Boxee For iPad Arrives
August 9, 2011
Boxee has announced the immediate availability of its first iPad app. Boxee for iPad allows users to view and share videos from social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. The app’s biggest strength, however, is that it lets you stream video directly from your computer regardless of video format.
To use the app, you must first register for a free Boxee account. Once this is completed, be sure to login to the app using this same information.
You must also verify your social network logins, when applicable.
The app is primarily divided into three sections: Friends, Watch Later, and Featured.
Friends is where videos linked by anyone from your social networks reside. During our tests, we didn't actually see videos here despite logging into Facebook and Twitter. We're not sure whether videos weren't present because no one had posted a link to a video or if it was due to a problem with the app.
Under Featured, you’ll a list of videos recommended by the Boxee team. Most of these are fun little clips that will make you laugh.
Watch Later lists videos you found interesting while surfing the web. These videos can be added using the +Boxee bookmark via Mobile Safari or through any supported web browser. The directions to do so are located within the app.
While this is a great tool, we noticed during our tests (again) that videos are not actually added here unless you completely shutdown the app. Hopefully, this flaw is corrected in a future app release.
Boxee for iPad also includes the ability to view videos that are located on a computer on your home network. To do so, you must first download and install the free Media Manager software available for both PC and Mac. Once this is installed, the iPad app will scan your computer and offer a list of those videos correctly available to view. Best of all, if the format of your video isn’t usable on the iPad, Boxee will convert it automatically.
We found this to be a terrific feature and yes, it work exactly as advertised.
Finally, Boxee Box owners have the added ability to send videos directly from the app to a television, which is another nice tool.
Overall, Boxee for iPad looks promising. However, keep in mind that as a Version 1.0.1 release, it comes with its own set of problems and limitations. Also, please note that the app requires a Wi-Fi or 3G connection to work. In other words, Watch Later videos are not downloaded to your iDevice.
Once we have a chance to play around with Boxee for iPad further, we will offer our readers a more in-depth review.
In the meantime, you may download the app now in the App Store.