As disappointed as I was in the Boxee TV during my review, it’s still hooked up to my HDTV in the hopes it will eventually get better.

Today, Boxee announced that it’s rolling out a major new update, and it looks like this upgrade addresses many of my initial issues. You can now schedule and manage cloud DVR recordings right from the Boxee TV (previously it required that you log onto a website with your phone or tablet), play back files from DLNA servers on your network, and resume playback from DVR recordings.

The update also includes a number of bug fixes, which hopefully means I won’t have to rely as much on Boxee TV’s hand reset button.

In my brief testing of the update this morning, I was able to start recording an episode of a show while watching it, and I also scheduled a recording for a show airing later directly from Boxee TV’s on-screen guide. While it’s nice to have the flexibility to choose and manage recordings on the device now, Boxee TV’s cloud DVR feature is still lacking when it comes to basic DVR features.

You can’t pause or rewind live TV, and you also can’t immediately access a recording until it’s processed by Boxee’s servers. Basic DVR features are complicated by the way Boxee TV handles recordings — instead of storing them locally on the device, it sends them directly to its servers. That allows the company to offer “unlimited DVR” capabilities with no storage limits, but it makes working with recordings far more difficult.

I didn’t have a chance to test out the DLNA streaming feature, but that should be a nice addition for Boxee’s existing fans. It lets the Boxee TV play back videos, music, and photos from DLNA servers on PCs. It’s not something average users will likely deal with, but for the techie crowd that felt slighted by the Boxee TV’s lack of hardcore media streaming features, it’s a nice addition.

I’ve only had about an hour to test the update, but I’m hoping it fixes the shocking instability issues I noticed with the Boxee TV. I’ve often had to reset the device several times during viewing sessions over the past few months, which was surprising for a device that’s been in stores since last November.

European telecom carrier Orange has teamed up with Movea to create a set-top box for the living room that operates on gesture controls.

The set-top will use Grenoble, France-based Movea’s motion-sensing and processing technologies to enable TV watchers to control their television choices with hand gestures. They’ll also be able to play motion-sensing games and navigate through a user interface with the twist of a wrist.

The new Orange Livebox set-top uses Movea’s SmartMotion Server, a motion-processing engine. The box will ship with a special remote control that works much the way that a Wii game console remote does.

“With the rapid evolution of smart TVs and smart-home systems, we see the demand for more intelligent home entertainment devices and natural user interfaces,” said Jean-Bernard Willem, head of content marketing for Orange France.

For Orange, the set-top is a way to control lots of things in the home beyond TV shows. You can use hand gestures to control volume, web browsing, and gamepads or joysticks as well as to navigate through music, video, and photos.

The SmartMotion Server works with 10 different gestures. You can make a “check” gesture to select an item and an “X” gesture to close an app.

“Movea and Orange are leading the charge in responding to consumers’ increasing appetite for a more powerful and intuitive home theater experience,” said Sam Guilaumé, chief executive of Movea.

Movea’s SmartMotion Server is platform agnostic, while Orange’s Livebox Play TV service delivers new sources of revenue, such as video on demand and TV apps. Orange’s Livebox set-top box with remote control is now available for preorder and will be ready for purchase in February.

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Surprise, surprise: Negotiations with content providers are significantly delaying Intel’s plans to take over your living room, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sources tell the WSJ that Intel originally planned to launch a television set-top box, which will reportedly allow consumers to subscribe to television channels over the web by the end of 2012. But now the timing is up in the air. Intel could either end up debuting it in the middle of this year or in the fourth quarter, due to prolonged content deals, the sources say.

Rumors of Intel stepping into the TV set-top box business have been around since last March, following the company’s move away from providing chipsets for Google TV devices and the geek-friendly Boxee Box. Last week we heard that Intel may debut its set-top box at CES next week, but now that doesn’t seem very likely.

Content deals have typically squashed attempts at revolutionizing the living room. Google TV had plenty of potential at launch with its ability to combine traditional TV service with web video, but broadcast networks were quick to block GTV devices from their websites and Hulu (which is owned by several networks). There’s still no official Hulu app for Google TV (or for devices from Boxee). Even Apple has dealt with content issues — it took forever for the Apple TV to get a Hulu app, and it’s likely a big reason why there aren’t more apps available on the Apple TV.

Apple reportedly plans to build a new device that replaces its current Apple TV and blends live and on-demand content. The Wall Street Journal, following up on a report yesterday, said today that the new set-top box from the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant will simplify how we access and view TV content.

