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Boxee has just detailed an update to the Spotify app on its hardware. The Boxee Box app now has a full search feature, giving an easier way to find specific tracks in Spotify's catalog. They can filter by song name, artist, or album.
Boxee may be planning on introducing a subscription-based DVR service for its recently introduced Live TV tuner. This is suggested by a survey the company sent out this weekend, asking users how much they would be willing to pay for the ability to record 300 hours of TV per month. The options range from $5 to $15, though a Not Interested option is present as well.
Boxee in a direct criticism contended that cable companies were being anti-competitive in lobbying to drop a requirement that basic cable stay unencrypted. The Boxee Box designer argued that the request, which would let a TV provider require a set-top box or slot-in card to get any signal at all, was only meant to shut out free alternatives and force customers to buy or more often rent equipment. Company chief Avner Ronen argued that it would block devices like the Boxee Live TV add-on and that there was no real upside.
Boxee Box has just released its 1.5 software update behind live TV function of its new tuner that we had a chance to check out at CES. There are also some other functionalities the update enables. With the tuner add-on, this update, and the main Boxee Box hardware, users can access over-the-air TV broadcasts as well as Internet content.
Boxee marked a swansong for its desktop app with the launch of 1.5. The app has a newly refreshed interface with quicker access to the browser and the menu appearing as an overlay with quicker search. Movie and TV sections have been given their own updates, such as easier navigation by genres and sources, more details, and a better way to check for unwatched video episodes.
Boxee gave owners of the Boxee Box a reward for the weekend on Friday with the addition of Spotify streaming. Those who pay the $10 monthly subscription for Spotify Premium can listen to any track in the catalog and get access to their playlists. The Boxee app is optimized for the TV-sized interface and doesn't have the social features, but it does have the song sharing inbox.
Sling Media has previewed a new SlingPlayer utility designed specifically for the Boxee Box, the latest connected device to take advantage of the television streaming system. The Boxee Box offering appears to work in the same way as SlingPlayer for Google TV, smartphones, tablets and other devices, providing yet another method for users to watch video streamed from the Singbox set-top box.
Boxee swung its focus back to the desktop on Monday with a promise of a major update for the Mac, Ubuntu Linux, and Windows versions of its media front-end app. The new version will bring the reworked browser and content options that have been present on the Boxee Box in recent months. The code would also be more closely in step with the dedicated box in the future.
Boxee has released a follow-up fix that resolves several issues that surfaced with the company's recent firmware update. The Boxee Box 1.1 firmware had caused problems for systems using Dolby Digital audio, preventing some surround-sound setups from distributing stereo audio through the rear and center channels.
Boxee has just outlined the latest software update for its Boxee Box. Version 1.1 supersedes the current 1.0.4 release and will be released over the next few days. Users can also manually update their devices.
Boxee on Monday announced that the Boxee Box by D-Link has now received support for accessing streaming content from Netflix. The absence of this feature was one of our gripes when we reviewed it, and was also requested by Boxee users. The support comes by way of a new software update, version 1.0.4.17443, and will let both US and Canadian Boxee Box owners to watch Netflix content.
D-Link has achieved better than expected sales of its IPTV Boxee Box set-top-box (STB), according to a report. Since its November launch event, D-Link claims that its sales performance in the US and Europe have frequently exceeded stock volumes. In the US the device is sold through Amazon and is also expected to reach Best Buy soon increasing its retail footprint significantly.
The Boxee Box has just received another comprehensive update. The new firmware brings with it a large number of bug fixes and improvements. Mainly noticeable is a new user interface that helps with playback of local files, but it now also fixes 3D viewing in the on-screen display.
