The Freebox 6 is awesome and you can’t have it

December 14, 2010 By Molly McHugh

A new European TV box embodies the phrase "all-in-one." And it's not available here.

Forget Apple TV, Roku, and Google TV – Freebox 6 puts them to shame. Freebox 6 is the product of Free, a thriving independent ISP in France and one of Europe’s most prestigious Internet companies, so the device has some legs to stand on. The box, which also goes by the alias “Revolution,” was revealed today in Paris and made its company the only one in the world to offer broadband Internet, television access, and full phone capabilities in one device.

So what exactly can Freebox 6 do? It’s easier to list what it can’t. You can access the Internet in its entirety as well as use your Internet TV (France doesn’t seem to have the same issues with cable providers as we do). There is access to the Freestore (an app store) for games to be played with motion-sensor controllers, and a built-in Blu-ray player that’s compatible with 3D TV. To top it all off, Freebox 6 comes with a 250GB hard drive and uses an Intel Atom 1.2 GHz processor. Not to mention that it’s all wrapped up in a sleek, touchscreen-capable, Lego-like body.

Free is gaining quite the following as well, and Business Insider likens its devotees to Apple fans. They’re even referred to as “Freenautes” in France. And the dedication seems pretty well-deserved. “It’s unprecedented, it looks like they took the best of what exists to make a single object,” says Airweb CEO Debbasch Xavier. The goal for the Revolution is to single-handedly replace the various electronic devices in our lives, and it could be well on its way.

Showing 21 comments

ced at 9:06pm 9th January 2011 :bauer:
ashitaka18 at 2:15pm 9th January 2011 :nerdbranl:
Sebcha at 2:12pm 19th December 2010 Eh NorskeDV, What is really funny in your list is that most of the functions you're listing can be developed on this new box ... Provided some hardware is made available ... The development kit is available, the Atom processor is powerful enough and the freestore is there to distribute these applications... Very similar to the Apple approach... This is, according to me ,why this is a true revolution for a set top box. Easy to use, at the center of the numerical home, with some imagination, it can be quite funny to discover what will be developed !
I4U at 2:30am 18th December 2010 Some other major capabilities will be activated in the next two years: probably a femtocell, it also seems there is a place for a second hard drive (for the hardware), but also new software developments: perhaps an extension of softwares to use the box/tv like a nettop? You can use this box in place of - a NAS (file server, download server, printer server) - a multimedia disk (upnp) - a DECT phone base - a bluray drive - a nettop (internet, mail client and few other services) - a connected tv - an internet radio - a game console It's a good deal, a great simplification (hardaware and software), a unique ease of use (one user interface). And you get also unlimited call not only to landline phones, but also to mobile one. It's really a rupture.
1. NorskeDiv at 9:22pm 18th December 2010 Also it will play old games through emulation, - It will have a RFID scanner to detect when you throw your groceries out and need more, - It will interface with your home thermostat and allow you to control it when out of the house. - It will remotely control your appliances and throttle them down when electricity prices are high. - It will support HD-DVDs as well - It will allow you to rip CDs and DVDs and watch them remotely from anywhere in the world. - It will inter-operate with Apple products and allow your iPad to remotely control your TV. - A battery backup which will allow it to run for weeks without power - Self aware Strong AI that greets you and has conversations with you - Remote voting in French elections, it will be fraud proof as well
  1. hcl at 4:29am 19th December 2010 Just a correction on your enumeration, it _already_ allows yo to control your TV/PVR through iOS, Android... On the V6, these mobile devices will also act as virtual keyboard, and will control the built-in nas/seedbox.
Mike at 1:21am 18th December 2010 The goal of this thread is not to say who got the biggest or so. The article underlined that this box tried to regroup what already exist on the market and to deliver this high technology box for a small price in order to target everyone. And to go a little bit further, This company R&D has already set a roadmap for the next 2 years by adding : Fem to cell audio/video central point (what you can find in the brand new yamaha video amplifier adventage device) and lot of things kept secret
blablabla at 6:47pm 17th December 2010 I am Franco/american and this box fit the french internet context,They have a really small fiber optic network [just starting...]It is more like a Modem/router/mini-media-server...using a Linux kernel and opensource software... and UPnP compatible[wifi/ethernet],Window XP does that long time ago and the IP provider in the US offer a bundle TV/Phone/Internet already,The French are new in the internet, since 10 years they have done good progress but lack the skill find in the US ,especialy with the Gamers,who can build a !000m/bits network easily....It seems to be a good price to have a Home network....They try to upgrade to the Mobil internet too....The internet speed is 28 m/bits[way too slow...] on a phone line and suppose to be the better service...? Must be a French revolution...only....
1. GWhy at 12:43am 18th December 2010 You're really a Blablabla guy... I'm French and I travel often in US for my job..... and when I look of what kind of internet service is avalaible in USA and at what price, I cannot believe it ... My america collegues are awesome when they compare USA and French! France is perhaps 'NEW' in internet but the first company for IPTV in the world is FREE this small french company ... the 2nd is a chinese ... American are behind yet your have a 5 bigger market ... So France don't have to shy on internet at home....at the opposite, you can take lessons! I agree that the Fiber network is now very small , but the game as start to changae and will dramatically change in the 2 next years . So all the existing servicesfor 35€/months on ADSL will becomes available for the same price at 100Mbps (minimum) in upload&download. Stop Trolling and be honest ... you're jaleous!!
  1. NorskeDiv at 4:33pm 18th December 2010 The US has more fiber connections than France, and is adding fiber connections at a faster pace than France. Verizon FIOS (fiber internet), by itself (one company) is available in at least 15 million households, in France that would be at least half the households. Now, the price sounds like it's a bit better if this really is all for 30 Euros a month, FIOS triple play costs $69.99. If they really are only charging $30, that may explain why so few people have it. They could hardly be making money. But I guess it's good propaganda for France, since everyone else assumes it's widely available and France a technology paradise, when in fact this device isn't even available yet and far fewer people in France have Fiber and the average connection speed in aggregate is even slower than the US.
    NorskeDiv at 8:35pm 18th December 2010 Correction, France actually does have a higher average throughput. But still fewer people in France have fiber connections and they are adding them at a slower rate.
    
