![]() ![]() Such goings on extend beyond my particular privacy comfort zone, but then again maybe I’m just a Luddite in this respect. And as many others reviews’ have also noted, the Boxee Box’s codec support is extensive.īy the way, for those of you fond of social networking, the Boxee Box will also let you natively ‘tweet’, Google Buzz- and Facebook-share your viewing habits with your cyber-friends. You can also play material through the unit’s two USB ports, as well as via a built-in SD card slot. The Boxee Box’s SMB cognizance follows in the footsteps of the long-loved Voyetra Turtle Beach Audiotron, with no proprietary server-side software required (something that I’m currently struggling with related to Logitech’s Squeezebox Boom, another to-be-published review candidate). The second-generation Apple TV’s cheaper, too, but its LAN streaming support is limited to Apple-sanctioned formats and 720p-max resolutions. Roku’s gear may be less expensive, but only the high-end variant can play back external content, and then only that contained within a plugged-in USB flash memory module. ![]() I also relish the Boxee Box’s built-in SMB protocol support for LAN-located server access, one of its key rationales for a higher price tag versus competitors ($229.99 MSRP, $199.99 at Amazon, and even cheaper on occasional sale). I only wish that it was slightly thicker at the bottom versus the top, for example, as I kept holding it upside-down. But considering the myriad positions the user needs to orient it in order to accomplish various functions, the inability to use a line-of-site technology such as infrared is perhaps obvious. It’s RF-based, which might be a bit of a bummer at first to universal remote control fans. As such, the Boxee Box’s two-sided remote control is a breath of fresh air. I wholeheartedly detest either having to virtual-chicken-peck through an on-screen keyboard or to USB-tether a discrete physical keyboard to a set-top box in order to enter alphanumeric characters. Perhaps the thing I liked the most about the Boxee Box is its remote control: Suffice it to say that I was largely disappointed. Still, by the time finally D-Link got me a review unit last month and I fired it up a few days ago, the device had been in production for nearly a half-year and was the beneficiary of several firmware update releases, so I expected to have a robust, stable experience with it. In no small part, the delay was due to Boxee’s longstanding development struggles and ultimate inability to achieve 1080p playback on Nvidia’s Tegra 2 ARM Cortex-A9-based dual-core SoC, thereby necessitating an 11th-hour switch to Intel’s Atom-based CE4100 SoC. Originally unveiled in November 2009, the Boxee Box finally began shipping a year later. ![]()
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