Boxee’s Web App Gets a Facelift

We’ve listened to your feedback and spent the past few weeks making major improvements to the web experience across devices and screens.

Optimized for Nighttime Viewing

Turning on your iPad in a dark room can sometimes feel like looking into the Ark of the Covenant.  To keep your soul, and those of your loved ones in tact, we’ve redesigned the Web App’s look and feel to match Boxee’s normal dark background.

Full-screen Channel Guide

We heard your feedback, and opened it up full-width so you can easily see when The Siege is on again (it’s tomorrow, the 17th if you’re curious). We’ve also reduced the clutter on the guide using simple colored lines to show programs scheduled to record or in conflict. 

Timeslot Navigation

Now that the guide’s bigger, timeslots sometimes become a blur so we put in a handy dropdown menu at the top of the screen to quickly jump between timeslots.  Whether it’s prime time or weekend updates, you’ll always know what’s on.

What’s next…Improved Search

Soon you’ll be able to search not only what’s coming up on TV, but you’ll also be able to search your own recordings. It’ll make it way easier to find what you’re looking for.  In the meantime, did you know you can just do a search for “movies” and we’ll show you any movies airing in the next week?  Give it a try!

Conclusion

We’d love to hear what you think of the new web app, as well as any ideas you have for making it better. Share your feedback with us here: http://b0x.ee/110TuaZ

Cheers,
Team Boxee

PS - full release notes here

AOL On Network Now Available on Boxee TV

We’d like to welcome “AOL On” to Boxee TV! Boxee TV users will get access to more than 300,000 videos from AOL’s sites.

 Get the latest news and exclusive interviews with the most important people in the tech industry from TechCrunch, Engadget, and CNET.  Watch AOL Autos test the hottest cars on the market, or get recipes and cooking tips from Martha Stewart and Gourmet TV.

The app has videos covering a huge range of topics, from news and fashion to health tips, travel, cars, and pets.  So check out the app today!

PS - AOL is giving away 3 Boxee TVs on their Facebook page.
Enter to win here: http://bit.ly/122xQT5

Autocomplete for Search, New Layout, and Schedule Anyway Come To Boxee TV Web App

It’s been cold in NYC the past few weeks, and we’ve been inside coding away.  While the C++ guys have been buttoning up the next firmware, our web team has made some great strides in helping users find and record shows more easily.  Current users can check out the updates now at http://my.boxee.tv… 

Autocomplete For Search

Start typing, instantly get possible matches. We’ll soon have this for recordings too!

New Recordings Layout 

To make it easier to find exactly what you’re looking for, we’ve moved to a grid-based layout for both TV Shows and Movies. More programs on-screen means less scrolling. Plus, it just looks way cooler.

Schedule Anyway

Want to record a new show, and don’t feel like canceling another recording? Select the ‘Schedule anyway’ button, and Boxee will automatically cancel other recordings to make sure it’s recorded.

New Shows To Record! 

Don’t miss the new crop of shows that started this month like Deception, The Carrie Diaries, or The Following. You’ll find them in the channel guide, or when you search in the Recordings tab.

Enjoy the new look! 
Team Boxee

I Have a Dream…Of Watching President Obama’s Second Inauguration

“I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., ‘I Have a Dream’

Today the world celebrates the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an activist, leader in the Civil Rights movement, Noble Peace Prize recipient, and an icon for progression around the world. The effects of Dr. King’s works and words continue to be felt long after his assassination in 1968. His legacy continues to touch the minds, hearts, and souls of millions to this day.

Coiniciding with MLK day, and a compelling symbol for Dr. King’s dream, is President Barack Obama’s second presidential inauguration. While we’re still far from fulfilling every facet of Dr. King’s dream, you can tune-in to the presidential inauguration on the following channels on Boxee TV or watch online via livestream:

• ABC News Inauguration Coverage | ABC Livestream
• CBS News Inauguration Coverage | CBS Livestream
• **FOX News Inauguration Coverage | FOX Livestream
• NBC News Inauguration Coverage | NBC Livestream
• PBS News Inauguration Coverage | PBS Livestream
• Univision News Inauguration Coverage | Univision Livestream

The Presidential Inauguration Committee will also provide an official livestream of inaugural events through its mobile apps and at 2013pic.org/live.

Congrats to President Obama and happy MLK Day everyone!

**May be down for scheduled maintenance.

Under the hood: Boxee + Opera = The Best Internet Experience on Your TV!

As we were building Boxee TV, we had many decisions to make - what chipset to use (we picked Broadcom), how much RAM to add (there’s a gig), how many TV tuners we needed (there are 2)…  but one of the most important decisions concerned which browser to use.

As the embedded device industry cruises towards universal Apps based on HTML5, the browser has become a central hub of the entertainment experience. In the same way that it’s not efficient to build out dozens of different apps for different device platforms, it’s equally painful to have to optimize your implementation for many different browsers. That’s why we decided to use the Opera Devices SDK.

Opera ensures Boxee can deliver a consistently great HTML5 App experience. Apps run smoothly, and require minimal customization since Opera’s based on robust industry standards. In fact, Opera already powers Apps like YouTube, Spotify, Vimeo and WSJ Live on Boxee TV.

Boxee also benefits from Opera’s TV Store, which means that whenever an app works on Opera, we can quickly add it on Boxee TV. We get access to more great video and content providers don’t have to worry about doing anything special to make their apps work on Boxee.

To celebrate, our friends over at Opera are giving away 3 Boxee TVs for the holidays! Click here to enter to win!

The Community Around You

Tuesday night we presented Boxee TV at the New York Tech Meetup (@NYTM), and it reminded me of how important it is to be engaged not just with the community you’ve created, but also with the community you’re in.

