With this app Boxee combines two popular services that have been separate until now. Devices – Roku and Apple TV, most notably – offer a similar array of internet streaming options, and services like GetGlue allow you to share what you’re watching with your friends. Boxee’s Facebook app, though, marks the first time these two activities have been integrated. While GetGlue provides a “second screen” experience for users who want to share their viewing preferences, Boxee now allows them to do so in one smooth process.

Here’s a video from Boxee’s blog showing how the posts will show up on Facebook. Friends who click the links Boxee posts will be taken to a page giving more information about the show you’re watching.

It is unclear whether this will work with all video viewing on Boxee, or just their new Live TV device (set to ship later this month). The Live TV serves as a bridge between users’ HD antenna or cable box, and lets them watch live broadcast content through their Boxee box. Boxee’s announcement on the Facebook app only mentions it working with Live TV, suggesting it may not work with ordinary streaming content. Several commenters on the blog post asked whether the app would post the content they stream via the internet, but have not yet received a response. An email sent to Boxee PR along those lines has also not been answered.

Of course, Boxee is aware of privacy concerns regarding Facebook, and has made the sharing feature opt-in, meaning that it is turned off by default, and users have the choice of whether to enable it.

[Source: Boxee Blog]

Showtime’s “Shameless” is based on a popular show from the UK by the same name and stars William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum.

“House of Lies” stars Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell. It is about a competitive group of business consultants who stop at nothing to get the client.

Competition for viewers by providing edgy original programming heats up as Showtime features these two new shows to challenge HBO’s stranglehold with the likes of “True Blood” and “Game of Thrones”. Meanwhile, Roku and other streaming platforms vie to loosen the traditional cable provider grip. In the end, it’s all about more viewing choices and more equipment options for the consumer.

Roku made the first device to stream Netflix to the TV, and getting in front of more customers at retail stores, along with its pricing model, may just do wonders to help the company compete in this space with big brands like Apple and Google.

Users can watch content from sources like Hulu Plus, Amazon instant Video, Netflix, NBA, NHL, Revision 3, Twit, Blip.tv, and others. They’re working to expand the content, and are putting more focus on news (even local).

“This has become a hot space because people are very interested in finding out more about these types of products,” Jaquet told WebProNews. “We are really well priced and positioned in that regard, and we start at $60. It really becomes an impulse type of buy.”

Best Buy availability should certainly help there.

“I think price and value are very, very important,” he continued. “We are expanding our distribution. We’re going to be in full retail this year. So now, when you go into the store –  and we’ve sold over a million boxes, but we’ve been selling it direct to customers – they’ve had to go to roku.com or amazon.com – Now, you go into the store and you’ve heard about these new devices that stream content to the TV, and now you’re going to be able to see it right there in the store. I think we’ve positioned ourselves really well against the competition in that regard.”

Challenges in the Industry

“Part of the challenge is that there’s a lot of competition – and that’s a good thing and a bad thing,” said Jaquet. “The good thing is that – take for example, when Apple released their new product last year. It immediately sold very well obviously, but our sales doubled as well. That recognized brand – that visibility to this new type of way you can get streaming, and get movies and TV shows beamed right onto your TV – it gives credibility to the whole space, and I think we benefit from that.”

“We’ll continue to have to execute,” he acknowledged. “We have a great platform and great content on it today. We need to tell people about it, and part of gaining retail is expanding that awareness as well. We’re going to need to invest a little bit more in our brand, so that people make Roku synonymous with this whole streaming space, and I think that if we can execute, we can still continue to be very, very successful, as we’ve already been.”

“Simplicity is very, very key to adoption in what they want,” said Jaquet of users. “We’re trending towards a much older demographic, so less tech-savvy maybe. It needs to just work out of the box…a lot of our customers really value that simplicity.”

He also stressed the importance of the content itself.

Cutting the Cord?

“We’re seeing a segment of our customers cut the cable or reduce  the services that they have with their cable provider, but really what a customer really wants – to take that big next step – is they want more content,” said Jaquet. “They want a simple way to find it, to search for it, to discover it, and we’re trying to address all those things.”

“It comes down to what your viewing habits are – what kind of content is important to you….About 12% of our customers buy Roku to cut the cable cord,” he said. “What are the biggest omissions though in cutting the cord? Well, it’s local news or news in general, and there’s some things that we’re doing to address those. We’re adding more news content (and actually more local news as well).”

There’s another major factor keeping some users from getting rid of their cable.

“The second part also, is live sports, but also in-market sports,” he said.  ”All of the sports things that are on our platform – let’s say you live in Dallas and you’re a Dallas Mavericks or a Dallas Stars fan…well Cowboys…we don’t stream NFL yet…you can’t watch local. So you’re going to stick with cable or satellite or those types of services because you’re an adamant sports fan.”

“If you’re not an adamant sports fan, with Roku, you can get new releases, you can get back catalog – you know – through Amazon, Netflix…you can get day-after-broadcast from your favorite TV shows through Hulu Plus for $7.99 a month, so it really is going to depend on viewing habits,” he reiterated. “12% cut the cord. 25% either cut the cord or severely diminish the number of premium channels and services they have with their cable provider. We call it ‘cord shaving,’ not cord cutting…”

Even for those not looking to completely cut the cord, there are advantages of having devices that stream web content to the TV. On pricing alone, Roku should be able to win over some new customers through Best Buy. It’s worth noting, however, that the $60 model of the Roku player is still only available at Roku.com. The XD model – the one available at Best Buy – is $80.

