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Samsung has bought Boxee in a move to extend its in-TV recording and streaming capabilities.
Best known for its Boxee Box, the video streaming firm was one of the original platforms for the technology.
According to Boxee’s website, the acquisition will allow it to bring parts of its software to Samsung’s hardware: “Joining Samsung means we will be able to work on products that marry the best hardware and software in the TV space, products that will be used by tens of millions of people and will help to shape the future of TV.”
Boxee also revealed that it will shut down its cloud based digital video recorder service on July 10th, stating that those using the service to record programmes will not be able to access them after that date.
Boxee started in 2007 with the goal to ‘create a different and better experience for people to watch their favourite stuff on TV’, said Boxee CEO Avner Ronen. Since then the service has offered movies and video clips from the internet, direct to users’ TVs.
In 2010 the Boxee Box was launched in partnership with D-Link, and in 2011, the firm unveiled the Boxee Live TV dongle, which connects to the Box to give access to certain channels for no extra fee.
Boxee also released an iPhone app and a new set-top box with cloud-based DVR features and online services last year.
With Boxee’s mention of the ‘TV space’, it seems likely that Samsung will integrate the firm’s streaming systems into its next-gen Smart TVs.
