Who out there is tired of satellite, what with the ever-changing prices, dropping channels basic cable has and those god-awful commercials? One may consider having a look at Boxee TV, a web-based television platform that can save money and get a ton of the same programming.
Challenging cable
Numerous businesses make and sell web-based television boxes that offer a significant challenge to cable and satellite companies. The idea is fairly simple; the box links to Wi-Fi and streams Netflix, Hulu and so forth, and also typically has a DVR function where they can record it.
A couple of years back, the Boxee TV got released. It failed miserably. According to Time magazine, the company is intending it again with a brand new twist. All DVR recordings will be held in the cloud.
The new Boxee Television also is not terribly expensive, starting at $99 for the box. Adding DVR services is $14.99 per month, which is more than some competing models but much less than it would cost with satellite or cable.
An antenna on it currently
The Boxee Television receiver has a cable port, so customers can use it as a DVR box and thus an accessory. It also has its own antenna, so publicly broadcast stations like NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and PBS could be picked up. It also comes with native apps for Netflix, Vimeo, VUDU, YouTube and Pandora.
The way it differs from comparable boxes such as Roku or Netgear, which are less expensive by half, is that Boxee TV doesn't have any on-board memory, nor does it require an external hard drive for storage, such as the recently-released Simple.TV, according to CNET. Storage is done via uploading content to a cloud "locker," which users can access at any time. It is a dual-code DVR recorder and can record two programs simultaneously. Users can't stop live programs, like on TiVo, however.
The box is nice because you have unlimited space for DVR recording. You will not need short term loans to pay the $14.99 fee for it more than likely.
Only some towns at first
Unfortunately, the hitch is that the DVR services for the Boxee TV, according to TG Daily, are limited to just a few towns to start with. Only residents of New York, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., will be able to get the DVR services. The company plans on expanding the network over the next year, though.
Everyone else can only use it as a streaming device, until DVR services are available everywhere. At that it fails, since other set-top boxes for those who want to cut the cord are much cheaper and have more or the same streaming native apps.
Challenging cable
Numerous businesses make and sell web-based television boxes that offer a significant challenge to cable and satellite companies. The idea is fairly simple; the box links to Wi-Fi and streams Netflix, Hulu and so forth, and also typically has a DVR function where they can record it.
A couple of years back, the Boxee TV got released. It failed miserably. According to Time magazine, the company is intending it again with a brand new twist. All DVR recordings will be held in the cloud.
The new Boxee Television also is not terribly expensive, starting at $99 for the box. Adding DVR services is $14.99 per month, which is more than some competing models but much less than it would cost with satellite or cable.
An antenna on it currently
The Boxee Television receiver has a cable port, so customers can use it as a DVR box and thus an accessory. It also has its own antenna, so publicly broadcast stations like NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and PBS could be picked up. It also comes with native apps for Netflix, Vimeo, VUDU, YouTube and Pandora.
The way it differs from comparable boxes such as Roku or Netgear, which are less expensive by half, is that Boxee TV doesn't have any on-board memory, nor does it require an external hard drive for storage, such as the recently-released Simple.TV, according to CNET. Storage is done via uploading content to a cloud "locker," which users can access at any time. It is a dual-code DVR recorder and can record two programs simultaneously. Users can't stop live programs, like on TiVo, however.
The box is nice because you have unlimited space for DVR recording. You will not need short term loans to pay the $14.99 fee for it more than likely.
Only some towns at first
Unfortunately, the hitch is that the DVR services for the Boxee TV, according to TG Daily, are limited to just a few towns to start with. Only residents of New York, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., will be able to get the DVR services. The company plans on expanding the network over the next year, though.
Everyone else can only use it as a streaming device, until DVR services are available everywhere. At that it fails, since other set-top boxes for those who want to cut the cord are much cheaper and have more or the same streaming native apps.
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