It’s been a long road to dedicated hardware for Boxee fans. Announced in 2009, the (first) Boxee Box was expected to hit earlier this year… but was later delayed until November. Things appeared on track when Amazon began accepting pre-orders ($200) in September. However, those folks are receiving email notices stating:
We’re still trying to obtain the following item[s] you ordered on September 13 2010 (Order# XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXX).
“The Boxee Box by D-Link”
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038JE07OStill want it? We’ll keep on trying. To keep your order for this item open, please click the link below. Otherwise, we’ll cancel your order on November 12 2010, if we haven’t located it by then.
Now, there could be nothing to this at all. Given the dates and timing, it’s quite possible Amazon checks in at one month intervals and this outreach is standard operating procedure. On the other hand, some who pre-ordered appear a bit concerned as the related Boxee Facebook page and forum discussions haven’t yet been addressed by company reps. Which is when (potential) customers turn to the blogosphere for assistance. And I’ve got an email out to my Boxee contact seeking clarification… stay tuned.
UPDATE: CEO Avner Ronen quite clearly states below in the comments, “No delays. We are on schedule.” Crisis averted!
(Thanks, Sean!)
This is nothing new, I believe any time you pre-order something and the order is outstanding for over a month Amazon will send out this notification. I received this notice yesterday for the Boxee Box and I have received it in the past for other products, it does not indicate the product is delayed.
No delays. We are on schedule.
Will announce the delivery date very soon.
I believe Amazon sends out these notices based on when an item was pre-ordered, so I don’t believe this necessarily indicates there is an issue with the box being released in November. However, if Boxee were to miss the November release, they might be in the same boat as Popbox…DOA.
Considering the flurry of activity from Roku (new devices, lower prices and the Fall addition of a Hulu Plus channel), the introduction of Google TV and all the other activity in the set top/streaming market, missing a release that would make the devices available for the holiday season would not be good.
Thanks for clearing that up, Avner! I’ve updated the headline and post accordingly.
Speaking of pre-orders and Popbox jcm, my buddy who picked up the Popbox is highly underwhelmed and I’m encouraging him to document all the ways its let him down for a post.
I had pre-ordered the Popbox and subsequently canceled based on the delays and the questions surrounding whether Netflix would be available or not. Even though I did not get a device, I followed the forum for a little bit just to get an idea of people’s experience. Based on forum chatter, my decision to cancel and save $130 was a good decision.
I think the Boxee box will do a lot better than Popbox, however, I will be taking a wait and see approach before taking the plunge for a few reasons. As it stands now, the Roku DVP is really meeting all of my needs: Netflix, Amazon, Pandora, Revision3, TWiT, the upcoming Hulu Plus channel, a score of other channels, support for 1080p and improved capability for local streaming – something that isn’t that important to me, but is a nice to have.
Regarding the Box box, in addition to the questions regarding support for Netflix and Hulu Plus (is there any confirmation that these channels will be available at launch?), I think the price is a little inflated. And while not a deal breaker by itself, the D-Link box is absolutely hideous.
That is the standard email you get from Amazon after 30 days for all preorders. This is nothing new.
If you don’t click on the appropriate link, your order will get cancelled and you will need to place a new order and will be at the back of the preorder queue.
Yep, that seems to be the consensus. Mystery solved. I must not have ever per-ordered anything that far out. And neither did the folks with the questions for Boxee.
I got one of those emails about Boxee and had received them in the past. Those emails seem to be hit-and-miss from Amazon — sometimes they email & notify you of new date, sometimes they ask to confirm order, etc.
At this point, I’m more interested in hearing regarding content partnerships that Boxee promised to announce before the release.
Its unfortunate that the delays have resulted in the Boxee Box coming out AFTER the new Apple TV and the Google TV announcements, the repricing of the Roku boxes, the updates to the Roku lineup to include Hulu Plus etc. The pricing pressure due to the the Apple TV at $99, the fact that people who think they want the Boxee Box might get frozen waiting for the Google TV box, the fact that the Roku is becoming ever more competitive with Boxee and so much cheaper…
All would have been so much easier for them to take if they were out there and part of the conversation. In all honestly there won’t be much room in the press for conversations about the Boxee Box. iOS 4.2 will come out, there will all the discoveries about what works and what doesn’t with AirPlay. The Logitech box and the Sony TV’s will become available and there will be lots of hands on reviews of those, what works with Flicking and what doesn’t, the codecs supported, who is doing app development, and on and on…
I’m hoping to have the Boxee Box replace my 1st gen Popcornhour and early gen Roku. We’ll see.