Australians are pretty much spoilt for choice when it comes to recording television these days. While TiVo is essentially a non-player these days, the gap has been filled by the likes of the Foxtel iQ2, Fetch TV and the continual improvement of services like HbbTV.
But that hasn't stopped Australian company Seebo from trying to get in on the action by announcing the imminent release of the Seebo Maxx, a DVR with open source software for access to almost unlimited content from the web.
Powered by an Intel Atom Dual Core processor and an NVIDIA GeForce GT218 graphics card, the MAXX comes with 500GB of storage and a twin tuner for recording free to air TV.
But more importantly, it runs a forked version of XBMC, which will offer practically unlimited access to internet video and audio content, although that also opens up the door to accessing content of questionable origin.
Piracy made simple?
Seebo has made a point of not taking responsibility for the actions of any users accessing not-quite-legal content. It offered TechRadar this statement about its position on piracy:
"As with other technologies, including any computer, laptop, smart phone or tablet, Seebo enables consumers to access all types of online content. Seebo cannot control what is accessed over the Internet and therefore the responsibility for accessing legal content always lies with the user. Seebo Networks does not condone the viewing of illegal content via Seebo products.
"Seebo also takes necessary steps to make the consumer fully aware of their own responsibility. Upon first installing any Seebo product, Seebo provides consumers with warnings about illegal content and they cannot proceed past this step without accepting this warning. Such warnings are also included on packaging and marketing materials.
"While Seebo products, including the MAXX, enables consumers to access IPTV channels on the internet through an ISP, it is up to the user to act responsibly regarding what they access and how. Seebo Networks is not capable of monitoring what the user accesses via their own servers, nor can they restrict which websites are visited."
Only official IPTV channels will be pre-loaded onto the device at launch, but because it runs an open-source platform, it is incredibly easy to add any internet channel selection within a few button presses.
The Seebo Maxx will become available to purchase later this month with an RRP of $599.
