Boxee device coming Dec. 7
updated 01:40 pm EST, Thu November 12, 2009
Boxee finds hardware maker
Boxee today confirmed talk that it would produce its own hardware. The media center startup now says it has partnered with an unnamed home electronics company to make its own set-top box and that a mockup as well as further details will be shown at an already-planned December 7th event that was to mark the Boxee software entering beta. Most details aren't known, but Boxee stresses that the device will still let users choose from a wide variety of sources rather than a narrow channel.
The young company still plans for the interface to be platform-agnostic and still expects it on computers, Blu-ray players, TVs and other devices outside of the official product. Boxee first garnered attention at the start of the year with an alpha build of its client for Linux and Mac OS X computers and has spent most of the year refining the software as well as fending off Hulu's attempts to block it. The studio-supported service has tried to exclude Boxee's access to Hulu as it provides a TV-friendly interface with a greater incentive to drop TV subscriptions that NBC and others still need for revenue.
