Boxee Now Bigger and Better with Webkit, HTML5
After finding Mozilla’s Geko layout engine—Firefox’s layout engine—a little bit too buggy and difficult, Boxee is looking to switch their integrated web browser to Webkit—which runs Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome. As part of this switch, they hope to better implement HTML5 and aid with accessing a greater range of video content not yet available to users of the current version.
According to an article over at GigaOM, this will be a very good thing for Boxee users,
The new browser will be based on Webkit, which is the browser engine used by Apple’s Safari browser and Google Chrome. “The web browsing experience is going to be dramatically improved,” Spectre said during a phone conversation. The main motivator for the switch was to make Boxee’s browser HTML5-compliant. Spectre said that HTML5 has proven to be the future of web browsing on desktop PCs and mobile handsets, and adding it to a living-room centered platform like Boxee was the logical next step. “It absolutely should be the future for the browsers you use on your TV,” he said.
Boxee hopes that this move to bigger-and-better technology will give them the edge they need to compete with upcoming devices that will support the likes of Google TV. Also, Google TV has been doling out information to developers on how to prepare their devices for its use, including full-context web searching and other enhancements. Thanks to their developers, Boxee is available for Apple TV—which underwent an announced major overhaul this year—and the upgrade will position them to better use what Apple TV has to offer. Although dedicated Boxee apps will have far more options available and will compete directly with Apple TV devices themselves. And, still on the topic of Apple devices, Boxee Remote runs on iPhones and is one of their most popular Boxee interfaces.
Combining video and entertainment sources seems to be the rule of the day, from set-top devices, to all-in-one platforms, and Boxee has a pretty solid offering.
They still have a long road ahead of them, however, as Boxee is launching their Boxee Box in November amidst this market rush of other set-top television devices. Especially because the Boxee Box itself will end up being almost $100 more than Apple TV. In order to compete in that market, the Box will need to show its superiority in means of reach and interactivity.
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