Have We Been Abandoned?

[dladrach]

I've purchased more media streamers than I care to admit, including the Pivos Xios DS (just a few weeks ago). For me, with the Android firmware, the XIOS ranks right at the bottom; with the Linux-XBMC firmware it ranks quite a bit higher, but doesn't quite seem ready for Prime Time.

The Android UI was designed for phones and tablets and, imo, just doesn't work well for a television interface. While there are countless front-end replacements for Android, I have yet to find one that isn't tedious to use with a television remote, which I much prefer over a mouse and keyboard for routine sofa->tv navigation. The XBMC.apk is sluggish and buggy and not capable of running most of my high bitrate movies without severe stuttering. With the Linux-XBMC firmware, XBMC is much snappier and more stable and can handle higher bitrates than the Android version, tho it still struggles with some of my movies.

I do think that the XIOS has a lot of potential as a dedicated XBMC box but the Linux-XBMC firmware is still very much in beta and I definitely wouldn't recommend it to anyone as their main streamer right now. It's getting better with each firmware release, tho.

I disagree with you 100%, I have tried everything out there and XIOS has a big upside. Yes, the XBMC is all beta regardless of the ICS version or Linux version.

You know you can kick off the android apps directly from xbmc, using XBMC as your main UI? So, if you have the device load into XBMC you don't have to leave xbmc to kick off the applications, in theory bypassing your biggest complaint, the UI. I am not sure what stuttering issues you are having my High Bitrate Blu-Ray Rips play with no issue (Not sure about your NAS or Network). Also, if you use the standard Confluence Skin XBMC has no delay.

I just want to make sure folks are getting all the information.

[ScottAllyn]

You know you can kick off the android apps directly from xbmc, using XBMC as your main UI? So, if you have the device load into XBMC you don't have to leave xbmc to kick off the applications, in theory bypassing your biggest complaint, the UI.

Certainly a nice feature which does help, but the Android version of XBMC still an early alpha, further behind than even the Linux-XBMC build and it still has too many issues to function as the workhorse streamer in my household. HDHomeRun support is one example - the Android version can't play my HDHomeRun streams w/o major issues. The Linux-XBMC build, which is quite a bit further along, no longer has those issues... so Pivos is obviously working on these things; it's just going to take some time.

I am not sure what stuttering issues you are having my High Bitrate Blu-Ray Rips play with no issue (Not sure about your NAS or Network). Also, if you use the standard Confluence Skin XBMC has no delay.

It's the same limitation that others have noted on the official Pivos forums and on the AVS forums. Over the ethernet (with both SMB and NFS), the Linux-XBMC build can handle up to ~ 35 Mbps before it starts to struggle. I like action movies and I rip my discs directly w/o re-encoding, which means that many of my movies get up there (and beyond). It's interesting to note that, over a USB drive, the XIOS can actually play the vast majority of my stuff w/o stuttering, so the hardware is clearly capable. I think the devs are working pretty hard to catch the software up with the hardware but they have TONS of stuff to work on... it's gonna take time.

The standard Confluence Skin is still noticeably laggy under Android. One of the first things that many XIOS users comment on after trying the Linux-XBMC build is how much snappier the interface is. Having my own XBMC box for side-by-side comparison, I can say that both the XBMC Android -and- XBMC-Linux interfaces are sluggish, tho the Linux build is significantly less so (to the point where I probably would even notice it if I didn't have another XBMC box).

I just want to make sure folks are getting all the information.

Same here. The XIOS has a lot of potential as a dedicated XBMC box and the devs, who are XBMC enthusiasts, are very dedicated to getting XBMC running smoothly on the device. Judging by the current state of things, I'd say that there's a very good chance they'll succeed; I just don't think they're quite there yet.

[rpmiles]

is there a good reason why they never fixed a simple thing like dlna that used to work just fine?

[BigKenW]

I gave up waiting on the mythical Hulu+. Then Amazon Instant Video, which seems to come out for every device out there, never was released. Eventually in a spur of the moment decision I bought a Roku 2 XD just to try it. I didn't want to because the interface looked like crap. Well I have to tell you, this little thing on 802.11n runs rings around all of Internet video streaming I did with my two Boxee Boxes. I would constantly get buffering issues, even on Cat5 cable. I NEVER have a buffer issue with the Roku 2. On top of that, my wife who hated the Boxee, can't stop using the Roku. To the point she had us cancel most cable services (we keep HD for sports).