Apple is in talks with cable companies to allow consumers to use Apple TV as their main set-top box and use it to view TV shows stored on the Internet. One cool feature is reportedly similar to Time Warner Cable’s Start Over. It will allow someone to start watching a show from the beginning, even if it has just begun playing at its scheduled time.

The device is expected to have a user interface resembling the navigation icons on Apple’s iPad. That design is subject to change, but the interface is expected to be easier to use than current cable TV user interfaces. Users will be able to share TV shows through services like Twitter. And Apple wants users to be able to access shows from iPhones or iPads. Apple declined comment on the matter to the Wall Street Journal.

It is reportedly in talks with Time Warner Cable as well as other entertainment companies that own their own TV content. That’s because entertainment companies may have to extend additional rights to enable Apple to deploy its box. Apple has had trouble getting those rights so far. The set-top box is part of Apple’s plan to succeed in the living room and make its Apple TV product into more than a hobbyist’s curiosity. Apple’s sales of Apple TV have been weak to date, at least in comparison to its iPhones and iPad sales. Any deal with the cable companies will be hard to achieve because of the fear that Apple would dominate the industry in the future.

Today, Google announced its slick-looking media streamer the Nexus Q, which allows people to share the digital media from their Android devices on a television. This is a feature that Apple began offering nearly a year ago via the Apple TV, but for some reason Google thought it would be a great idea to create an entire device for it that only works with Android-based smartphones and tablets.

I suspect this will prove to be an awful decision on Google’s part for a number of reasons.

First of all, a number of competitors already offer this streaming functionality — and as a complimentary feature. The Apple TV’s Airplay enables TV screen sharing in addition to its support for several third-party media services like Netflix, YouTube, Vimeo, MLB, NHL, and more. And with the purchase of cloud-media startup mSpot, Samsung is also planning to offer this kind of functionality on all its devices, complete with a Google Play-like digital media store. It’s worth noting that Samsung is also one of the most popular sellers of Android-based mobile devices. All that said, plenty of other platforms/devices offer far more than the Nexus Q.

Secondly, Google already has a streaming media platform in Google TV, which it’s fighting hard to gain support for among both consumers and developers. The Nexus Q’s functionality should have been a complimentary feature on the Google TV platform, which would make it more competitive with Apple TV. As it stands, Google TV doesn’t allow for this kind of screen-sharing “Airplay-like” functionality.

And finally, I don’t see the majority of people running out to spend $300 on a TRON-like Poké Ball for digital media — especially when cheaper alternatives exist. The Apple TV, like the Nexus Q, requires the use of mobile devices on its platform to enable the Airplay feature. However, the Apple TV is also $200 less expensive. For the more tech-savvy bunch, you can spend even less to get the Nexus Q’s functionality. A Roku LT costs just $49 and has support for digital streaming service Plex.

I’m not saying that the Nexus Q is worthless, because it’s obviously not. Being able to share the digital media on my mobile devices via television — while others are doing the same — is a pretty cool concept. And the design is actually really awesome. I’m assuming Google went with a sphere-shape for the Nexus Q to keep its Google TV hardware partners from getting nervous. But instead, those same partners are probably wondering why Google is holding out on them by not giving Google TV “Airplay-like” functionality.

Regardless of how the Nexus Q fares in the market, Google is unlikely to abandon its plans anytime soon. We first heard rumblings of a Google-branded streaming box back in February, thanks to a FCC document Google filed. The device was expected to be specific to music and audio streaming at the time, but clearly the company’s ambitions were much higher.

It’s unknown if Google will allow its Nexus Q to also stream/screen-share with Android apps or other third-party services on Android-based devices. Currently, the Nexus Q only offers support for Google Play media. I’m guessing that probably won’t change, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Will you be buying a Nexus Q when it goes on sale? Let us know in the comments.

The tiny startup Whiteman Technology unveiled a Windows-based set-top box that will handle many living room entertainment tasks, which are various enough to include displaying cable TV programming and playing 3D games for the PC.

The Clovis, N.M.-based startup made the announcement of the all-in-one Delta digital video recorder (DVR) device today at the DEMO Spring 2012 conference in Santa Clara, Calif. The company is trying to take advantage of a lull in the launch of high-end consumer electronics equipment. Companies such as Microsoft and Sony have delayed the launch of new video game systems, leaving an opening for the firm, said Ryan Whiteman, president and co-founder, in an interview with VentureBeat. The idea is to consolidate multiple boxes into just one.

