Samsung Acquires Boxee Set-Top Box

3 Jul, 2013 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Streaming set-top box manufacturer had been seeking additional funding and/or third-party buyout

Samsung Electronics July 3 confirmed it has acquired Boxee, a set-top box manufacturer and content aggregator, in a deal reportedly worth $30 million.

“We can confirm that Boxee will be joining Samsung. We'll have a formal statement on our website later this week,” a Boxee representative wrote in an email.

Key Boxee personnel include co-founder and CEO Avner Ronen; co-founder and VP of platform Idan Cohen; Andrew Kippen, VP of marketing; Roee Vulkan, co-founder and CTO; Thomas Daly, head of product; COO Tom Sella; and Tatum Lade and Yuval Tal, heads of R&D.

Boxee, along with Roku, was an early adopter (since 2007) of streaming video content from the Internet to the television via an odd-shaped set-top box.

Last October, the company launched a sleeker box that enabled viewers to record unlimited amounts of programming via a cloud-based storage system.

Called Boxee TV, the $99 unit allowed users to watch over-the-air digital and basic cable transmissions, in addition to including apps for Netflix streaming, Vudu movies, YouTube videos and Pandora music, among others.

“Samsung has acquired key talent and assets from Boxee,” Samsung said in a statement. “This will help us continue to improve the overall user experience across our connected devices.”

Indeed, Samsung last year acquired mSpot.com, a subscription-based radio and movie website.

Conventional wisdom suggest Samsung will eventually incorporate the platforms in its line of Internet-connected TVs.

 

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