# Samsung takes over the Boxee Box



## keithlock (Feb 5, 2013)

Recently announced is the Boxee take over by Samsung. Boxee is known for the Boxee Box, Boxee TV, and Boxee Cloud DVR. Now, as of the 10th of July, Boxee will stop providing direct support for its products including the recently introduced Cloud DVR service, according to some sources. However, one source indicates that "it will continue to support both the Boxee Box and Boxee TV devices for the immediate future." Current owners of Boxee's Cloud DVR will no longer have access to their content after July 10th.








This is news that has implications for both TV streaming and home theater enthusiasts. How Samsung will implement this newly acquired technology into their already solid SmartTV platform is yet to be announced. It seems though that the Cloud DVR service is what Samsung has had their eye on.

It's not just the technology that Samsung will receive from Boxee, about 40 employees will be working with them as well. Half of which will remain in Israel where Boxee still has plenty of ties.

According to the report on AllThingsD, "Samsung has acquired key talent and assets from Boxee." The Samsung spokesperson added "This will help us continue to improve the overall user experience across our connected devices."

It was two weeks ago the announcement about Boxee looking either for a buyer or another round of funding was published. It's a surprise to many that Samsung made the purchase, but it is no longer a rumor and has been confirmed.

"We can confirm that Boxee will be joining Samsung. We'll have a formal statement on our website later this week," a Boxee spokesperson told VentureBeat.

*History of Boxee*

Avner Ronen led the startup company which originally came out of the gate with open source software allowing users to stream TV and other video content to their computers (and other supported devices). Then in late 2010, along with D-Link, they came up with hardware to do the same thing, but the streaming was to TV sets.

They didn't do as well as Apple TV and Roku in the set-top box arena though.

Boxee launched their new cloud-based DVR hardware last October. This service is meant to record live programming from cable TV or high-def broadcast transmissions. It also provided apps for accessing Vudu, Netflix, Spotify and more.

*Statement from the Boxee web site:*

"We're pleased to announce that the Boxee team will be joining Samsung.

We started on this journey six years ago, and have been at the forefront of the changing TV and video landscape. We believe that over the next few years the video market will change even more than it has in the past few decades.

Joining Samsung means we will be able to work on products that marry the best hardware and software in the TV space, products that will be used by tens of millions of people and will help to shape the future of TV.

We are excited about the next chapter for our team.

For Boxee users, we're working behind the scenes to ensure there's minimal impact to your devices. However, the beta Cloud DVR functionality we provided to certain Boxee TV users will be discontinued on July 10th. You will not have access to your existing recordings after that date. We realize many of you loved the service, and we're sorry it won't be available moving forward.

We're incredibly proud of what we've built, and we want to thank you for being a part of our journey."

The sale happened for a reported $30 million (roughly) but that figure has yet to be confirmed. This move could potentially put Samsung into an even better position in the Smart television market.

_Sources:_

theverge.com

venturebeat.com

allthingsd.com


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## tripplej (Oct 23, 2011)

This is good news for Samsung. Why build the new software, etc. when you can buy a company that has the software and skills already. Should make Samsung tv's even more smarter then they already are.


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## cavchameleon (Jan 7, 2008)

Very interesting news. I'm curious how this will develop and if other companies will do the same. I'm more of a Roku user (every room has one in our house). My brother uses the Boxee. This should push the envelop for all other companies to follow suite - good for everyone IMO.


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## Sabby (Nov 10, 2008)

I wonder if the computer based version of Boxee will continue to operate or will this soft wear be put out to pasture? I currently use an Apple TV but every once in a while I use my theater area computer to run Boxee.


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