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Boxee and Netflix- Now Available!!

tkidBOSTON said:
Boxee was just updated and now supports Netflix:

http://blog.boxee.tv/2008/12/04/boxee/

Unfortunately this update only brings it to the Mac and not to :apple:TV as our favorite set-top box is underpowered.

I guess this is another vote for using the Mac Mini as your home entertainment hub over the :apple:tv.
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Not necessarily a vote for the Mac Mini yet. I'm sure Boxee will update the AppleTV version soon... Don't you think?
 
Woo-hoo. Too bad I don't have an Apple TV or Mac mini to really enjoy boxee.

Hopefully Apple will update the mini soon. Otherwise, I will have to purchase a new TV just to play with an Apple TV.
 
I can't wait until the Boxee peeps get Netflix on the ATV. Then I can watch all those horrible B-movies that Netflix has on my TV!!! Seriously though, I feel like the people at Netflix and the group working on Boxee are the most aggressive on this new(ish) front, and I'm glad for it.
 
ayale99 said:
Not necessarily a vote for the Mac Mini yet. I'm sure Boxee will update the AppleTV version soon... Don't you think?
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Well they are working on it

the bad news: we could not make it run on Apple TV ☹ . we tried real hard. vulkanr was almost able to tame it, but he was bucked by the Apple TV’s 1Gz processor. it screamed back at him in thick Scots brogue, “I can’t do it captain, I just don’t have the power!” we’re still working on it, but don’t have a solution, yet..
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but according to CNET

There is one big caveat here, and that is that the Netflix streaming is not yet available for the AppleTV version of Boxee. I'm told the main reason is that Microsoft Silverlight, which is what Netflix uses as a delivery method for its streaming content, has hardware requirements roughly double that of the processor inside the AppleTV. Silverlight requires a 1.83 GHz dual-core Intel processor, while the AppleTV only sports a 1.0 Ghz "Crofton" processor--a derivative of the Pentium M.
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tkidBOSTON said:
Unfortunately this update only brings it to the Mac and not to :apple:TV as our favorite set-top box is underpowered.
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Considering AppleTV can play 720p content from iTunes, I would not say AppleTV is underpowered in general. Maybe, Boxee folks are unable to utilize the graphics card.

It could also be due to Microsoft's Silverlight requiring much more power than necessary if it was coded efficiently. MS products usually have very high system requirements for relatively trivial tasks.
 
i was almost excited for a moment. what's the point of streaming netflix through boxee on your computer?
 
dynaflash said:
... which would be as simple as the next atv software update
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Very true, as we just saw. And no doubt Apple is going to feel threatened by Netflix on the ATV. But, I wonder how many people who currently have Netflix subscriptions AND purchase TV shows from the iTMS will stop doing the latter if they can get Netflix streaming on their ATVs. (In fact, I wonder how many people have Netflix and make a significant investment in iTMS television shows, although this number likely seems higher).

With cable and Netflix, I see no need to buy iTMS shows, regardless of whether I can stream Netflix to my TV or not. Take away my Netflix, and I'd still likely not purchase any shows.

I've said it before in other posts, so forgive me for saying it again. But it seems to me that Apple's biggest competitor for TV shows isn't really Netflix (not, at least, until it can make deals for current seasons), but cable and, increasingly, internet streaming sites like Hulu.
 
I definitely think there is enough power in the AppleTV to stream any netflix video; the problem, as others have said, is the Silverlight requirement. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're streaming netflixs on a windows computer, you don't need Silverlight, right? If they could figure out a way to bypass that, then I think it would work fine.
 
wwooden said:
I definitely think there is enough power in the AppleTV to stream any netflix video; the problem, as others have said, is the Silverlight requirement. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're streaming netflixs on a windows computer, you don't need Silverlight, right? If they could figure out a way to bypass that, then I think it would work fine.
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In the past, at least, you didn't need Silverlight on a PC. You just had to install the Netflix movie player. If you stream on a Mac, though, you now have to install Silverlight on any PC you also want to stream to. The problem is making sure Netflix knows who you are and what content you have already watched. I'm not sure how Boxee will get around this without using Silverlight.
 
spice weasel said:
For folks using a mini as a media server.
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ahhh, this is because netflix can only be streamed on an intel machine?
edit: wait, if you had a mini with a dual core, you could already stream through the browser. if you have an old mini, can you now stream netflix? wouldn't the old minis fall short in the processing requirements for silverlight?

wwooden said:
I definitely think there is enough power in the AppleTV to stream any netflix video; the problem, as others have said, is the Silverlight requirement. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're streaming netflixs on a windows computer, you don't need Silverlight, right? If they could figure out a way to bypass that, then I think it would work fine.
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if you have a netflix subscription and you signed up for the beta mac version, netflix will force you to download silverlight for your pc machine. this is what happened to me. i would have rather kept the old movie player on my pc.
 
Mr Kram said:
ahhh, this is because netflix can only be streamed on an intel machine?
edit: wait, if you had a mini with a dual core, you could already stream through the browser. if you have an old mini, can you now stream netflix? wouldn't the old minis fall short in the processing requirements for silverlight?
Click to expand...

The advantage of using Boxee over an internet browser is that Boxee, like Frontrow, is built to be controlled by a remote- thus making it a more desirable option for those using their Mini in a home theater setup.
 
Mr Kram said:
i would have rather kept the old movie player on my pc.
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Why? The new one is much better. The old one was horrible when I tried to fast forward or rewind. This one uses a really nice interface for those situations and it starts playing again almost immediately while the old one would freeze for a long time before re-establishing the connection.

Besides, I don't have to click "Yes" twice before the movie starts.
 
tkidBOSTON said:
The advantage of using Boxee over an internet browser is that Boxee, like Frontrow, is built to be controlled by a remote- thus making it a more desirable option for those using their Mini in a home theater setup.
Click to expand...

good point, duh on me.


theBB said:
Why? The new one is much better. The old one was horrible when I tried to fast forward or rewind. This one uses a really nice interface for those situations and it starts playing again almost immediately while the old one would freeze for a long time before re-establishing the connection.

Besides, I don't have to click "Yes" twice before the movie starts.
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i agree that the interface is better. however, it's been my experience that the playback has suffered. it seems as though the silverlight player stops to buffer a lot more than the old player. maybe my internet connection has gotten worse, but i don't think so.
 
spice weasel said:
I can't wait until the Boxee peeps get Netflix on the ATV. Then I can watch all those horrible B-movies that Netflix has on my TV!!! Seriously though, I feel like the people at Netflix and the group working on Boxee are the most aggressive on this new(ish) front, and I'm glad for it.
Click to expand...

The videos aren't quite as bad as you might think, although the majority of actual movies are kinda "what's that?" I did see "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" on there. "Superbad" just got pulled. But the real awesomeness is TV shows. I watched the first 2 seasons of 30 Rock and am now watching Heroes. There are lots of good classic shows available as well. If Boxee figures out a way to do this, I may buy my own ATV and get that installed.
 
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