Free software for watching Web content on a television is most worthwhile when its running on a set-top box, and now Boxee has one.
Boxee and D-Link announced that they've partnered on a simple set-top unit called the Boxee Box. Running Boxee's software, the box can access free video sites, such as YouTube and ComedyCentral.com, along with premium video services such as MLB.tv and Netflix. The interface is designed for viewing from a couch, though D-Link and Boxee didn't reveal the remote that's used with the box. Notoriously, Boxee does not carry content from Hulu.
Mum's the word on technical specifications, but it's safe to assume the box can handle HD video. For outputs, there's HDMI (but no composite video), SPDIF and RCA audio. There's also a headphone jack, two USB ports and an SD card slot for photos and music. The box itself looks like a cube jutting out of the ground, and it's the work of Astro Design, who's also behind the Xbox 360 and Alienware PCs.
The Boxee software itself is also an upgrade, moving from alpha into public beta. New content apps include Clicker (a massive, searchable index of all Web video), The Escapist video game Web site, Suicide Girls photo and video galleries (edgy!) and two creations from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts for interacting and learning more about the videos they're watching.
According to Wired, the Boxee Box will cost roughly $200 when it launches in the first half of 2010. That's less expensive than a home theater PC, which could also run Boxee's software, but pricier than Roku, which recently launched several free Internet channels to complement its existing offerings, mainly Netflix. Though Roku's Web TV offerings are a fraction of what you can get through Boxee, I expect both products will be considered rivals before long.
