Boxee has been available for a while now, but it’s still a work in progress. However, the Boxee beta has now been unleashed on the world, available to all who want to download and use it.
It features an overhauled interface, and new apps and content. And it’s pretty damn awesome, though not yet perfect.
Boxee Begins
Boxee seems to have been building up to its open beta status for years now. Probably because it has been doing exactly that. But the beta has now finally been unleashed, unveiled during the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show.
If you haven’t yet heard or used Boxee, it’s a free, open-source piece of software that acts as a central locale for a user’s multimedia content. Films, TV shows, and photos from the Web and your local drive are brought together in one easily manageable setting.
Boxee Beta Launches
The Boxee beta has been on its way for six months now, and been rolled out to private, invite-only testers since the beginning of December. But the beta has now switched to being open, with everyone invited to take part.
The beta is set to run for a year, with the Boxee team hopeful of hitting the 1.0 release at next year’s CES. So unless you want to wait for another year before trying out the software you may as well grab it now.
The Boxee beta is available for Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu, and requires a user sign-up/log-in.
[via XYHD]
Boxee Beta Details
The user interface has been given a complete overhaul, and is now both much sexier and easier to use. Content can be filtered in a number of different ways, while the social elements have been increased and improved.
New content partners include TV.com, which should see shows such as Family Guy, Heroes, NCIS, South Park, House, and How I Met Your Mother added to the service over the next few months. Blip.tv and IGN are also added to the mix.
Some existing channels now have their own apps, which makes viewing their content easier than ever.
Conclusions
Overall, the Boxee beta is a vast improvement. There are still some slight niggles, and more content (and more premium content) would also be appreciated. And there’s still no Hulu. But it’s definitely worth trying out the Boxee beta.
Boxee on Apple TV
It is possible to run Boxee on an Apple TV, and modified Apple TV’s are available to buy on eBay that come with Boxee pre-installed creating a powered-up Apple TV:
[phpbay]Apple TV Boxee, 3, “”, “”[/phpbay]
Also See
The PopBox Internet TV BoxMore Media Center Software NewsMore Devices using Boxee on eBay