Whiteman Technology at DEMO

“We can handle the recording of six channels at the same time,” Whiteman said.

The Whiteman Technology box will be able to handle cable card programming and store a whole entertainment collection on a three-terabyte hard drive. It will have the hardware to handle advanced 3D gaming and plenty of space to store pictures, music, movies, and videos. It could use both voice control and gesture recognition for input.

It may not be easy for the company to pull off. Whiteman acknowledges that it is tough starting a company in a small town in New Mexico. And with only five employees, the self-funded Whiteman Technology could have its hands full if the product takes off.

“We’ve taken people off guard with a hardware startup,” Whiteman said. “We have gotten a lot of attention, and we intend to build this in the U.S.”

The device will have a Blu-ray playback drive, and it will be able to run Android apps via the Blue Stacks emulator software.

Whiteman hasn’t set the price yet, but it will be comparable to Tivo-like DVRs. He said it will use a new multicore accelerated processing unit (APU) from Advanced Micro Devices, which can put a microprocessor and graphics chip together on the same integrated circuit. It will run the Windows 7 embedded operating system from Microsoft, and it will have the Windows Media Center user interface. Over time, it could be upgraded to use Windows 8. Whiteman hopes to launch the product in the fourth quarter.

Rivals include Sony, Microsoft, Ceton, Dell, Scientific Atlanta, Tivo, and Motorola.

Whiteman came up with the idea in 2008 and started the firm last year with co-founders Blake Jordan and Shaffin Baldwin. Whiteman was previously a contractor for the Air Force and spent five years in the U.S. Navy.

Whiteman Technology is one of 80 companies chosen by VentureBeat to launch at the DEMO Spring 2012 event taking place this week in Silicon Valley. After we make our selections, the chosen companies pay a fee to present. Our coverage of them remains objective.

Apple may be deeper into the television project than we thought, as the company is reportedly visiting media companies to share its technology plans.

Since Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs was released, people have been buzzing about what the late Apple chief executive suggested was Apple’s next adventure: televisions. Many have speculated what an Apple television could be like. Former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassée sees it as another box, supporting applications, a function that has recreated how people use mobile phones. Others envision classic Apple designs, product marketing, and being told what they want without ever knowing they wanted it.

Today, however, the Wall Street Journal reported that the television’s features may already be in the works. According to the Journal’s sources, Apple is visiting media companies in a sort of technology pitch roadshow. These companies want to know about Apple’s plans, which are generally kept extremely confidential, in order to know whether the TV venture is worth joining.

So what are the features that may be in the television, according to these sources?

Voice controlled channel surfing may be the answer to every remote-loser’s prayers. The feature sounds similar to what the Xbox Kinect can currently do — read your motions to determine actions. This, plus voice response technology may be integrated into Apple’s TV of the future, though the company has reportedly said this function would take a lot of developing and time.

Streaming sync would serve the tv-watcher on the go. Ever been walking out the door when suddenly Luke finds Laura has come out of her delusional state and wants to come home to raise Lu Lu (any General Hospital lovers in the audience)? With Apple’s television, you wouldn’t have have to miss a single soap opera second, as your streaming show would sync between devices. Turn off the TV, the show would be waiting for you on your iPad where you left off, according to sources.

Compatibility with your existing Apple products. Having the new Apple-made television may not make the current Apple TV device superfluous. Instead, it may actually use the set top box, which competes in the realm of Roku boxes, for streaming Netflix, YouTube and connecting you to your other content in the cloud.

Apple mobile device control further pushes Apple’s reported television from the remote control. According to the Journal’s sources, Steve Jobs wanted a television that could be linked to his existing mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad, perhaps even the iPod touch. According to the Journal, this could potentially be executed by connecting the TV and those devices using AirPlay, Apple’s wireless technology, which already connects many of its products.

Streaming media from mobile devices directly to the television, would remove the set top box from the quation. This feature would allow anyone watching a YouTube video, listening to a song, or watching a movie to transfer that viewing experience from one screen to the next without having to route it through a box, such as the Apple TV.

DVR storage within iCloud tops off the potential features list. Using this feature, you would not have to download rented or purchased movies more than once to view them on different devices.

Some have wondered if Apple will include Siri in its television plans, perhaps as a way to understand your voice, aiding the first reported feature. In order to make these plans come to fruition, however, Apple will need to convince media companies to jump on board, and if we’ve learned anything from iTunes, that will take a lot of effort.

