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It's entirely possible that you've got a slightly older computer sitting around doing nothing, and you've thought to yourself, "Self, I really should turn that old computer into a media centre, rather than let all that good tech go to waste...but how?"

Well, later this month, next week in fact, the answer will move from Alpha to Beta -- Boxee is coming of age.

What it is
Boxee is Media Centre software for the rest of us. Similar to Microsoft's Windows Media Centre, Boxee is built upon the homebrew Xbox Media Centre platform -- enhanced, extended and blown out to be cross-platform; Boxee is available for Windows, Linux, Mac OSX, and Apple TV.

To quote from the source:

Boxee is designed for your TV and use of a remote control. To get Boxee on your TV you’ll need to first connect your computer to the TV screen. You will most likely need an DVI/VGA to HDMI cable (but it depends on the specific input/output on your computer and TV).

Nice, DVI, HDMI, all the acronyms I like to see in a bit of tech.

What it does
Boxee provides a functional and simple interface that sits between you and the operating system. It's a program that lets you easily play your media on your computer.

When you hook your computer up to a large screen monitor or TV, you've likely noticed that what works well when you're sitting two feet away, is really quite unusable when you're 10 feet away -- which is why Boxee uses a '10 foot' design specification. All the interface elements, font settings, mouse pointers and controls are designed to be readable and funcitonal at a 10 foot distance -- in other words, from your couch.

But wait, there's more
After a few network and file-system settings are set, Boxee knows where your media is, and scans it to build it's library. A few moments later, your Local and networked  media is displayed by type and usage.

But Boxee doesn't stop there. With the use of Applications (really custom content channels) Boxee brings in content from mainstream sources, such as NASA, Apple  Trailers, BoingBoing, National Film Board, TEDTalks, G4TV, etc. Unfortunately, some of the American content streams are blocked in Canada -- due to distribution rights restrictions. Methinks mainstream media needs to move into the 21st century fast...but that's a topic for another post
 

 

Personally, I think this is where Boxee really shines. It's all well and good to have a player work with your own local content, but finding and managing the cool stuff that's out there, and bringing it to your big screen TV easily is a really neat feat.

The software will work with your normal mouse and keyboard, but if you're going to be using Boxee in a Media Centre environment, you'll likely want to invest in a third-party remote control.  Or, if you've got an iPhone or iPod touch, download the Boxee iPhone app and use it to control the Boxee (it works slick! I use it to run mine).

Boxee also has a 'social' function, which lets you share what you're watching with friends, online. Kind of like re-streaming your viewing stream to them.

Boxee is due to launch their new Beta in New York on December 7th, opening access to the beta for early-access-users one month before the open-access public beta launches in January. If you're thinking of looking at a solid performer of a media centre, check out Boxee.

And if I was more confusing than helpful, here's a video from Boxee that should clear things up.

Message Edited by bgrier on 12-01-2009 11:00 PM