Again, this is all rumor, coming from Taylor Wimberly at Android and Me, who says he has spoken with "multiple, trusted sources familiar with the project who have shared the same story with me. They wish to remain anonymous."

Today, Verizon Wireless and Apple began selling iPads at over 2,000 Verizon stores. Verizon is offering three bundles, all featuring an iPad Wi-Fi model and a Verizon MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, for a suggested retail price of $629.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 16GB + MiFi, $729.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 32GB + MiFi and $829.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 64GB + MiFi. Verizon is offering a monthly access plan to iPad customers of up to 1GB of data for $20 a month. In addition, Verizon is offering all three iPad Wi-Fi models on a stand-alone basis.

AT&T is trying out direct carrier billing with Zong, BilltoMobile and Boku, according to GigaOm. "This could be a major turning point in helping accelerate the growth of mobile payments, a market that could be worth an estimated $633.4 billion by 2014," says Ryan Kim.

According to Stacey Higginbotham, also at GigaOm, sources inside European carriers say that Apple has been working with SIM-card manufacturer Gemalto to create a special SIM card that would let people in Europe buy a phone no the web or at an Apple Store and get phones working using Apple’s App Store.   

Roku will reportedly start licensing its software, and NetGear will be the first partner to take advantage. According to Silicon Alley Insider, Roku was forced into this strategy, but it could ultimately mean more people using Roku’s service. 

Gawker’s Valleywag reports that Google is providing "servants" to its employees. Actually, Google is providing "runners" to help employees with errands. Employees get credits on TaskRabbit, which brokers odd jobs. 

Oracle has already had a lawsuit against Google for Java code used in Android. Now, the company has reportedly updated the suit, saying that Google "directly copied" code. 

A company called Proview has threatened to sue Apple over the iPad name. The company tried to market a tablet computer called the I-Pad over a decade ago, according to Financial Times.

Mozilla announced that Firefox 4 won’t be available until next year, according to ComputerWorld. 

The new partnership with YouTube allows shows creators to send content to YouTube. Blip.tv will also serve its own ads on shows syndicated on YouTube sharing revenue with creators after giving YouTube a slice of the ad profit.

"The services we offer, which range from distribution and business development to technology and ad sales, are essential tools for any independent show creator," said Mike Hudack, co-founder and CEO of blip.tv.

Mike Hudack, blip.tv

"We believe that we’re building the next-generation television network. This is what a TV network looks like when it’s created in 2005 instead of 1945."

Blip.tv’s partnership with Roku will allow owners of the company’s video player to watch blip.tv shows on their television set. The blip.tv channel will launch later this fall for Roku customers.

Blip.tv has also expanded it partnership with TiVo, allowing show creators to syndicate content on the new blip.tv dashboard.

The new dashboard allows show creators to edit and reorder show episodes, reply to comments, track advertising views and see how much revenue their shows generate across every distribution channel in the blip.tv network.
 

The new dashboard was created through a partnership with TubeMogul. "We’re excited that TubeMogul InPlay audience and engagement data will be available to blip.tv show creators within the blip.tv dashboard," said Brett Wilson, TubeMogul CEO.
 

"This is an important step towards bringing objective measurability to the creative process while maintaining the art of Web show creation."

Of course some are already hooking their computers up to their televisions, but this is not an idea that has really crossed into the mainstream (at least not yet). Set-top boxes might in fact prevent that anyway, because when they allow users to stream online video to their TVs, the reasons for hooking up computers to them decline.

Roku, the makers of the set-top box that Netflix partnered with a while back, has been saying for a while that they are looking to partner with other content providers. Roku CEO Anthony Wood reaffrimed this at Streaming Media West. Of course Netflix also announced a awhile back that they would be streaming content through Xboxes too. With such rumblings in the online video industry, it is hard not to envision a future in which set-top boxes like Roku’s join (or dare I say even replace?) cable boxes and DVD players in entertainment centers around the world.

The more deals that happen between boxes and content providers, the closer such a future is likely to be. Roku has not announced any specific deals, but says, "We’re opening up the platform to anyone who wants to put their video service on this box… We’re going to release the software developer kit, so anyone can publish any channel, and users can access web content on their TVs." How about that? They just won’t provide a timeframe.

Imagine being able to watch all of your favorite YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, Joost, MySpace Video, Amazon, etc. content on a device on your TV while sitting on your couch, without having to hook up your computer. Something tells me that would appeal to consumers. Now we just need to get some better quality videos on YouTube. Oh, and a better selection of streamable content on Netflix.

Many don’t think they will be able to compete with companies that offer downloadable and streaming movies via set top boxes.

Of course the Roku was released a while back offering Netflix movies via such a box, but a very small percentage of Netflix’s inventory is actually available through it so far (Roku has just announced that it is teaming with more content providers, so owners of the box won’t have to settle for just the limited Netflix selection).

Betsy Schiffman at Wired.com doesn’t think Netflix’s future is so gloomy, and neither do I (a happy Netflix customer of 5 years), especially when the company grew its subscriber base by 21% last quarter.

Mary Jane Irwin at Forbes.com notes that besides Roku, Netflix has recently partnered with LG Electronics and two other suppliers of set-top boxes, with Micosoft’s Xbox speculated to be a potential partner.

It is going to take some time for Netflix to offer their entire catalog in the streaming format, but I believe it will eventually get there, and their catalog is quite an extensive one.

I honestly don’t see them having much trouble competing when DVDs become obsolete. I think they’ve got time to prepare before that’s really a factor anyway, especially in an economy where many are struggling to even afford broadband Internet access.