We’re sorry that VUDU and Netflix will not be available on the Boxee Box until January.

These services provide amazing access to a huge catalogue of movies and TV shows in great quality.  They are pillars of the future we see at Boxee where you can watch almost any movie or show, whenever you want.  They were also inspirations that helped us decide to start Boxee in 2007.

If you’re new to Boxee or received a Boxee Box as a gift, you can surf through previous blog posts and our forums to see how our team has done its best to create the product that all of us wanted to enjoy digital “stuff” on our TVs.  While both services are up and running in our offices on the Boxee Box, we need some more time to test each application to make sure they are ready for  launch.  We expect VUDU to be up and running next week.  We have a brand new version of Netflix we expect to arrive by the end of January.

I know many users will be upset.  I am disappointed that we couldn’t make it happen in time for the end of the year.  However I’d ask that you put your faith in us.  There are countless devices with access to these services available, but I’d like to think you chose Boxee because we offer something different, in our  approach, in our commitment, in our passion, in the way we communicate (whether its good stuff or bad), and in how quickly we move on the stuff that matters most to our users.

Looking back at 2010 it’s hard to believe so much has happened in just 12 months. We are going to be at the CES Show next week and are really excited about 2011. For us it’s going to be about continuing to improve the Boxee software, getting Boxee on additional devices, bringing more content (both in the US and internationally) and making Boxee available on more screens.

Happy New Year everyone!

The Gymbox App for Boxee launches today and it’s a bittersweet day.  For three and a half years many of us have been able to use the “I have to work” excuse with co-workers, friends, girlfriends, spouses, and ourselves.   We traded dead-lifts, push-ups, treadmills, and pool laps in favor of keyboard finger crunches, chair balancing, and quick hustles to the bathroom.*  Well, the Gymbox has taken that excuse away from us.

I’m a martial arts guy, I’m not doing Pilates with a bunch of spandexed 40 year olds.  I fired up the App, and I saw the Pilates section and thought, hah!, I’m off the hook.  I scrolled a bit further and saw the Yoga section… then the Kickboxing section… then the … then …  There literally was something for everyone – from beginner to advanced.

When I went back a few days later, all the categories were there, but there were new videos.  How could this be?  Not only are they offering workouts for any type of person, but you get new workouts each week so that it stays interesting.  Personal trainers be damned. Granted the app is geared toward Boxee’s elite female users, but men who feel too self-conscious to work out in front of the TV (you really shouldn’t), consider this one more thing to help sell the Boxee Box to your spouse or girlfriend.

*NB – aside from being codemonkeys, Boxee employees are marathoners, triathletes, and martial artists. Or at least we try to be in the spare time that startup life presents us.

Earlier today we released a firmware update for the Boxee Box (details below). If you don’t see the ‘update’ icon on the top-right of your home screen, go to Settings>System>Update to manually check for and download the update.

We are still focused on bug fixing and minor improvements based on user feedback we’re getting from our early users. In this update we also made some minor UI changes to address certain usability issues related to playback of local files (added more filter and sort options, quicker navigation in long lists based on A-Z, ability to mark movies as Watched/Unwatched).

The next firmware update should come out before the end of the year, with major improvements to the browsers, new content/apps and more bug fixes.

Improvements and additions:

• Enabling user flavor selection (online/local files inclination) during first login and via Settings
• Added alphabetical scrollbar for local files
• Enhanced sorting options in browse screens (A-Z, Z-A, most popular, newest/oldest…)
• Add Genre filter support for local files
• Mark movies as watched/unwatched from the Action menu
• Added option for hourly scan of SMB/UPnP/USB sources
• Added SMB client defaults to Network Settings
• When watching side-by-side or over/under video, the subtitles and OSD would not be visible when wearing 3D glasses. The user now has the option, under Settings, to have the user interface properly displayed when watching 3D videos

Bug fixes

• Do not de-interlace of video when the TV is in interlaced mode (e.g. 1080i)
• HFS+ volumes display UUID instead of volume name under some conditions
• Video OSD text background too small for text title when playing video with long titles
• When connecting to VPN, Boxee didn’t refresh region code
• Boxee doesn’t change DNS configuration when VPN is set up
• Can’t connect to hidden wireless networks
• Can’t connect to network using WPA passcode with special characters
• When Internet connection is restored, menu doesn’t show online channels
• DVD .iso playback aspect ratio incorrect
• DVD playback displayed some artifacts
• “Resume From” doesn’t work on DVD ISO/Folders
• Zoom on DVD (.iso and folder) video does not work as expected
• .vob files playback (standalone files) is stuttering and low FPS
• DVD .iso playback over Wireless N: excessive buffering, playback speed issues, random exits
• “Vietnamese” character set is misspelled in System Settings
• Show “Remove From Favorites” button in episodes list, even if no episodes are available
• SMB credentials are not saved upon restart
• Write failure when accessing Box-attached disk over SMB
• SMB file sharing of external HD size reporting is wrong
• Become unresponsive and hang during playback of AVC .mkv file from SMB mapped drive
• Crashes when indexing some videos inside .rar files
• Crashes indexing mp3 file with corrupt embedded thumbnail
• Stretch 16:9 and Stretch 14:9 not working properly
• Shoutcast and Radiotime: Switching stations or Cancel causes interface to freeze and console output to crawl
• Some .mkv files do not playback properly (some flavors of H.264)
• Support packed bitstream muxing mode in .avi
• Some .wtv files do not playback properly
• Constant buffering on 1080p BD .mkv files accessed wirelessly on Boxee
• Boxee crash when browsing into unidentified Files
• Playback choked and crashed during viewing of .mp4 file