Boxee plans to offer a new set-top box that will allow users to get over-the-air broadcast channels and access to a cloud DVR service, as reported by GigaOM Tuesday. The cloud DVR comes with a monthly fee, but will allow for unlimited storage space as it launches in a handful of cities next month.
The new box forgoes the XBMC platform used in older hardware in favor of a custom Linux-based operating system. The hardware itself is manufactured by D-Link, uses a Broadcom chip rather than the Intel chips in the old Boxee box, and looks like an unassuming black set-top box instead of Boxee’s usual oddly shaped-polygon balancing on one of its corners.
For the new product and service set, Boxee is streamlining its app offerings down to an essential few, including Vimeo, YouTube, Pandora, Netflix, and Vudu. The over-the-air service and apps appear to be launching without regional restrictions, but the DVR service will only be available in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Washington, DC at first, with more markets coming in 2013. Once shows are recorded, users can watch them on a TV or through an HTML5 Web application on a smartphone, tablet, or computer.
from Ars Technica