A Fireside Chat With Boxee’s Avner Ronen On The State Of Boxee And Smart TVs

Boxee is one of the rare success stories of a software company making the leap to consumer electronics. The formula is simple: a clear message combined with a solid product. Having smart and passionate people help too. And as shown by this video shot at TechCrunch’s CES booth, Boxee has both.

Boxee’s Avner Ronen, CEO & co-founder, sat down with John Biggs to talk about Boxee’s upcoming releases but also the emergence of smart TVs.

Boxee has a very unique perspective having participated in the smart tv platform before it was called such a thing. Boxee hopes to be there to the end. As Avner explained, the future of TV is not apps. TV is a passive device and the challenge is to get real content to the consumer. That’s where the Boxee Box comes in.

Starting yesterday, January 11th, Boxee is accepting pre-orders for the ATSC USB tuner. Just plug this guy into a Boxee Box and connect an antenna to add OTA stations to the Boxee Box. As Avner says, it’s great for cable cutters. But as a Boxee Box owner myself, the device is perfect to supplement live TV as well.