Tonight at a rowdy event in London’s Silicon Roundabout (our twee answer to Silicon Valley), Boxee launched the UK version of their popular set-top unit, the Boxee Box. The device, which has been out in the US for around six months, will be debuting for £199, or around $330 – $130 more than the US version.
The UK version will be sporting a number of country-specific features such as integration with the BBC’s iPlayer streaming service – an announcement which drew a big cheer from the assembled crowd. However certain services were still lacking, such as LoveFilm, the UK equivalent of Netflix, and 4oD, another television catch-up service. Boxee say these are coming soon.
Alongside the hardware Boxee also showed off the newest version of the Boxee software, 1.1. Available exclusively on the Boxee Box (for now), the latest version includes hardware accelerated Flash, a new Webkit browser and over 200 apps, most of which take the form of additional content channels.
Boxee also exclusively previewed their iPad app, which allows viewing of any Boxee content on the tablet. Included in the app are integration with Boxee’s “Watch Later” list, which allows content to be flagged for later viewing across any device, an AirPlay-style content throwing functionality, and Boxee Media Manager, which enables on-the-fly transcoding from a media hub to the iPad. Boxee promised an Android version of their tablet app later this year.
Boxee also received a hearty slap on the back to Intel, whose chipsets power the Boxee Box. Intel’s Smart TV division was on hand to wax lyrical about the close relationship they’ve enjoyed with the Boxee team (perhaps they’ve forgotten that the Boxee Box was originally destined to run on ARM hardware?). Despite being met with jocular shouts of “ARM!” and “AMD!” when he asked if anyone knew who powered the Boxee Box, Intel’s Paul Tapp laughed off the heckling and went on to brand the Boxee Box the “number one smart TV device in the UK.”
The Boxee team put on an entertaining, light-hearted and beer-fuelled event, certainly more merry than most product launches I’ve attended. Technical hitches were covered with an impromptu talent contest, and the presentation concluded with the Boxee staff telling half the audience they “hated” them for making too much noise.
Their offering may not be as feature-complete as some other offerings in the UK market – for example Sony’s Playstation 3, which has evolved into a competitive media hub in recent years (and also now retailing for around the same price) – but the Boxee Box is a solid product, and if the company can bring the same level of enthusiasm to their software development as they can to their launch events there’s no doubt it’ll continue to be a hit.
