Boxee Box 1.1 Update Fixes and Woes

I have a strong love/hate relationship with the Boxee Box.  On one hand it is one of the best video appliances that integrates both online media with a great video streamer.  Additionally it integrates well with social media such as Facebook and other online accounts, has Netflix support, and has a great interface.

When compared to a Home Theater Computer running XBMC or even an online-capable Blu-ray player, Boxee falls a little short in a few areas. The Boxee box has a few major problems for media enthusiasts.  For one, it can be severely slow, and has been prone to more crashes than a HTPC (I have to reboot the unit once every few days).  So I, like many other Boxee users, couldn’t wait to install the new 1.1 firmware that was released a few days ago.

Here is my take on what the new Boxee does right, what needs improvement, and WTF.

The new Boxee Home screen

Faster Navigation
When I first installed the new 1.1 firmware, I was immediately impressed with how much faster navigation was.  I connect to a NAS with over 8TB of movies and TV shows, and scrolling through them was very fast and thumbnails loaded very quickly.  Populating the TV Shows list is still slow at 45 seconds, but is still faster than the 60 seconds that the previous version took.

So Boxee made everything faster… including the frequency with which it crashes. Under the 1.0 firmware I would have to reboot Boxee once every two or three days, as it becomes unresponsive to any input, usually while in power saving mode.  My initial experience after upgrading to the 1.1 software was that this hard crash would happen every few hours, even while watching a movie.

Navigating TV Shows is a lot faster… at least after the list loads

After a little research I reluctantly did a factory restore on the box, which appeared to resolve the frequent crashing issue, but wiped out my library of meta-data, which took Boxee several days to build.  I really wish Boxee had the ability to back-up your database, like XBMC does.

New Playback Interface
The most obvious new feature is the new video playback interface.  The traditional playback line has been replaced with a “scrub” bar that allows you to fast forward and rewind your video easier.  If you press and hold down forward, then the video skips progressively faster, and the timeline bar reflects your current position.  It’s still not perfect, as if you just click forward once, then you usually just repeat the last 5 seconds you’ve just seen…. you have to click forward two or three times to actually skip ahead a few seconds, like when you want to skip a show intro.

Volume Removal
Another obvious difference was the removal of volume control on the remote.  I can understand why the Boxee team did this, as most external apps do not use volume control and they want the user experience to be consistent.  Instead of removing volume control, I suggest that Boxee force the external apps to use volume control.  You can still change the Boxee’s volume via iPhone or other smartphone application, though.

One of my initial wishes for the Boxee remote was to have indepentant buttons for volume, and now it is even more critical.  Boxee’s remote vision was to make everything more simple, and now that volume control has been removed, users are now forced to use two remotes.

The new browser features
A ton of new features have been added to the Boxee browser.  The browser has better HTML 5 support, and sites like YouTube do appear to load much quicker.  There is also a new Favorites (with the ability to bookmark), History, and drop-down list support.

Dolby 5.1 Upmixing
Now, 2-channel PCM audio is upmixed to 5-channel Dolby Digital.  Those with audio/video recievers will really appreciate this new feature.

More customization
Videos that cannot be identified (such as home videos and Rifftrax) can now have custom artwork and tags associated with them.  You can now use NFO files to help tag your movies, use alternate artwork and information, and customize genres for better personal categorization.  You can even customize how TV Show episodes are tagged and displayed.  You can even filter content by source (USB, Network, SD, etc).

New keyboard commands
If you didn’t already know, you can connect a USB keyboard and/or mouse to your Boxee Box.  There are a few new keyboard commands.

• Z = Resize
• I = Info
• Number keys = Jump to time in video in minutes:seconds

It would have been nice if more keyboard features were enabled, such as a key for changing subtitles.

More languages supported
Those users whose English is not so good can now set their Boxee to one of 16 new languages.

A lot of new features have been implemented.  On the next page we look at where Boxee complely dropped the ball.

The Boxee team had a chance to address some of the most-asked for features in this release, but have chosen to ignore (at least for the time being).  Most of these features are present on the Windows and Linux versions of XBMC, from which Boxee is based on.

