Samsung buys streaming video start-up Boxee for $30m

South Korean electronics giant Samsung has purchased Israeli and New York City streaming media start-up Boxee for $30 million, tech websites reported. Israeli sites, including The Marker and The Calcalist, confirmed the purchase although there were conflicting reports of the final purchase price, Tech Crunch reported Wednesday. Samsung confirmed the deal, saying in a statement it has "acquired key talent and assets from Boxee." The impending acquisition comes after the Tel Aviv start-up unveiled its latest hardware device last October, the Boxee Cloud DVR, with a focus on streaming over-the-air broadcast HD channels and recording the content in those transmissions. The adding of Boxee makes sense for Samsung, which manufacturers a number of connected devices, including smart TVs. "This will help us continue to improve the overall user experience across our connected devices," a Samsung spokeswoman said in the company's statement. The Samsung-Boxee joining will find itself in a highly competitive market, full of set-top box offerings, including those of cable and satellite TV companies that have their own DVR services.