Hat tip the Wall Street Journal

The Slingplayer is an extension of the company’s Slingbox set-top box, which allows owners to stream content from their cable or satellite television service providers to a variety of platforms. The Slingplayer is currently available via the web, Android devices, iOS devices and Facebook.

Essentially, pairing your Slingbox with Boxee gives you the ability to watch cable through your Boxee Box. Yet, to do that it’ll cost you quite a bit of money. The Slingboxes cost between $179 and $349 and require some kind of cable or satellite monthly service ($50 to $200), while the Boxee Box runs $179. (Although, you can run the Boxee software on a computer for free.) With that said, I’m wondering how many people actually own both set-top devices.

Another thing that strikes me as odd about this announcement is that Boxee users typically don’t like paying for a cable subscription. As we recently reported, Boxee’s CEO points this out in a recent blog post introducing the company’s new Live TV stick.

Still, there’s something to be said for making sure your service is supported on a large number of platforms, which is a strategy that has served Netflix well. In that regard, putting the Slingplayer on the Boxee does make sense. However, I am surprised that the company produced a Boxee app prior to launching one for the Google TV platform, which — unlike Boxee — is intended to complement existing cable services.

Roku

The company’s set-top boxes, which range in price from $49-$99, allow people to access over 350 channels of content from video, music, social and gaming services. The move makes sense for Roku since its largest media partner, Netflix, is already available in Canada and will soon launch in the U.K.

Netflix has been an integral part of Roku’s success since launching in 2008. The partnership helped Roku sell over a million set-top boxes last year. The latest version of Roku’s boxes even feature a Netflix button on the remote. It’s no wonder that the company has waited until now to enter into international markets.

However, many of the other media partners are region specific due to legal issues around streaming video content internationally. This means they won’t necessarily be available in other countries. For instance, Hulu Plus, which offers a variety of ad-supported premium TV content, won’t be crossing the border when Roku debuts in the new markets. It’ll be interesting to see who Roku is able to forge partnerships with when it launches internationally.

Roku is scheduled to begin selling its line of set-boxes in both countries in early 2012, according to the company.

The Live TV stick, which will be available in January 2012 for $49, is basically a high-powered HD antenna that provides Boxee Box owners with local channels like ABC, CBS, Fox, CW and NBC with no monthly fee. Of course, the HD signal has always been free for people in the U.S., but until now there’s never been a compelling reason for many to take advantage of it.

Boxee is betting that the combination of free basic live TV channels with videos from services such as YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, Vimeo and others will be enough for many people to end their expensive cable subscriptions (a.k.a. cut the cord). It’s likely to work, too.

One of the main reasons people hesitate killing their cable subscriptions, which can reach over $100 in fees each month, is the lack of availability of local programming, live sports and big events like the Oscars and presidential debates. And as the company points out, 89 of the top 100 shows were on broadcast networks last year.

In a new blog post, Boxee CEO Avner Ronen makes a compelling case for why cord cutting is soon to be on the rise. While listening to “Uprising” by the Muse, he writes:

“Cable companies keep telling the press and investors that cord cutting is not real, and that if it exists then it’s limited to people who can no longer afford cable. We are sure they are conducting objective and unbiased research, but we are meeting more and more ‘cord never getters’ and ‘cord cutters’ every day. They are more than just people tightening their belts in tough economic times, these are people who have left cable TV behind because it does not fit their lifestyle. They are part of a changing culture, with a changing expectation of how they watch the shows they love. The cord cutters we talk to have changed the way they watch TV. They don’t sit in front of it and channel surf hoping to land on something to watch, they don’t know when shows air, they sometimes don’t even know what channel shows are on. They love TV, but not necessarily on an actual TV. The only time they tune into a channel is to watch something live.”

The news that the Live TV stick will essentially be an HD antenna resolves earlier speculation that the add-on would be complementary to cable services like Comcast, Dish Network and DirecTV. GigaOM, which got its hands on a new Boxee software update that included support for live TV, was unable to connect, and now we know why.

One thing the new Live TV stick won’t do is turn the Boxee Box into a DVR. Yet, the company said it’s willing to add support for recording shows via the USB connection if enough people ask for it.

It also can’t compensate for areas in the country with poor HDTV signal strength. However, you can subscribe to a basic cable service (ranges from $13-$20) and connect the coaxial cable to the stick for the same experience.

