Hands-on with the new Boxee Beta media center app

Filed under: Audio, Video, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Beta

Boxee is a media viewer that allows you to simply and elegantly browse videos, music and photos on the web or on your hard drive. The alpha version of the app has been around for a while, but the new closed beta kicks things up quite a few notches. An improved interface and some new content partners - still no Hulu without a workaround, though - make Boxee an excellent choice for all your online channel-surfing needs.

The new home screen shows your queue, where you can line up a bunch of stuff to watch, and even subscribe to a show to have new episodes added to your list when they come out. Boxee can also pull in recommendations from Twitter and Facebook, and the homepage contains a feed of the media your friends have linked to on those sites.

Content-wise, Boxee also now works with Netflix streaming (assuming you're a Netflix customer, anyway) so you can search and watch movies without ever leaving Boxee. Browsing the various channels Boxee provides is also easier now, thanks to a nice clean grid that clearly displays what's available. A pop-up control also makes it easy to navigate or jump back to your home screen while you're watching a show.

You can sign up for Boxee's closed beta, available on OS X, Windows and Linux. Invites are being distributed by lottery.

Hands-on with the new Boxee Beta media center app originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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