    Goof at 7:46am 20th December 2010 The relatively slow start of Internet in France is in part due to some devices that was already used before. In France the Minitel was used since 1982 to gain access to "teleservices" such as phone directory and more (see on wikipedia for more). France had a "online" culture since more time than you think. The huge fog around the fiber had been flushed by the regulator and that should lead to a real start of the fiber deployment. a small view of the fiber market in France (for the average peoples not for professionals) http://www.compare-fibre.com/offres.php (in French of course) most of them are around 30 euros and some of them are even lower (I guess not exactly for the same services.) If they are selling Internet connexions at those price, they must not loose money. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel
Rob1again at 7:37pm 15th December 2010 im an american and im fascinated by the talk of your new machines,could someone post who has one and what are the capabilities...btw congrats on having ten times better internet connections than we do..lolz. cheers
Karim at 10:49am 15th December 2010 sorry it's for us :D
Damien at 4:07am 15th December 2010 Yes I can get it. I live in France and already asked for the exchange of my old freebox, to this one :p
JamesIsStupid at 9:16pm 14th December 2010 James, have you used it? Oh, you haven't? Oh you're just some retard trolling boards. Oh, ok then.
MrC at 5:34pm 14th December 2010 read this: http://tiny.cc/freebox_pdf You will get more information about this new product
MrC at 5:29pm 14th December 2010 ip TV, Internet on TV, remote with move sensor, NAS, blu-ray, ... Have you already tested this "Freebox 6" ?
1. Will at 2:30am 18th December 2010 Hi there MrC, no one can test the new freebox 6 as it won't start being delivered before the 3rd of January. There will probably be a few "bugs" at the beginning but, hopefully, nothing really annoying. There seems to be a large demand from those of us who already have the V5 and who want to migrate to the v6, me being one of them.
James at 3:39pm 14th December 2010 lol what a piece of shiit. Boxee is better than this.
1. testman at 1:12am 15th December 2010 Well, 29.90€ for : unlimited call to 103 countried included unlimited call to mobile phone in France and US, multiple replay channels ... running on a gigabit fiber, plus tons of geeky features (IPv6, reverse DNS, gigabit switch, NAS...). This is what I got at home. Please, be serious and tell me what is your ISP offering and for which price. So we can have a real discuss instead of trolls ;-)