Boxee Box feature requests

- Local content management, use of local .nfo and artwork for local file database

- fanart support as background when a title is selected in movie view screen

- artwork/title information shown for a movie when an info key is pressed (or the movie is paused)

- use of local artwork and info files for media

- genre, etc, sorting options for media

- cache of artwork etc to local media


the features that i want added most are the above listed ones. local content/fanart is what is going to determine for me (and friends/family who are also interested in buying a media streamer) whether to go with the boxee or the netgear 550. i really couldn't care less about the whole internet connectivity thing-- it's secondary to the ability to play my local files (in full 1080p and HD audio) and i want to be able to have visually impressive fanart/posters/film summary/year of film/etc come up whenever i call up each movie. obtaining this information should be a simple and straightforward process that a newbie like me can figure out. i don't want to have to go to multiple sources or have to get a degree in programming to display some pretty pictures!!


what i think would be ideal is if boxee supported Ember Media Manager (EMM). as far as i can tell, EMM is a free program that is pretty straightforward to use. i like it because it transfers posters and fanart to the folder where i have each individual movie and also shows the year of the movie, director, cast, plot summary (which is great when you want to give your guests an idea what the movie is about if no one has seen it), etc. and it does it automatically (which saves me TONS of time). it also sorts and re-names movies and puts the "the" at the end (ex. sorts the karate kid as "karate kid, the") which apparently more than a few people (including me) would like to see their media streamer be able to do.


EMM also gets images/information from themoviedb.org, movieposterdb.com, impawards.com, thetvdb.com, and imdb.com so it is quite comprehensive in finding what you need (even foreign films that aren't commonly viewed by western audiences). you can choose to let it make choices automatically or manually choose what you want if you prefer certain images for the poster or fanart (ex. higher resolution, posters from other countries, more recent posters vs. classic (ex. star wars)). if it gets the movie wrong when in auto mode, you can manually enter the movie number as it is listed on imdb.com and i've never once had it not be able to find the correct movie using that technique.


i don't know what the hell a local .nfo is, what it does, how to get one, and whether it's necessary to display the fanart/poster/film summary/etc, but i just want my media streamer to let me see these things and show it off to my friends! EMM support by the boxee box seems logical to me (and i believe the program was made to support xbmc, so i'm guessing boxee would be able to integrate its use relatively easily).


quite frankly, if boxee doesn't implement the above features, at this point i cannot see why i would choose this box over the netgear. i realize the netgear isn't out yet, but with all of boxee's issues, the netgear already looks like a better choice. please, please, PLEASE make it so i can add the pretty pictures myself to the boxee box!!!



Quote:
Originally Posted by Brajesh /forum/post/19504911


+1 for HDHomeRun


Also, please create a PC tool to manage movie/TV/music jukebox.


To be realistic, I think it'll be at least 6 months before most bugs are sorted out and they won't even concentrate on new features until then. At this point, as much as I like the Boxee Box for web content, I'm thinking of returning my two boxes and getting the Netgear 550 instead, and as a fallback the PCH A200, or maybe even a HTPC.

Click to expand...

I don't understand Brajesh (well, I can understand the returning Boxee Box part), your fallback is the Netgear 550 which has not been released and no one has a clue what shape it will be in at release It just seems like trying to hop on the next announced player is like farting in the wind, depending on which direction the wind is blowing you or the person behind you could be screwed!


Anyways, I don't want to get OT here.



Quote:
I don't understand Brajesh (well, I can understand the returning Boxee Box part), your fallback is the Netgear 550 which has not been released and no one has a clue what shape it will be in at release

It just seems like trying to hop on the next announced player is like farting in the wind, depending on which direction the wind is blowing you or the person behind you could be screwed!


Anyways, I don't want to get OT here.

Click to expand...

I've realized a single box that does local content + web content, both well, isn't here yet, unless I go the HTPC route. Trying to avoid HTPC as it involves a lot of work from what I can tell & it'll be harder for the family to use. Maybe Boxee will get there, but they've got so many issues to tackle, I don't have a whole lot of confidence. As to "trying to hop on the next announced player is like farting in the wind", it indeed smells like **** around here as I think many of us expected Boxee to do things different than smaller/niche players like Syabas, HDI, etc. Plus, Eli's involvement in these forums and assurance that the box was in peachy shape elevated confidence. Also, before release, there was that Israeli home theater article about how well the box performed with local hi-def media files.


So, basically, I've now tempered my expectations. I have my fingers crossed on Netgear 550 because they've seem to done extensive beta testing & really improved their product before releasing it soon. I'll pre-order and try it out. If it does what the PCH A200/C200 can do with local media, that's good enough. If not, I plan to stick with the PCH A200/C200. I know Dune is solid as well, but why pay more. Then, I'll continue monitoring the forums to see how Boxee improves before jumping back in.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Brajesh /forum/post/19507410


IMaybe Boxee will get there, but they've got so many issues to tackle, I don't have a whole lot of confidence. As to "trying to hop on the next announced player is like farting in the wind", it indeed smells like **** around here as I think many of us expected Boxee to do things different than smaller/niche players like Syabas, HDI, etc.....

Click to expand...

I have the same outlook now.


(1)My entry was the WDTV Live. Grew frustrated with the time spent modifying firmware, moviesheets etc, poor playback of high bitrate files on the network, and the lack of a decent interface.

----Found the dune players, but decided to wait for-

(2)the Popflop.

---reconsidered dune again when the Smart series was announced. Decided to wait for the -

(3) Boxee Box...still holding out that they can fix it relatively quickly. But then I remember thinking the same with the Popflop.


Hopefully the Boxee will not become the Crapee Box.


Options now:

a. Dune Smart (again!)

b. Netgear

c. hope Boxee fixes the problems.

Features...well I guess I would like


easily accessed local content, sorting functions (genre etc), improved search functions, skin support, local/network storage of metadata, improved remote..


Edit: Ember Media Manager integration looks nice.Just remembering every synopsis is tough once you get above a certain number of movies.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm even considering the PopBox again. They've got HD audio working in their latest beta, and if there are improvements in subtitle support and movie jukebox (trying to find out in the PopBox thread), it would be better than Boxee Box for local media playback. We know it plays back MKV and BD-ISO well. Go figure... sorry Jason, will try not to get off-topic beyond this .