cogadh
December 15th, 2009, 02:06 PM
I'm testing out the new Boxee Browser app in an attempt to access content that does not have an existing Boxee app or working RSS feed, but I'm running into issues which might just be me, or it could be the app, I'm not sure.
For example, I was trying to access videos on CWTV; I launch Boxee Browser, enter the URL (http://www.cwtv.com), get prompted about video mode and switch to browser mode, then the site loads. Immediately there are issues. First, the site has a Flash-based ad crawl for their shows that gets locked in place in the center of the page. I can scroll up and down through the page, but the ad crawl stays fixed in place while the site scrolls behind it. This makes it nearly impossible to access any of the links on the site, since I can't really see any of them to know if they are highlighted. Fortunately, the site does have a "Videos" link at the top of the page, just above the locked ad crawl, which I can highlight and access. However, that still has issues. It appears that the browser is treating the link like a full URL instead of a link within the existing domain, i.e. the link actually points to http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/ but the browser tries to go to www.cw-video.com.
Attempting to go straight to http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/ does work, but that has the same problem with a locked in place flash object that the site's main page has. The only way I was able to get to a video and actually play it (sort of, the video flickers badly, but that is an enormous improvement over the alpha where the video on CWTV didn't play at all) was to manually type the complete url directly to a video itself, such as http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/smallville/smallville-legendary-preview/, while leaving video mode on. While this does work, it is an extremely cumbersome way to access content, especially when copy/paste functions don't seem to work in the beta at all (attempt to paste with CTRL+V just puts an "X" in the text field).
Given that CWTV is a site that was known not to work in the past, I decided to try another one that should have no issues: YouTube. No luck there at all. While the site was infinitely more navigable than CWTV (no locked Flash objects), attempting to access any links to any videos locks up Boxee and I have to end-task it to get out of it.
I realize that browser functionality is not really a high priority for Boxee, but this currently seems to lack the necessary functionality to make it useful at all for finding or watching video content... unless I am just missing something. Am I missing something or is the app currently just to immature to be used?
Specs:
Windows XP SP3
Pentium 4 3.0GHz HT
2GB RAM
GeForce 7600GS 256MB (AGP)
SB Audigy LS
latest Boxee beta as of 12/14/09
For example, I was trying to access videos on CWTV; I launch Boxee Browser, enter the URL (http://www.cwtv.com), get prompted about video mode and switch to browser mode, then the site loads. Immediately there are issues. First, the site has a Flash-based ad crawl for their shows that gets locked in place in the center of the page. I can scroll up and down through the page, but the ad crawl stays fixed in place while the site scrolls behind it. This makes it nearly impossible to access any of the links on the site, since I can't really see any of them to know if they are highlighted. Fortunately, the site does have a "Videos" link at the top of the page, just above the locked ad crawl, which I can highlight and access. However, that still has issues. It appears that the browser is treating the link like a full URL instead of a link within the existing domain, i.e. the link actually points to http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/ but the browser tries to go to www.cw-video.com.
Attempting to go straight to http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/ does work, but that has the same problem with a locked in place flash object that the site's main page has. The only way I was able to get to a video and actually play it (sort of, the video flickers badly, but that is an enormous improvement over the alpha where the video on CWTV didn't play at all) was to manually type the complete url directly to a video itself, such as http://www.cwtv.com/cw-video/smallville/smallville-legendary-preview/, while leaving video mode on. While this does work, it is an extremely cumbersome way to access content, especially when copy/paste functions don't seem to work in the beta at all (attempt to paste with CTRL+V just puts an "X" in the text field).
Given that CWTV is a site that was known not to work in the past, I decided to try another one that should have no issues: YouTube. No luck there at all. While the site was infinitely more navigable than CWTV (no locked Flash objects), attempting to access any links to any videos locks up Boxee and I have to end-task it to get out of it.
I realize that browser functionality is not really a high priority for Boxee, but this currently seems to lack the necessary functionality to make it useful at all for finding or watching video content... unless I am just missing something. Am I missing something or is the app currently just to immature to be used?
Specs:
Windows XP SP3
Pentium 4 3.0GHz HT
2GB RAM
GeForce 7600GS 256MB (AGP)
SB Audigy LS
latest Boxee beta as of 12/14/09