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Hands-on with the new Boxee Beta media center app
Boxee is a media viewer that allows you to simply and elegantly browse videos, music and photos on the web or on your hard drive. The alpha version of the app has been around for a while, but the new closed beta kicks things up quite a few notches. An improved interface and some new content partners - still no Hulu without a workaround, though - make Boxee an excellent choice for all your online channel-surfing needs.
The new home screen shows your queue, where you can line up a bunch of stuff to watch, and even subscribe to a show to have new episodes added to your list when they come out. Boxee can also pull in recommendations from Twitter and Facebook, and the homepage contains a feed of the media your friends have linked to on those sites.
Content-wise, Boxee also now works with Netflix streaming (assuming you're a Netflix customer, anyway) so you can search and watch movies without ever leaving Boxee. Browsing the various channels Boxee provides is also easier now, thanks to a nice clean grid that clearly displays what's available. A pop-up control also makes it easy to navigate or jump back to your home screen while you're watching a show.
You can sign up for Boxee's closed beta, available on OS X, Windows and Linux. Invites are being distributed by lottery.
Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsFanfootDec 15th 2009 1:09AM
Of little to no use without Hulu support. With support for ALL popular commercial streaming sites (Hulu, ComedyCentral, TV.com, ABC, etc) it might have a shot. Otherwise, I'll just stick with my laptop thanks.
Victor Agreda JrDec 15th 2009 9:59AM
Well, you'd be surprised how useful it is, even without Hulu. While Hulu is great, and the desktop app makes it a worthy 10-ft. experience, Boxee alpha was set up in my house on a big HDTV and my wife immediately understood the interface, etc. and was using Pandora daily. The crashes weren't good, but it was alpha.
Seriously, give it a try. Hulu offers a lot, Boxee offers other stuff beyond videozomg!
techpopsDec 15th 2009 11:51AM
UK has no Hulu :*(
So I disagree that any software that doesn't make use of it is useless. I could turn around and say any media software is useless unless it supports BBC iPlayer but that would be petty knowing its UK only ;)
roylt84Dec 15th 2009 8:07AM
Boxee can use Hulu, like the review said it's just not 'officially supported'. It also does have access to ComedyCentral and several other websites. Heck it's free so why not try it out before passing judgement.
motangDec 15th 2009 12:39PM
I can neither confirm nor deny if I have access to the beta.
bobbo010Dec 16th 2009 4:15AM
What's the version number of the most recent beta release? ;o