Boxee Box

At this year’s CES, D-Link’s Boxee Box got a lot of hype.  It’s demo at D-Link’s booth was perpetually crowded as attendees showed a genuine interest in what it offers.  The sub-$200 device, which is powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 CPU and boasts a convenient RF remote with full QWERTY keyboard, aggregates most digital content, including that from several online sources such as Netflix and Hulu, into one easily accessible user interface, thus very competently bridging the gap between online content and the TV.

But the Boxee Box wasn’t the online digital media streamer at CES.  And while 2010 is already shaping up to be a banner year for shifting online content from the computer to the TV, as evident by device announcements such as Syabas’ PopBox and in-built TV functionality like Samsung’s impressive Internet@TV interface – both offering users expandable application platforms, choosing a solution that both meets an individuals needs and isn’t obsolete by the 2011 CES could be tricky.

Nuu Player at CES2010

For example, a company called Nuu Media debuted it’s Nuu Player at CES.  The UPnP compatible device, slated to release in March 2010 for around $300, like the Boxee Box, is an official licensee of the Boxee software and will playback almost any media codec in existence in HD.  While both the Nuu Player and the Boxee Box support 802.11n WiFi and wired network connectivity, HDMI, SPDIF, multiple USB ports (Nuu Player has 3 whereas the Boxee Box has 2) and an SD card slot, the similarities stop there.  The Nuu Player, which runs Linux on an Intel Atom N330 with NVIDIA ION graphics chipset, includes an internal 160GB hard drive on which personal media files can be stored.  It also has a much slimmer form factor compared to the boxiness of the Boxee Box and uses an IR remote coupled with an on-screen keyboard for input where necessary.

So which device is best?  Until both are released and can be thoroughly reviewed, it’s hard to say.  The Boxee Box has a better processor, better remote, and better price tag.  But the lack of internal storage and its crazy shape may be worth an extra $100 to some.  For now, those of us who find ourselves consuming more non-traditional content than ever via online sources, and thus “watching” fewer hours of TV each week, can at least be assured that our eyes may once again, someday soon, return to the $2500 TV hanging on the wall (hopefully sans cable TV subscription).