The Live TV stick only works with the Boxee Box — meaning anyone who uses the Boxee Software on a computer or dedicated media box is out of luck. Right now the company is only supporting Live TV in U.S. and Canada, but additional countries could gain support in the future.

Will Boxee’s new Live TV stick make you cut the cord?

Microsoft first announced that a live TV service would be coming to the Xbox at E3 in June, but the company didn’t offer up many details. Of the information it did share about the service, it sounded a lot like a direct partnership between cable TV providers. Microsoft said the live TV service, which is expected to be available this fall, would have access to local channels, sports and more.

The market for set-top boxes has definitely grown in the past few years. Popular boxes like Roku, Boxee, Apple TV and various Google TV enabled devices are currently dominating the market. Yet, none of those options come close to the kind of value that an Xbox offers its customers.

Making the Xbox a viable set-top box would be an excellent move for Microsoft. Not only does the console itself compare in price to other options ($149- $199 for an Xbox verses $60-$199 for others), but it also brings the company’s other services into clear view in a way that wasn’t possible before.

The Boxee iPad app could easily become one of the most essential tools for people who have ditched their cable subscriptions in favor of watching streaming video on the internet.

“We really look at this as a way to introduce a bunch of new users to Boxee,” said Boxee Vice President of Marketing Andrew Kippen. “We wanted to create something that worked on its own and wasn’t necessarily tied to Boxee on your computer or a Boxee Box.”

When paired with the company’s Media Manager, the app lets you stream videos from a computer to the iPad over WiFi in almost any video format. You can also bookmark videos to watch later using a new bookmarklet and connect with social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

The app can be especially useful for anyone who owns a Boxee Box set-top device. The Boxee software optimizes the experience of watching streaming videos from a large screen television while also allowing people to communicate with friends through social networks.

The iPad is intended to enhance that “media center” experience, according to Kippen.

Unfortunately, not all of the Boxee apps (Netflix, Vudu) are available on the iPad.

“We’re working within the confines of a system that doesn’t have Flash, Kippen said, adding that the only way to make a service like Netflix work would be to utilize its official iOS application. “It gets to be a little bit awkward sending people outside to separate apps… which is why we tend to focus on the more social elements and the watching videos later (queue).”

The company also announced a new firmware update for its Boxee Box that will be available to all users by the end of the week. The update, which will roll out over the next few days, has several notable additions, including:

• Filtering premium sources in the library such as Vudu, HBO Go, etc
• New “Featured Apps” section
• Updated App categories
• NFS and AFP support (and improved SMB/CIFS support)
• Improved HTML5 support in the browser
• Support for OS X Lion as a source for video files
• Option to receive “Beta Releases” of the firmware

Apple quietly released an update Monday for its second generation Apple TV set-top box that lets you purchase videos directly from the device and stream videos that you previously purchased through iTunes.

The new functionality is no doubt part of the company’s overall initiative to push all media to its new iCloud storage service. It’s also probably Apple’s most significant addition to the Apple TV since it released the second generation device.

Prior to Monday’s update, Apple TV users were only able to purchase rentals of TV shows and movies streamed from the company’s servers to the device. This is because the current version of the device lacked the available data storage capacity to retain a larger (or even small, to be honest) video library.

With the iCloud service slated to launch publicly this fall, Apple can finally grant customers access to their media libraries without having them bear the burden of storage.

The software update also adds access to the library of video content from Vimeo. It joins previously available services like YouTube, Netflix and Flickr.

Vimeo spent almost a year designing an app specifically for the Apple TV, according to vice president of product and development Andrew Pile.

“Apple reached out to us… and we were more than happy to put in the time to create a Vimeo app for the Apple TV that provided a complete experience,” Pile told VentureBeat.

One of the most notable features of the Vimeo app is its “Watch Later” channel, Pile said. When people come across a short film or sketch clip they’d like to save for later, they can click a button on the video player that will push it to the “watch later” playlist.

“I think a lot of the content on Vimeo is best viewed on a larger screen. So, this is an easy way to make that happen,” Pile explained.

It’s worth noting that YouTube also has this feature, but sadly the company’s Apple TV app doesn’t provide access to the “watch later” playlist (or any other playlist for that matter).

The DVR set-top boxes can consume as much as 446 kilowatt-hours a year. The boxes are typically running because they are recording television shows while the owner is away from their home. There is at least one set-top box for every two television owners, according to the study.

