Cell C's BlackBOX - Flash it or throw it in the bin

Hanno Labuschagne

Hanno Labuschagne

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Cell C's BlackBOX - Flash it or throw it in the bin

Cell C's set-top-box for its now-defunct Black streaming service is currently unusable, according to feedback from a former subscriber.

The operator announced it was discontinuing its streaming service at the end of 2019.

In addition to the Black streaming service, Cell C launched a set-top-box which it called the blackBOX.
 
These guys had a decent idea ... but whew, the implementation was terrible.

Firstly, why sell us extra hardware (an old R1.5k Android box) when it'd be far easier to create an app that runs on Android / Android TV / Smart TV ?
Secondly, the pricing and packages were just so complex! I had no idea what I subscribing to half the time - and then when I subscribed to everything to be able to watch, it was R500+ anyhow ?
Lastly - content quality (ie resolution / sound) wasn't on par to others that had the same title at either the same price or even cheaper.
 
Dolby said:
These guys had a decent idea ... but whew, the implementation was terrible.

Firstly, why sell us extra hardware (an old R1.5k Android box) when it'd be far easier to create an app that runs on Android / Android TV / Smart TV ?
Secondly, the pricing and packages were just so complex! I had no idea what I subscribing to half the time - and then when I subscribed to everything to be able to watch, it was R500+ anyhow ?
Lastly - content quality (ie resolution / sound) wasn't on par to others that had the same title at either the same price or even cheaper.
Click to expand...
I watched it for free through various Cell C cellphone contracts but even for free it was not the first video service I reached for when looking for entertainment. Maybe the idea was good, but the implementation was very poor.
 
So many tech savvy people on here, surely someone can figure it out and post a tutorial for the people that are stuck with this device?
 
So, the article does not answer the headline? Or did I miss it somewhere?

:unsure:
 
I do have a generic type of Android box, its build quality and everything else on the hardware is crap. Its lying in a drawer somewhere. These boxes is not even worth R1.5k.

I would say, to root the bloody thing?
Most of these cheapo boxes already have root.
After root, you can sideload APK's, launchers, etc. There's literally hundreds of these available for download. Download and install on your own discretion.

Unless CellC did request a whole custom build, removing all the extra components of the Android build, leaving only the CellC app, etc.

Can someone who owns one of these tell us if you can run or install other apps?
 
McT said:
So, the article does not answer the headline? Or did I miss it somewhere?

:unsure:
Click to expand...
Yes, the article does not answer the headline, because CellC and the type of Android boxes used.

Better than the Roku boxes becoming solid bricks after some company decided to terminate it's service in SA.
 
To think it was a free box and subsciption to black that made me take up a fibre package at Cell C.

Just wonder when will Cell C decide to discontinue fibre and I'm stuck again with a defunc router aswell:ROFL::ROFL::ROFL::ROFL:
 
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