• Play DVDs or Bluray from a USB drive
• Backup meta database
• Default to stretching 4:3 media
• Never crash
• Ability to auto-start the next file (or at least build a queue that resumes)
• Background still not skinnable
• Switching audio tracks still problematic

Netflix still broken
The Netflix app for Boxee has been one of the worst implementations of “full-blown” Netflix applications.  Its interface is nowhere near the quality of the Playstation, Wii or Xbox 360 implemenations, and has horrible usability bugs.  For example, the main menu doesn’t scroll, so you cannot see half the menu and must wait for the movies to populate to guess what section you are on.

See the menu on the left?  It doesn’t show the “Sci-Fi & Fantasy” section currently selected

The Netflix app is still amazingly slow, and has none of the nice gui features of their console cousins.  Watching a movie is fine, but skipping through sections can tend to be a little slow as the thumbnails update.  The interface is usable once you figure out how to hobble around half-blind, and is still way better than the “mini” Netflix apps (which only show your Instant Queue), but just doesn’t have the spit and polish that other versions have.

Of course, one of the main reasons that the Boxee team removed volume control from the main interface is to remain consistent with the Netflix app.  My advice to the Boxee team is to write your own Netflix and YouTube apps (with volume support), and tell these third-party teams go hire some UI designers.

Hulu Plus support still absent
There has been an on-again, off-again relationship between Boxee and Hulu, and most of that has been because of licensing and rights management legal issues.  Hulu seems to have been able to play nice with almost every other device out there, as the PS3, Xbox 360, and even Internet-connected Blu-Ray players have support.  Boxee still hasn’t been able to nail this down.  Believe me, with both a Netflix and Hulu Plus subscription you can realistically kick your cable or satellite provider to the curb.  Sure there are ways around this, such as using a seperate PC to transcode Hulu in real-time, but a more elegant solution is to have native support.

Pairing Devices
A new section called “Paired Devices” now appears under Settings.  This is currently a placeholder for functionality that will be implemented in the “near future”.  In my opinion, this will just confuse customers as there are not currently any devices to pair.

Devices section is added, but there are currently no devices available to pair

Should you update?
There are a lot more minor features and updates in the new Boxee Box 1.1 update, which you can check out in the entire feature list on the next page.  The things we’ve listed are the major features (and issues) that most people will care about.

Should you update your Boxee Box to 1.1?  Well, if you’re connected to the Internet then you really have no choice, as Boxee requires it.  If you find your Boxee behaving badly after the update, then you’ll have to do a factory reset, which requires you to install 1.1 again, on top of losing all of your existing show and movie information.

I still have a love/hate relationship with the Boxee Box.  Many things have improved for the better, some critical issues appear to have been ignored, and some things have been made worse.  The Boxee team has committed themselves to 3-month updates, so I guess we’ll have to wait until August to see if Boxee can truly be all that it can be.

If you’re interested in the entire features and bug fixes, then they are listed on the next page.

Boxee has added a lot of new features in the 1.1 firmware update, and we’ve talked about the major ones in this article.  Listed below is the entire official new feature and bug fixes list.

New Features

• Browser enhancements

• Faster Browser Launch
• Faster Page Loading Speed.
• Improved HTML 5 support.
• Added ability to “Favorite” web sites for quick access.
• New “Favorites” section in the browser.
• New “History” section for browsing previously visited web pages.
• New confirmation pop-up when exiting HTML applications (YouTube Leanback, Netflix, etc.).
• Support for drop down lists.
• Current URL is now displayed in the address bar
• Removed auto full screen button for consistency across websites

• *NEW* – Trailer Library – added a trailer section to the Boxee movie library.
• Enhanced UI look and feel.
• Modified look & feel for On Screen Display (OSD).

• *NEW* Seek Slider allowing for precise fast forward and rewind.
• Reduced OSD size so users see more playing content.
• Added Seek ability for Music playback

• *NEW* “Share” menu allowing users to select where there message will be shared (Facebook, Twitter, and/or Tumblr).
• *NEW* Support for NFO files (see this support entry on how to use.)
• Boxee uses IMDB and other sources to identify and tag files. This meant that Boxee could not identify home movies and that correctly identified files were not able to be customized. This new release allows users to:

• Tag home movies with custom meta-data and artwork
• Update movie metadata with alternate artwork and information
• Customize the genres of films, TV shows for better personal categorization
• Customize how TV Show Episodes are tagged and displayed in Boxee.