An average home in the United States consumes around 10,896 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. That means that the set-top box, which sits inconspicuously on top of most televisions without generating any noise, accounts for around 4 percent of an average U.S. resident’s electricity consumption. The device is usually running full steam, even though it is left unused around 66 percent of the time, according to the report.

That idle time costs consumers around $2 billion every year, according to the report.

More energy-efficient options are available, although not from U.S. manufacturers, according to the report. A U.K. manufacturer has created a set-top box that powers down into sleep mode — reducing its electricity consumption by half — when the device is not in use. The device powers up briefly every half hour to check if the owner has requested a new show to record through a smartphone, and then powers back down if it doesn’t have to record anything.

The report also suggests that manufacturers create more intelligent ways to program and use the set-top boxes — such as using smartphones to manage the devices instead of leaving them on all the time. It would tie set-top boxes into the “smart grid” — an electrical power grid that is managed by advanced computer algorithms to promote better energy efficiency and reduce electricity waste.

The report indicates that Energy Star, a government-backed program that encourages manufacturers to create energy-efficient appliances, should drop the hammer on cable companies that are distributing the set-top boxes. The next phase of the program, Energy Star 4.0, will have much stricter standards for energy efficiency.

The company says it will offer all three current Angry Birds games (the original, Rio and Seasons) on a new product this summer, launch an Angry Birds video channel, and sell merchandise for the series via its store channel. Roku is also looking at the partnership as the first step towards offering other popular casual games on its devices.

Roku is still being cagey about the casual gaming plans for its current and older generation players — the big problem there being that Roku’s current remote control isn’t suited to game playing at all. There also aren’t any details about the company’s next-generation player plans, but you can expect at least one model to come with some sort of gaming controller.

Rovio previously announced that it will be bringing Angry Birds to game consoles, and it’s already available on the PSP (in a version that’s also playable on the PS3). But Roku is promoting the fact that it’s delivering the first true Angry Birds TV experience.

We’ll be exploring the most disruptive game technologies and business models at our third annual GamesBeat 2011 conference, on July 12-13 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. It will focus on the disruptive trends in the mobile games market. GamesBeat is co-located with our MobileBeat 2011 conference this year. To register, click on this link. Sponsors can message us at sponsors@venturebeat.com. To participate in our Who’s Got Game? contest for the best game startup, click on this link.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Boxee started out with software that users could download to their computers, then connect those computers to their TVs to watch online video. But the long-term goal was always to make the service available on set-top boxes and other devices for your TV. The company describes the Boxee Box (which is manufactured by D-Link) as “the one box your TV needs” — and now that it supports Netflix, that claim has a little more weight.

A company spokesman said Boxee plans to use the new funding to grow the product development team, to add more content, and to sign up more partners to create Boxee devices. As a measure of how the company has expanded since Boxee last raised money in 2009, the company said it has gone from 12 to 34 employees, and that its software has gone from a super-early alpha test to version 1.0. Boxee now has 1.6 million users overall.

Back after that last round, I wondered if Boxee was a little ahead of its time, and if the demand for Web content on TVs just wasn’t there yet. Founder and chief executive Avner Ronen told me that a generation gap was developing, with younger viewers seeing the Internet as the center of their entertainment. That seems to have been borne out in the last year, with lots of big players jumping on this trend, with the launch of the Google TV and a revamp of the Apple TV.

So how can Boxee avoid getting squashed by the competition? Well, the company’s website lists a number of selling points over Apple TV, including content beyond iTunes, higher-resolution HD, and the ability to play most file formats. Ronen has also said that he sees Google TV as complementary to Boxee.

The funding comes from new investors Pitango and Softbank, as well as existing backers General Catalyst, Spark Capital, and Union Square Ventures. Boxee has now raised a total of $26.5 million in funding.

Netflix support was the most common user request for the Boxee Box, the company said, and for good reason. The feature wasn’t available when the Box started shipping in November — at the time Boxee said that it would be available by the end of 2010. Obviously, it missed that deadline, and it also missed another deadline it set for the end of January when support for Vudu video rentals was added.

With Netflix and Vudu support, the Boxee Box now has a bigger selection of streaming video content than when it launched — but it may be too little too late to make it a viable competitor against Roku’s streaming boxes, the Apple TV, or even Google TV. Boxee actually had Netflix support up and running during the Consumer Electronics Show early last month, but the company apparently had a tough time ironing out the bugs.

