Boxee Media Center Is Out In a New Linux Version: Speaks Hulu

by Sam Dean - Apr. 27, 2009Comments (0)

As reported on DeviceGuru and the Boxee blog, there is now a new Linux version of the Boxee open source media center application, including support for Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope (9.04). The new release adds many of the features that have already made it into the Mac OS X and Windows versions of Boxee, including App Box (a Boxee application store), Pandora and RadioTime for radio, and a customized browser that offers support for what Boxee officials have said is the number one form of requested content on its platform: Hulu. With Boxee out in rich, flexible versions on multiple platforms, there could be even more opportunities for hardware bundles and other commercial opportunities than ever.

We've covered Boxee a number of times. It's an interesting open source mashup of a sophisticated media center application that can run and organize videos, photos and more, plus social features for sharing media with friends. Boxee is designed to let you share shows, videos, songs, playlists and more with others, and you can watch video content from Hulu, CNN, YouTube, CBS and many other outlets on big-screen TVs with it.

As we noted here, a whopping half of Boxee's users use it on Macs and AppleTVs, but that may have a lot to do with the fact that Boxee's Linux version was relatively underpowered until now. It's worth taking a look at DeviceGuru's screenshot-driven tour of the Linux version, which appears to be very slick.

As we've reported before, Hulu has requested that support for its content be removed from Boxee, and Boxee has complied, but there is a workaround for getting Hulu content on the platform via RSS feeds. The new Linux version of Boxee also delivers Hulu content via the RSS feed workaround.

DeviceGuru notes that one long-awaited addition found in Boxee's other versions hasn't yet made it into the Linux version: Netflix movie and TV show streaming. Still, a solid version of Boxee for Linux has been a long time coming, and as the company seeks opportunities for hardware bundles and other commercial opportunities for its platform, working well across platforms can only help.  
 


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