The Media Center Showdown Part 2

Welcome to the The Media Center Showdown Part 2. This time we will take a look at the apps and features on these 3 devices. There's a huge difference between them and here are my thoughts:


Apps and features


Apple TV

To be honest Apple TV doesn't have a lot of apps coming straight out of the box. So what do I mean by that? If your device isn't jailbroken you are left with only a few official apps. Here's some of them:

* Netflix
* NHL
* NBA
* MLB
* WSJ Live
* YouTube
* Vimeo
* Flickr
* Mobile Me
* Podcasts

Looks a bit thin. However Apple implant more and more apps as soon as new updates are released. Latest update included NHL Gamecenter which made me happy :D The apps look good and works like a charm but there is... as I mentioned too few of them. I should mention that I'm reviewing the Apple TV without the jailbreak.

Apple TV have a super feature. It's called Airplay. Now this feature makes the Apple TV worth the money. So how does Airplay work? You can stream music, photos, and videos to Apple TV from your computer, but thanks to AirPlay, you can also stream it all from your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.5 So if you feel like watching a movie you have on one of your devices, you don’t need to rent or buy it again. You can also stream a home video you just recorded or videos from websites and AirPlay enabled apps. Simply tap to start playing content on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, then tap again to instantly stream whatever you’re watching or listening to directly to Apple TV.

And now with AirPlay Mirroring, you can wirelessly and securely stream what’s on your iPad 2 or iPhone 4S to your HDTV. So you can show off just about anything you can do on your iPad or iPhone for the whole room to see. Like that awesome new app and your gaming skills.

Score 7 out of 10

WD TV Live

The WD TV live hasn't much to offer I'm afraid. There's only a few of them:

* Accuweather

* Deezer

* Facebook

* Flickr

* Flingo

* Life 365

* Media Fly

* Pandora

* Tune In Radio

* You Tube

I've tried some of the apps and they work but they're nothing spectacular. One other feature WD TV Live got, is a games section. Here you can download some games and play with your remote. However, playing games with a remote? Come on, it doesn't get more awkward. It's a big no no.  

Score 5 out of 10

D-Link Boxee

It's now that this review gets really interesting. The D-Link Boxee contains none other than 250 apps preinstalled. WOW! So much to choose from, so many possibilities and fun. To mentioned a few of them:

* Spotify

* Grooveshark

* YouTube

* Flickr

* TuneIn Radio

* NHL Gamecenter

* CNET

* CollegeHumor

* GameTrailers.com

* Break

* StarCraft Day 9 

* The New York Times

The list goes on and on. Another feature D-Link provides you with is that you can include repositories. In these you will get apps that people have developed themselves. Navi-X is a great example of such an app. Navi-X let's you look at TV Shows and Movies streaming directly to the Boxee from the internet. 

Another nice little feature is the subtitle option when your looking at movies. If you haven't got a subtitle to the current move your watching you can choose the CC option and Boxee will search at opensubtitle.com and see if the subtitle can be found there. It will then download the sub and implant it into the movie. However it needs to be said that quite often Boxee is having trouble of finding the right sub but it's certainly a nice feature when it works. 

Another cool thing with the Boxee is that you can allow it to scan your files and try to identify all the movies and TV shows you might have. The Boxee will search IMDB (Internet Movie Database) and try to find the correct movie. This will build a library with pictures, ratings and a small summary of the movies. This feature rocks. It looks so cool when you're browsing your library (see picture below)

  

Score 9 out of 10

Conclusion

The D-Link Boxee wins this round too. Simply because you will get out more of it. So many things to choose from and the library feature makes it look awesome. You can however, improve the Apple TV if you jailbreak it. If you do this you'll have the opportunity to install XBMC and Plex client. With these services you'll be able to get more out of the Apple TV. Navi-X will become available just to mention one great app. The Airplay feature is really cool and a great way to quickly share your media through you Apple Devices. Apple have done a great job with feature. WD TV Live is disappointment when it comes to apps and features. As I mentioned in part 1, it's getting a bit old and apps might not have be a priority. 


So if you into cool new features and apps do not hesitate to choose the D-Link Boxee. It delivers the most of the 3 devices. 


The other parts of the review can be found here:
  


>> The Media Center Showdown Part 1 
>> The Media Center Showdown Part 3
>> The Media Center Showdown Part 4
>> The Media Center Showdown Part 5
>> The Media Center Showdown Part 6