Gadgety Friday - Boxeen Clever
By Jay GarrettAs we quickly approach the festive season things are hotting up in the gadgety world. I think a recap of what’s been happening is in order.
I could start with the Japanese guy that married an anime game character, or with the Pentax DSLR that has 100 different colour options available. Perhaps it would be better to mention the dual-slide-out-screened laptop that’s now available (which is certainly better than being used as bus seats) or, as it’s also the season of the credit card, the ‘Go Dutch’ concept may be more appropriate?
Of course there’s been news aplenty regarding mobile phones since we last met. Moto’s Droid has changed its name to Milestone once into UK airspace, LG has slapped a projector on the back of theirs, Creative’s Zii needs a hand with being built, Acer’s A1 Liquid that not only features Android but runs on Qualcomm’s spanky Snapdragon is now available whereas HTC has plans to drop another 20 Android phones!
Personally I’d like to mention that Derby may be naming a street in honour of Lara Croft which is better than naming a concept car after a savoury snack in my book.
I can’t really complete this recap without a nod to Samsonites scooter case, mentioning that Fusion Garage is releasing the CrunchPad as the Joojoo whilst at the same time dismissing TechCrunch as “just a blog” – but more festively it is my duty to point you at the world’s smallest snowman.
Today I’m going to concentrate on a media streamer....... No! Come back! I’m talking about the Boxee Box here people!
This not only looks as groovy as George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield dancing to Chic’s ‘Good Times’ being played on DJ Hero by Rick James but anyone familiar with the Boxee software will already know how easy this thing will be to use.
What this Boxee Box will do, apart from being great at playing stuff you’ve downloaded as well as internet video from the likes of BBC iPlayer, CNN, The Onion and MTV, is to allow you, the users, to sidestep the need to have a PC or Mac anywhere near your telebox.
Boxee has partnered with network heavyweights, D-Link, to create the Box.
What the D-Link hardware will offer is access to that easy-to-use and good-looking Boxee interface which allows playback of practically all video types (you can even grab subtitles if needed), playing your stored digital music as well as giving you access to the cool social network side of Boxee. I’ve got my Boxee software linked into my Twitter feed for example so people can see what I rate and even what I’m watching if I so wished to share that with my Followers.
I’m really tempted to get the Boxee Box as it is ticking all the boxees (sorry): It has HDMI, dual USB sockets and optical audio out as well as an SD-card socket and an Ethernet jack for networking.
I can’t find out if it has Wi-Fi but I’m taking the risk of assuming that it will. Let’s face it; it would be more than a bit daft having D-Link on-board and not bothering with Wi-Fi.
Unfortunately there’s no clear indication whether or not the UK will get the Boxee Box – word on the interweblogosphere is that it’ll retail for $200 (£120 before Brit Tax).
I can’t really complete this recap without a nod to Samsonites scooter case, mentioning that Fusion Garage is releasing the CrunchPad as the Joojoo whilst at the same time dismissing TechCrunch as “just a blog” – but more festively it is my duty to point you at the world’s smallest snowman.
Today I’m going to concentrate on a media streamer....... No! Come back! I’m talking about the Boxee Box here people!This not only looks as groovy as George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield dancing to Chic’s ‘Good Times’ being played on DJ Hero by Rick James but anyone familiar with the Boxee software will already know how easy this thing will be to use.
What this Boxee Box will do, apart from being great at playing stuff you’ve downloaded as well as internet video from the likes of BBC iPlayer, CNN, The Onion and MTV, is to allow you, the users, to sidestep the need to have a PC or Mac anywhere near your telebox.
Boxee has partnered with network heavyweights, D-Link, to create the Box.
What the D-Link hardware will offer is access to that easy-to-use and good-looking Boxee interface which allows playback of practically all video types (you can even grab subtitles if needed), playing your stored digital music as well as giving you access to the cool social network side of Boxee. I’ve got my Boxee software linked into my Twitter feed for example so people can see what I rate and even what I’m watching if I so wished to share that with my Followers.
I’m really tempted to get the Boxee Box as it is ticking all the boxees (sorry): It has HDMI, dual USB sockets and optical audio out as well as an SD-card socket and an Ethernet jack for networking.
I can’t find out if it has Wi-Fi but I’m taking the risk of assuming that it will. Let’s face it; it would be more than a bit daft having D-Link on-board and not bothering with Wi-Fi.
Unfortunately there’s no clear indication whether or not the UK will get the Boxee Box – word on the interweblogosphere is that it’ll retail for $200 (£120 before Brit Tax).
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