14 DAY TRIAL // Leaked just a couple of days back, Boxee Box has now made official its Boxee Live TV dongle which will allow its clients living in North America to watch a series of high-definition TV channels for free, provided they own this device and the original Boxee Box, of course.
The Boxee Live TV dongle is basically an ATSC tuner that can also work with unencrypted cable connection by using ClearQAM.
In order to watch TV channels such as ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in HD with no monthly fee, users only have to attach an antenna to their Live TV dongle.
Such a piece of kit actually comes bundled together with the Boxee Live TV, but some of you may want to look for a more powerful antenna if you are living not so near to an OTA tower and reception is poor.
At the other end of the Boxee Live TV antenna output stands an USB port that is supposed to get into your Boxee Box to get the said functionality.
Sadly, the dongle won't work with anything other than the Boxee Box, not even with the Mac and PC installation of the Boxee app. Using a third-party tuner with the Boxee Box also isn't supported.
Another setback lies in the fact that Boxee doesn't plan to provide any DVR capabilities for the Live TV, but at least their open to the idea as if enough people demand it they will consider adding this feature.
“If we get enough users asking for DVR then we could take advantage of that other USB input on the back of the box and let a user connect a drive for recordings,” reads the Boxee official blog in this regard.
The Boxee Live TV tuner will become available in January of 2012 for $49 (about €36), but those of you in a hurry can also pre-order it from the company's website.