Boxee: Unboxing the Media Experience (invites)

With television viewership on the decline and so many of us watching our favorite shows at our own convenience online it was only a matter of time before one or more clever companies helped us bridge the gap between our favorite online media services and our televisions. Boxee.tv is leading the way! 

Although still in closed alpha, Boxee has been gaining steam as the open source media application of choice. Previously it could only pull in content from your networked drives similar to iTunes, but the latest version of Boxee now also enables you to watch content from tons of sources. Hulu, CBS, Comedy Central, CNN and more are all at your fingertips. Boxee doesn’t stop at just video. You can also stream music from you Last.fm account, your local iTunes library, and even photos from Flickr. Better yet, you can easily add any video rss feed to your Boxee account and watch it as its own channel.

Did I forget to mention that Boxee is also a social application? You can connect with other Boxee users as friends, see what they have been watching, and recommend content with a few clicks. 

With Boxee’s initial release you could only experience content directly on your computer or on a HD TV with an adapter and HDMI cable, but Boxee’s latest version is now compatible with your Apple TV. Using a USB patchstick you can install the application directly on your Apple TV and take in all the good stuff while sitting back on your couch (this is how I have it set up). When asked what the future brings for Boxee I was told that they would like to be available to use on any device you would connect to your television or home media center. As an open source application their are plenty of opportunities for incredible things to happen with Boxee.

Boxee has announced that they will be releasing their latest significant update to the application on December 4th. Want to get in on the action? I have secured priority invites for The Tech Lunch readers. Follow the link below and fill out your info. Priority invites will get approved in a matter of days instead of weeks, so be patient and enjoy!

Boxee Priority Invite:http://www.boxee.tv/thetechlunch

quick intro to boxee from boxee on Vimeo.

How to create the patchstick for Apple TV

Microsoft Announces Morro

By Erwin Blonk, November 23th, 3:35PM

Microsoft recently announced Morro, dubbing it a no-cost consumer security offering which will protect against viruses, spy-ware and other computer problems. It will become available in the first half of 2009.

According to Roger Kay of Endpoint Technology Associates, “By offering such basic protection at no charge to the consumer, Microsoft is promoting a safer environment.” As such it can be seen as an extension to Windows Update.

Rowan Trollope, Symantec’s consumer business senior vice president, considers it proof of Microsoft’s inability to provide quality security software.

Randy Abrams, technical director of security firm ESET, sees it differently. Windows Live OneCare took 2% of the market without many promotional activities, deeming it not a defeat to competitors but a bid to enhance Windows’ security positioning.

OneCare will be sold until June 30th, 2009 and support will be phased out soon after.

iPhone 2.2 Software Update

By Jonathan

Apple has released another software update for the iPhone, iPhone 2.2. Among other things, the updated OS features Google Street View and streaming podcasts via WIFI or your data plan. I have already tried it out, and both new features work fantastically. I have been waiting for real streaming podcasts for months, so this update is something I have realy been looking forward to. Thus far iPhone users have had to use other podcast solutions which were incomplete and far inferior. Now if we could only see a copy & paste option!

Google releases themes for Gmail

By Kris at 5:38 PM

Google has been releasing a ton of updates for Gmail lately, ranging from video chat to goggles, but none of those updates are as cool as the new Gmail themes.  More behind the break.

iPod Charger Defense

By Dan at 12:41 PM CST

A recent article on Gothamist tells a rather sad tale of a young woman who, when faced with an abominable situation, was able to come back with a rather unusual defense.  While her assailant was busy forcing himself upon her, she was able to take her iPod charger and stab it into his neck, leaving a clearly identifiable mark from the charging prongs.  These wounds coupled with physical evidence left by the assailant and the testimony of the victim have aided greatly in his arrest and identification.  With any luck, the wounds will stay with him for at least long enough to teach him a lesson about bringing harm to others.

Source: Gothamist: Woman Fights Serial Rapist with iPod Charger

Take Full Advantage of your Gmail

By Kris at 5:48PM

It is very likely that a lot of people don’t know the full potential of their Gmail account. In this article, I will give you some tips on how to take full advantage of your Gmail account, with its biggest feature: Gmail drive. Gmail Drive is a tool that lets you create a hard drive out on the web that can be accessed right from your computer. Read on for the instructions.

PC to Mac the Easy Way

By Kris at 5:08 PM

There may be many ways to transfer your files from a PC to a Mac, but most can be pretty hard to do for the average person. Well not anymore, because Belkin has made a Switch-to-Mac Cable that allows you to move music, movies, photos, and Internet preferences to your new Mac with ease. All you have to do is plug one end of the USB into your Mac and the other end into your PC. After that it automatically takes your files and transfers them to your Mac. The Switch-to-Mac Cable will be out soon for around $50. A 2008 Needham report shows that Macintosh sales have tripled in the past 3 years and by 2017 Apple will sell 40 million Macs at the rate their going, so it would seem that Belkin has chosen a great time to unveil their cable.

The Future of Planes

By Kris at 6:25

NASA recently started a project with a couple engineers from MIT to create a fuel efficient and quieter plane. Yes I said plane. Not car. I was shocked too because with all the environmentalists talking about global warming I thought they would already have an airplane up in the sky that’s fuel efficient. But I guess not, NASA says that the project there working on will be the future of planes. So in other words the plane will most likely be flying around 2030. Comment

MacBook Air going on a Diet

By Kris at 5:57 PM

AppleInsider has discovered that Apple is going to make their MacBook Air even lighter by replacing the bottom of the MacBook Air chassis with carbon fiber which is used in aircraft parts, bike frames, and high performance car bodies. But now recently computer vendors such as Sony and HP have used this material to construct lighter and thinner laptops. As of now the MacBook Air weights three pounds if Apple just replaces the bottom part of the case then the MacBook Air would lose 100 grams making it only 2.78 pounds. But knowing Apple they’ll most likely make it even lighter then 2.78 pounds. Comment.

“Although AppleInsider publishes the aforementioned information strictly as a rumor, it’s believed the shift to a carbon fiber bottom is far enough along in its development cycle that it could appear in a revision to the MacBook Air sometime next year.”

LiveID now an OpenID provider

By Erwin Blonk, 4:12 PM

As of October 27th, LiveID is an OpenID provider. This adds a large pool of potential accounts to OpenID, the internet single sign-on solution.

At this time a few restrictions apply, like:

- it supports only OpenId 2.0

- it is in CTP phase

In its present form the target audience is developers. According to the Live Services blog it will soon be available for general use.

The main problem OpenID is facing is Google. They have an created a version of OpenID that is not completely compatible. If this will lead to a switch to the Google version or if it leaves Google behind, remains to be seen.