Recently one of my 2 Boxee Boxes went to a black screen and never came back. No matter what I did or the troubleshooting on the forums. I filed a ticket with Boxee support, but I doubt they will be able to do anything. I am struggling with just moving the Boxee Box to that television or running out and getting another Roku 2 XD.

Boxee seems to have lost it's way. They ended support for the PC/Mac/Linux version. Decided to create a pseudo iPad version. Now have the Clear QAM decoder for the Box, which is cool, but they don't seem to be supporting the Box anymore. They also are now getting into cloud services. Given the choice of doing a few things poorly, or one thing great (Boxee Box), they decided to spread too thin.

I feel bad because I really believed in what they were doing. I gave Boxee Boxes to friends and family as gifts. Recommended it to others. Some people loved it, some hated the software problems. Regardless I still stood behind it.

With changing times I am also getting an Ouya. That will supposedly have XBMC as the default media player which will be nice (if it isn't vaporware). There are small Android devices that have HDMI out and will eventually run a stable XBMC too. In the meantime there is Roku and Google TV.

I wish the company had better PR.

[bigdave240]

I bought the boxee when Logitech abandoned the revue. I loved the revue but only had it a couple of months when they dropped it. Not really loving the boxee. Not as easy to use, and now it seems abandoned too. I see that there are two choices for googletv now, one from Sony and one from Vizeo. Think i will try to sell the boxee and go back. It was a good idea that just never got followed through on.

[VeeDubb65]

I honestly think that devices like Ouya are a great way to go. Linux is an ideal OS for a set-top box, but it just hasn't been able to get the name recognition it needs, and the set-top boxes that run it each have their own proprietary front end that completely hides it from the end user. While android is obvious the same in terms of being a front end that hides linux, it only hides it superficially. The functionality is still there for people who want to dig into it, and android has the name recognition and app support that is needed. Provided that they are able to build a remote or controller that makes it functional, and XBMC for android is able to play all the same video and audio types as Boxee, it will be ideal. Hulu, Amazon and Netflix are all well supported already, and XBMC will provide the local content interface that boxee got it's start from.

[BigKenW]

I can't wait for my Ouya to arrive. But XBMC I have played with and never gotten any of the addons to work like Netflix. I hope it is a little easier. I really went with the Ouya because I find myself liking games on Android a lot more than my Xbox lately. I am not seeing the value-add for purchasing a $60 game when most $1-10 games give me the same level of fun. I also seem to enjoy Indie games a lot more than things coming from publishers like EA. I really hope that thing is a success. They are moving forward too. We get to lock in our gamertags in a week or two as founders. So onward and upward..

[zorlan]

I disagree with you 100%, I have tried everything out there and XIOS has a big upside. Yes, the XBMC is all beta regardless of the ICS version or Linux version.

You know you can kick off the android apps directly from xbmc, using XBMC as your main UI? So, if you have the device load into XBMC you don't have to leave xbmc to kick off the applications, in theory bypassing your biggest complaint, the UI. I am not sure what stuttering issues you are having my High Bitrate Blu-Ray Rips play with no issue (Not sure about your NAS or Network). Also, if you use the standard Confluence Skin XBMC has no delay.

I just want to make sure folks are getting all the information.

I bought 2 xioses and returned them both. I would have to agree with Scott. It does not have the horsepower needed to provided a seamless smooth experience for a media player. I do not care if it is open source or not. I myself did not like it.

The main turn off for me was running a good OS like ICS on the television. Google TV makes more sense in this case, but ICS was not fun at all and not intuitive for a TV.

[bigthinker]

a blog post about anything on the boxee blog would be great. some kind of update, anything.

[kidcommando]

I bought a 3DTV from Vizio that has Hulu+, Amazon VOD, and a bunch of apps that I actually use everyday. My LG Blu-ray player even handles all of my MP4's, MKV's, and WMV's just fine through DLNA (and includes Hulu+, and Amazon VOD to boot). I only really use the Boxee Box to play random files or use the web browser from time to time. Ultimately, my TV being able to display my HD programming while bringing up the apps through a tool/sidebar is a better experience for me.

Like this:

Having to switch over to HDMI and lose access to my live feed was not worth it (and the tuner-dongle would NOT have been something I would've wanted to deal with).

Hopefully Boxee's next device (if there even is one) fares much better, because this one, sad as it is to say, is a dud.