• *NEW* Support additional languages and keyboards

• German
• French
• Italian
• Spanish
• Swedish
• Hebrew
• Danish
• Dutch
• Turkish
• Russian
• Arabic
• Portuguese (Brazilian)
• Czech
• Norwegian
• Finnish
• Polish

• Keyboard shortcuts during playback:

• I – Video info
• Z – Toggle zoom
• Numeric keys – jump to time in video in minutes:seconds

• Ability to filter local content by source (USB, Network, SD).
• Remote control low battery indication.
• Ability to delete browser cache and cookies (Settings -> System -> Browser)
• Removed volume control to maintain consistency across playback experience
• Without the ability to control volume in HTML 5 apps like Netflix and YouTube Leanback and apps like VUDU we decided to remove the volume control to make the experience consistent across any app, movie, or show on Boxee. Now, volume control is similar to that of a Blu-Ray player or game console where users can control via their TV or A/V receiver.
• Added Leave/Stay pop-up when exiting Apps
• New MLB application
• Watch live and recorded games
• Improved ffwd and rewind functionality
• Ability to jump to a specific inning or game event
• Added pitch f/x statistics overlay
• All 2 channels PCM audio is output as DD 5.1 (on Dolby Digital capable receivers)

Bug Fixes

1. Sorting by “Recently Updated” in Unidentified Videos actually sorts Z-A.
2. Occasionally when trying to download and install applications result with signature failed message.
3. Doubled options (All, Favorites, Categories, etc) in the menu drop down makes the menu non functional
4. USB IR receiver double button pushes
5. Visiting teamcoco.com & vbox8.com crashes Boxee browser
6. HTTPS URLs cannot be invoked from search bar.
7. Update is prompted during paused video
8. Emergency error reported on Boxee Box bootup in syslog.
9. Special characters displays are displayed wrong.
10. Playback of some overlay ads in Flash video stutters.
11. “Audio Offset” setting did not work.
12. Boxee Box doesn’t recognize two USB drives with the same drive label.
13. Folder.jpg/.nfo will not work with BluRay Disc folder structures.
14. When Boxee resumes from ‘sleep’ mode all artwork is gone from library view.
15. HTML apps revert to mouse mode when a link is navigated.
16. Rescanning a source before all items identified results in duplicates in Movies.
17. If a show has multiple episodes with same title only latest is displayed.
18. iPhone remote does not refresh the available host names.
19. Display file name with Chinese/Japanese/Korean characters.
20. Music is playing 2x speed after movie playback.
21. Boxee loses permission when using HFS+ non journaled USB drive.
22. Series specials showing up In movies list.
23. RSS feed URL cannot contain a space.
24. Vimeo Couch Mode not playing next video automatically
25. Issue rewinding MP4/MKV files with first 30 seconds of playback.
26. Launching a Test App from Boxee Apps results in two entries of the app shown in the list.
27. Boxee re-adds previously scanned DVD folders on each scan.
28. Unable to use local folder.jpg when manually identifying.
29. Favorite apps disappear and missing.
30. SMB shares reported as disconnected shortly after creation or reboot.
31. SMB shares will not reconnect if SMB source is restarted/goes offline/online
32. Boxee is unable to play mono 1 channel LPCM audio from .M2TS files
33. Handle opensubtitles response error and prompt a correct message to the user.
34. ‘Unable to bring the movie details’ error when manual resolving TV show for files with unknown naming convention.
35. Remove check Internet connection when playing.
36. Default subtitle language is ignored.
37. Pause break subtitles display
38. Odd subtitles display on pause break.
39. Switching audio and subtitles tracks in MKV files takes very long and freezes menu
40. Can’t login to HBOgo.com and MAXGO

Known Issues for Beta release

1. Pairing Devices (under Settings ) is just a place holder and functionality will be implemented in the near future.
2. When adding UPnP source it is recommended to add the UPnP “All Videos” or any “All….” folder as the defined source (using  the sub folders or root can cause reboot)