14 DAY TRIAL // The Boxee Box, a direct rival of the Apple TV, just got its own remote. Besides regular playback controls, the device boasts an attractive QWERTY keyboard. The people behind the Boxee project explain that they went this way after having second thoughts about an on-screen keyboard.
Boxee is a very attractive service + application (and now + hardware) for videophiles. Available as a free download for Mac OS X users, Boxee provides an unmatched entertainment experience. The Beta release of the app will deliver not only tons of bug fixes, but also performance improvements, all-new features and official support for Snow Leopard and Ubuntu Karmic, according to the developers. An early access is also available to the beta, slated for launch tomorrow.
Soon after this announcement was made, the Boxee Box was announced. Designed, developed and introduced with the help of D-Link, the Boxee Box is similar to the Apple TV in that it connects to your HDTV, but also different from Apple’s set top box in that it plays pretty much everything you can get your hands on without having to justify any purchase, while no computer is needed. The interesting shape of the product is another unique feature. With the device ready for mass producing, all it needed was a cool remote to back it.
“It’s the first press event at CES and time to tease you before our big announcement on the 7th so here’s a sneak peek of something about the Boxee Box that we didn’t show off at the Boxee Beta Event in December,” an update over at the Boxee Blog reads.
“The Boxee Box Remote – It’s got a QWERTY keyboard!,” the announcement continues. “When we started designing the Boxee Box remote we wanted something simple like the 6-button Apple Remote,” the development team explains.
“As we began adding features to the Beta it became obvious that for people to really get the most out of the box it was going to need to do more than just point and click. Rather than subject anyone to another on-screen keyboard we decided the Boxee Box should benefit from a full QWERTY keyboard like you might have on a mobile phone.”
The company offers pictures of the near-final product and encourages fans to stay tuned for posts with more hardware details about the Boxee Box by D-Link.