Even though Boxee first announced the Box — which is built by D-Link — in December of 2009, it didn’t make its way to users until almost a year later. Hardware issues, including a switch from Nvidia’s Tegra chip to Intel’s Atom, likely led to the delayed release.

To get access to the Netflix feature on the Boxee Box, you’ll either need to manually update via the Settings menu, or wait for the automatic update to land within the next 24 hours.

The service utilizes a next-generation set-top box that can deliver web video alongside traditional TV programming and digital video recorder (DVR) functionality, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. It’s currently in limited testing in Augusta, GA and is known to participants as “Spectrum” (internally, Comcast is calling it “Xcalibur”).

Whatever it ends up being called, the service is an attempt by Comcast to fight off other companies that pose a threat to its cable hegemony with products like Google TV, Roku’s set-top boxes and Apple TV. The service won’t allow Comcast customers to browse the web freely, and it’s still unclear what sort of web content they’ll have access to. Comcast still hasn’t decided if it will launch the service officially, or what sort of pricing model it would pursue.

Competitors like Direct TV, Verizon and AT&T already offer web-enabled boxes in multiple forms.

Over the past two quarters, cable subscriptions fell for the first time since the technology was introduced, falling by about 335,000 households from 100 million, the WSJ reports based on data from the research company SNL Kagan. Cable companies believe those users are mostly opting for free over-the-air programming instead of moving entirely to online video (I ended up doing the same thing when I dumped cable years ago).

Comcast, the largest paid TV provider in the US, lost around 275,000 subscribers (out of around 23 million) in the third quarter of this year. The new service has been in the works for over a year, the WSJ reports, and is being spearheaded by Sam Schwartz, a senior executive who previously ran the company’s investing arm, Comcast Interactive Capital.

With the service, we can also expect a more modern user interface from Comcast. The WSJ writes: “A menu displays a strip of images representing recently watched channels and programs, which expand when selected. A redesigned ‘guide’ displays a cleaner grid of programs by network and airtime so that it’s possible to watch TV on part of the screen while browsing.”

Comcast recently launched its Xfinity services to symbolize its move to an all digital network. With Xfinity, Comcast users can get access to cable TV content on their computers, and it will eventually make its way to the iPad and other tablets.

It sounds like Comcast specifically has Google TV in its sights, as it also offers similar integration between web and TV content. But given that Comcast’s business is entirely centered around making its users pay for TV content, whereas Google is less concerned about the survival of paid TV plans (it just wants a new platform for ads), it doesn’t seem like Comcast will ever wholeheartedly support web content.

Photo via Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Get your iPads ready to kick back on the couch. Motorola intends to bring streaming video to tablets and mobile phones in the home via a set-top box, according to Reuters.

At first, the idea is to provide streaming video (movies, TV programs) to devices within a wireless network at home, but eventually Motorola wants to enable its customers to watch any content, anywhere.

Reuters organized the Global Media Summit event on Wednesday where Motorola unveiled the product. The biggest obstacle to the product is not the technology, but the deals Motorola has to work out with content providers to allow users walk around with copyrighted programming in their pockets. This is the reason why the still-unnamed Motorola product will at first be restricted to streaming video within the home.

But legal technicalities will not confine on-demand video in mobile devices to just the home, says Motorola.

According to the president of Motorola Mobility, Daniel Moloney, streaming video will make its way to mobile devices due to consumer demand—in fact, he said it is a “consumer proposition that will come sooner rather than later.”

Offering only a glimpse for now, Motorola will showcase the product in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The product will be released as a separate device that service providers will offer to their customers—to possibly serve as an incentive for consumers to stay with a certain service provider—but eventually it will be integrated in set-top boxes.

It seems that Motorola is only just jumping on board, though: There already is the Slingbox which allows users to watch TV shows streamed from their set-top boxes to a computer or mobile device wherever they are, not just at home. And there’s the bigger question for streaming video from set-top boxes — is there really a need for it? After all, you can just opt to use a service like Hulu or Netflix and watch your favorite TV programs online whenever, wherever.

The box will come bundled with a controller that looks like a typical computer keyboard with media controls. Logitech showed the product off at media events in New York and San Francisco today. It certainly felt thin and light in my hands, but its size may turn off many consumers. Luckily, Logitech also developed a smaller keyboard it’s calling the mini controller which is far more compact.

The keyboards will use the same technology used in Logitech’s Harmony universal remotes. Both keyboards will also functional as universal remotes. For example, they will be able to control the volume on your stereo receiver, or other television functions.

