haven’t heard of it by now, Boxee is a free, open-source piece of software that allows PC users to access all their Web video from one central location. It can also be used when your PC or Mac is connected to a TV, with all operations possible via a remote control.
Work In Progress
Boxee works as a cross-platform media center that pulls content from a number of sources and allows its users to view it all from one central location. It also has many social networking functions which allow content to be shared or recommended.
Boxee is still a work in progress but has moved from beta to open alpha for both Mac and Linux users. The Windows version of the software is still in closed, invite-only alpha but the invite-only prohibition should change early in 2009.
Video and More
Video isn’t the only available media on the platform, with photos and music also being a part of it. But the range of online video providers who are signing up to be a part of the service shows how big a part video is going to play.
Apple movie trailers, YouTube, Blip.tv, CNN, CBS, Hulu, MySpaceTV, Netflix, and Revision3 are just some of the early adopters. But MTV, Joost, and BBC iPlayer have all now been added to that already impressive list of content providers.
Joost and MTV content will be available to everyone while, unfortunately, BBC iPlayer is still limited to UK residents, or those outside of the UK who choose to use a good proxy server.
Growing Numbers and Reputation
200,000 people are said to have already signed up to the service, and the company landed $4 million of funding back in November.
Those interested in giving the software a try can sign up at Boxee.tv although you’ll currently need either a Mac or Linux computer, or alternatively, Apple TV. An open Windows alpha is likely to follow soon for those of us yet to abandon Microsoft completely.
While Boxee is currently only available as a downloadable app, the company hopes to license the software for use on set-top boxes, and maybe even release its own dedicated hardware sometime this year.
