Boxee Release Version 1.5

I saw the new UI that comes with 1.5 while at CES and found it to be a big improvement over previous revs. Besides that, the biggest feature “get” is probably support for live ATSC via the optional dongle, but those still having issues with HBR audio will have to wait however.

Full release notes on the click…

Boxee Box 1.5 Release Notes

Boxee v1.5 has been re-thought from the if…then… statements up to create a version that makes it easier to find what you’re looking for with an updated search, streamlines filtering in TV and Movie libraries, and includes the ability to watch Live TV with the dongle attached. New Features / Enhancements*NEW* Live TV(Requires a Boxee Live TV dongle)

  • View Live TV channels with antenna or QAM via Boxee
  • Unique Social Channel Listings with metadata
  • See social recommendations in the channel listing based on what your Facebook friends are watching and have watched.
  • Share shows and currently viewed channels via Boxee and Facebook

Order Live TV dongle here…*NEW* Social Account Pairing with Boxee user on device

  • Create a new Boxee account using Facebook connect
  • Pair Boxee with Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter on device to view videos from those services in the Friends section, and to easily share content.

Interface

  • UI look and feel update
  • UI Improvements to:
    • Main Menu
    • Home Screen
    • Browse Screens (Movies, TV Shows) – including new filtering options.
    • Season selection for TV shows
    • Watch Later including filtering by content source
    • Indication for which movies and shows have been watched
    • Action/Info Menu
    • OSD and OSD settings
    • Search
  • Enhanced login flow

Library and Play action

  • Rotten Tomato rating integration for movies
  • Launch trailers from the Media action screen

Networking & File Playback

  • Support simultaneous digital bitstream + stereo over analog

Browser

  • Added Popup management
  • Support for HTML5 Local Storage in Boxee Browser

Settings

  • Toggle the Netflix Button on the remote to “Launch the Netflix application” or “Play /Pause “ from the Settings>General >Advanced options screen.
  • Weather – full integration with Accuweather
  • Added setting to disable full network scan of SMB sources.

Bug fixesNetworking & File Playback

  • No audio when switching between audio streams and video goes in fast forwarding
  • “Loading Error” when browse into uPnP from the file/network menu when wireless
  • Fail to mount password protected SMB file sources when the Settings client has same user name but a different password
  • Fail to play SMB password protected videos from boxee Application python even when the SMB credentials are in Settings
  • Seeking not working on WMV
  • Boxee’s continuous scanning turns on Xerox Printers, Prevents Win7 64 from Sleeping, Keeps NAS from sleeping
  • SMB scanning and network discovery should not be running when in playback
  • Long delay when exiting a video in the file menu
  • Rewinding to the beginning causes the video to rapidly skip to where the video was before the rewinding
  • PGS subtitles timing is broken (AVCHD/.m2ts container)
  • Some 720p XviD avi plays choppy & stuttering
  • Navigation sounds overly loud after playing local video (720p mkv / ac3 audio)
  • Mono audio is output only to the left channel

Apps

  • Custom repository is not loaded if there is no trailing line end at the end of the file repository.xml
  • AccuWeather app finds my location but cannot download data

Libraries

  • Improve long lists in movies/tv
  • Compilation albums not handled correctly, Boxee doesn’t use Album Artist tag

Browser

  • Boxee Box Browser : Popup management
  • Support for HTML5 Local Storage in Boxee Browser
  • Enhance drop down menu support
  • Some html5 apps are now loading with browser scrollbars when there should be none
  • Fail to load flash based website www.dch.berliner-philharmoniker.de

Interface

  • The weather icon just shows as the degree symbol in the dropdown menu and doesn’t display a temperature.
  • last subtitles name remains when going to video OSD>Settings>Subtitles
  • Boxee hangs when scrolling through movie library

Misc.

  • Watchlater is not adding any videos to watchlater list
  • Broken infolabels – MusicPlayer.Duration and Player.ProgressCache

  • Multiple problems with .PushState()

Known issues

  • Cannot browse for subtitles – local subtitles in the same video directory work fine

** NB – The issues with 3TB hard drives, HD Audio dropouts, and Flash have not been addressed in this version.  They require a complete overhaul of our Intel SDK and are planned for the coming months.  

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