a Boxee Box is coming!
We launched our public alpha for Mac/Linux in January at CES. During the show we met with several device manufactures interested in embedding Boxee into their existing devices or building a dedicated Boxee device. — I am very happy to announce we have signed our first partnership with a CE company.
Context & Ripple Effects
Boxee began with a public Mac/Linux alpha at CES and broadened its software reach with a Windows release in June. Its first consumer-electronics partnership moves that distribution effort from computer downloads toward a purpose-built living-room device.
The story also drew comparison with Roku in syndicated coverage, indicating that Boxee’s device strategy was entering an emerging contest over how web video reaches television screens.
First-order effects
- Boxee gains its first named route into consumer-electronics hardware, giving its software a partner-backed path beyond Mac, Linux, and Windows installations.
- The unnamed CE partner can embed Boxee in an existing product or build a dedicated Boxee device, tying its hardware proposition to Boxee’s software.
Second-order effects
- A dedicated device makes Boxee’s distribution dependent on consumer-electronics execution—product design, manufacturing, and retail placement—not only software releases.
- Roku is positioned in coverage as a direct point of comparison, raising the importance of how each service reaches television buyers through hardware.
Third-order effects
- If further device makers follow the first partnership, web-video software providers may compete increasingly through consumer-electronics alliances and appliance distribution rather than desktop installs alone.
The trend: Web-video software is moving from computer-based downloads toward dedicated consumer-electronics devices and the distribution partnerships that support them.