We’ve been heads down on Boxee TV for months now, and haven’t had a chance to go to many of the city’s numerous tech events. Last night, however, I found myself completely giddy and inspired by the presenters at NY Tech Meetup including Betterment, littleBits, Luci, Backspaces, Hacker Union and many more…

Unexpectedly, the energy from last night’s ideas and conversations instantly transferred over to my passion for Boxee, inspiring me to rethink how we tell our story, how we partner, and how we demo.

It was a great reminder that sometimes the best thing to help increase your own passion is to experience the passion of the other entrepreneurs around you.

- Andrew

Boxee TV Available Now! Go Get One!

Boxee TV’s refined blend of Live TV + No Limits DVR + Internet Apps is now available!  

And while we announced a lot about Boxee TV earlier this month, there’s still lots of goodies to reveal here.  First and foremost is where you can get it. 

Where to Buy 
We’ve partnered with the world’s biggest retailer, Walmart, to offer Boxee TV in all their US stores.  You’ll be able to find them in the electronics section with a nice big display.  In trying to reach a more mainstream audience with Boxee TV, Walmart was an easy choice since more than 100 million people visit Walmart in the US each month. As of today you can walk into any Walmart and pick up a Boxee TV.  They’re also available at Walmart.com and at Boxee.tv.

Apps
Now that you know where to get your Boxee TV, we want to introduce you to a few more apps that will be available on it.  We’ve already announced that premium apps like Netflix, VUDU, YouTube, Vimeo, and Pandora will be available on Boxee TV.  Today that list grows to include…

• Spotify 
• WSJ Live
• MLB.TV
• TED
• Accuweather

We couldn’t be happier with this list of initial launch partners, and we’re looking forward to adding even more over the coming months. 

Special Offers
As far as special offers go, we feel like our holiday deal can’t be beat.  Everyone who buys one of the first Boxee TVs is going to receive: 

• 3 months of Netflix for new & existing subscribers (normally $7.99 / month)
• 3 months No Limits DVR (normally $14.99 / month) 
• 12 months free No Limits DVR for Boxee Box owners 
• a $5.99 credit from VUDU for new subscribers
• 1 month of Spotify Premium for new subscribers

There’s no other device that’s going to give you that kind of offer - nearly a $75 value for free.  And just because we’re really excited about our No Limits DVR that lets you record as much as you want - if you buy Boxee TV this year, you’ll only pay $9.99 / month for as long as you’re a subscriber.  At this rate, just buying the box nearly pays for itself! 

DVR
We told you about Boxee’s No Limits DVR last month and we can’t wait to roll this out to the whole country, but for starters we’ll be launching in 8 top TV markets including:

• New York City
• Philadelphia
• Washington DC
• Atlanta
• Chicago
• Houston
• Dallas / Ft. Worth
• Los Angeles

If you’re in and around these areas, you can use our simple DVR tool to see if it’s available in your neighborhood.Since this DVR is based in the Cloud, as soon as it’s available in your city, you’ll be able to start using it right away whether you buy your Boxee TV or 9 months from now.  

As we begin service in these markets we assume there’s going to a few growing pains so we’re marking the service as BETA, but most users should have full functionality (and it will be FREE during this period). 

Conclusion
We think Boxee TV is the perfect blend of everything we want to watch in a way that suits the on demand, on any device lifestyle.  Because of this, Boxee TV is easily the most ambitious set top box on the market.  Pick one up and see for yourself just how powerful No Limits can be.

Introducing Boxee TV

We are excited to announce Boxee TV, a new device that brings together broadcast TV Channels, DVR and Internet Apps into one simple experience.

With Boxee TV you’ll be able watch live TV broadcasts in beautiful HD from channels like ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS, Univision and many others.  It works with antennas and unencrypted basic Cable that deliver the channels listed above, and has 2 tuners so you can watch one thing… and record another.

Working to create the best TV experience possible, we knew DVR had to be a part of the equation, but existing DVRs have limitations we wanted to avoid. Even the fanciest DVRs run out of space, and most require you to sit in front of the TV to watch your recordings.

So we created the first ever No Limits DVR. What does No Limits mean? Instead of storing your recording on a local hard-drive, Boxee TV uploads your recordings to the cloud. It means there are no limits to how much you can record and no limits to where you watch - on your laptop, tablet and, of course, your TV.

We’ve been playing with it for a while, and having a DVR that stores recordings in the cloud feels similar to the move from film to digital cameras. Film cameras limited the number of photos you could capture, which made you think twice before taking a photo. It’s the same with existing DVRs. The limited space and knowing that stuff will get deleted impacts your decisions about what to record in the first place.

Using our DVR is liberating. You need to try it to appreciate it, but it completely changes the way you think about recording. I am now recording The Office, Simpsons, Seinfeld, Friends, Glee, Modern Family, Sesame Street (while it lasts ;)), and 62 other shows… I am like a kid in a candy store. If you love TV, you will love our No Limits DVR.

No Limits DVR is rolling out to 8 of the top TV markets in the US: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and D.C. We will be rolling out in additional markets later in 2013.  If you choose to become a DVR subscriber you will be able to record as much as you like and watch it on any screen for just $14.99 a month.

Boxee TV also comes pre-installed with great apps like Netflix, VUDU, YouTube and Vimeo, bringing tens of thousands of on-demand movies, tv shows, and user generated videos to your TV.  It’ll also come with music apps like Pandora and more as we grow.

We bring together the best of TV with the best of Internet Video, and add the magic of a cloud-based DVR. No other device can do that. 

Boxee TV will cost $99 and will be available in Nov. 

Sign up to get an email when it launches!