Boxee’s got a significant help today with a $16.5 million cash infusion from a round of partners that included Japanese carrier Softbank. The Boxee Box creator hoped both to improve the content and quality of the Boxee UI but also promised an ambitious hardware expansion. It planned more partners than just Iomega and ViewSonic and eventually hoped to be a complete TV replacement.
“We would also like to see Boxee handle all the video on a TV with no need to switch inputs,” CEO Avner Ronen said.
The cash, is about four times the $6 million Boxee raised to get started, has also led to job recruiting that has given clues as to the company’s design strategy. A listing for a Senior User Experience Designer is looking both to steer the interface for the TV and the web but also tablets, pointing to plans for a direct tablet viewer. It’s not mentioned which platforms would be supported, although Boxee already has remote control apps for both Android and iOS.