Logitech will be releasing Revue apps for both iPhone and Android phones that will let users control the set-top box. Users will be able to perform voice searches for content, and also push certain media like YouTube videos to the Revue box. Both of these features were demonstrated when Google first announced Google TV.

Logitech reps also showed off the TV Cam — a $149.99 high-definition webcam that takes advantage of Logitech’s Vid HD video conferencing software. The software is built into the Revue box and can communicate with Vid HD software on Macs and PCs. Consumers will be able to digitally zoom during a video call and pan the camera left or right digitally. When asked if Logitech’s recent line of HD webcams for computers would work on the Revue, the rep said they won’t “at the moment.” The TV Cam apparently features hardware compression, something that Logitech’s computer webcams don’t offer yet.

Surprisingly, Logitech brought out a Dish Network representative to promote the Revue’s Dish integration. Previously, it was assumed that Dish will integrate Google TV directly into its satellite receivers. That may still happen, but for now the Revue is Dish’s ticket to Google TV. The Revue will be able to communicate with Dish’s programming guide and DVR. The Dish rep also mentioned that Sony’s Google TV sets won’t be able to take advantage of Dish DVRs yet. [Update: Google says Sony Google TVs will integrate into Dish's DVR just fine.]

The Revue box will be available for pre-order today for $299.99 (Dish subscribers can snag it for $179) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Logitech’s websites. Logitech expects the device to be on store shelves, and ready for shipment, by the end of the month. The mini-controller will retail for $129.99, and Logitech will also make the bundled keyboard available separately for $99.99.

And GameTree TV runs on the set-top box, allowing you to download games to your box and play them on your TV set. The fact that it runs on a next-generation set-top box, with a 1.5-gigahertz processor and a PowerVR graphics capability, means that you will be able to play some pretty cool casual games. Lewin showed you could play a game such as PopCap’s Plants vs. Zombies or World of Goo. These games are like snacks for the family to play before they watch a movie. You could rent or buy the games as you like. It’s a lot like the Netflix video streaming service offered on a wide variety of set-top boxes.

Lewin showed off the user interface for the service. It is intuitive. You can use a wireless remote control to navigate through the selections of games and then play them with the remote control.The control is a lot like a wireless computer mouse, allowing you to maneuver a cursor on screen. Transgaming has a software development kit that will let publishers bring their PC games to the TV.

Transgaming is licensing the GameTree TV digital game download service to entertainment providers such as cable TV companies or telephone companies, who can offer it as one more service above and beyond music and movie services. Lewin said the company has a European customer but can’t say who it is yet. Intel, which invested in Transgaming, is introducing the company to distributors. There are 30 or so games launching this fall and 50 in the near future. If Transgaming can sell lots of games for low prices, then it could be one more force disrupting the console game business. But keep in mind that this is just one of many different kinds of “smart TVs” that are emerging in the new future. Rivals range from Samsung to Boxee. Check out our video below.

Getting content noticed is a challenge for everyone making apps. We’ll cover the topic at DiscoveryBeat 2010. Startups and big companies alike should consider entering our Needle in the Haystack discovery business idea competition. Early bird discounts are available until September 22. Sponsors can contact us at sponsors@venturebeat.com. To buy tickets, click on this link.

To refresh, Boxee debuted the set-top box last year, and it instantly became hotly anticipated among media addicts. The company has been working on software that lets users bring Web video content to their televisions for the past few years, but thus far it has required extensive set up on a computer or Apple TV. The Boxee Box would be an easy plug-and-play way for consumers to bring Boxee’s software to their living rooms.

By ordering through Amazon, US Boxee fans will receive their Box before it’s available anywhere else. The exclusive arrangement also appears to be working in Boxee’s favor: The company announced on Twitter that it’s already the No. 7 top seller in Amazon’s electronics section today.

In addition to the previously announced US launch for November, Boxee will be releasing the Box in Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Instead of the much-hyped Nvidia Tegra 2 platform, the final Box will be shipping with an Intel platform based on a new Atom chip (the Intel CE4100, codenamed “Sodaville”). Boxee says that the Tegra 2 had trouble playing large high-definition files using the H.264 video standard, so it needed to find something more capable. By teaming up with Intel, Boxee will also be a part of its “Smart TV” marketing campaign, which will be promoted this fall. Here’s a video demo of the Boxee box by VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi.