Boxee Box owners (all two of you) rejoice! As promised, Boxee is bringing Vudua4ぎa4г extensive library of streaming high-definition movies to its set-top box in an update today.
Additionally, the company says Netflix support for the Boxee Box is still on track for the end of this month.
Vudu offers 1080p high-definition films with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound. Pricing starts at $2 for 2 nights of a standard definition film, while an HD version will cost a few bucks more. It has a library of over 4,400 HDあ films, so therea4ぎa4г a good chance youa4ぎa4ll be able to find a recent title on Vudu that isna4ぎa4д available on Netflixa4ぎa4г streaming service. New customers who sign up through the Boxee Box will receive a $5.99 Vudu credit.
As we reported in October, Vudua4ぎa4г service is also available on the downloadable version of Boxeea4ぎa4г software, which you can deploy for free on any PC or Mac. Vudu is definitely taking a cue from Netflix, as its service is popping up in many devices &8212' ita4ぎa4г available on HDTVs from Samsung, Toshiba, LG and more, and it hit Sonya4ぎa4г Playstation 3 in November.
The addition of new content providers like Vudu and Netflix will certainly go a long way towards making the Boxee Box, which is manufactured by D-Link, a more compelling product. The set-top box was finally released in November of last year for $199, even though Boxee first announced it in December of 2009. Hardware issues, including a switch from Nvidiaa4ぎa4г Tegra chip to Intela4ぎa4г Atom, likely led to the delayed release.
By the time it was released, the Boxee Box faced competition from the new $99 Apple TV, not to mention the increasingly popular Roku set-top boxes, which retail between $60 and $100. And of course, there was Google TV, which wasna4ぎa4д a runaway success by any means but managed to steal some attention away from Boxee.
The Boxee Box update also includes a slew of bug fixes, all of which you can find at the Boxee blog.
Next Story: Android Trojan Soundminer can a4ぎAheara4ぎ credit card numbers Previous Story: On the GreenBeat: BP says renewable energy growth to beat oil, more of California&'s solar panels come from China
Print Email Twitter Facebook Google Buzz LinkedIn Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Delicious Google More&8230'
Companies: Boxee, D Link, Netflix, Vudu
Companies: Boxee, D Link, Netflix, Vudu
Devindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.
VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters. Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
Comments