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A mockup of what a Boxee box could look like.

(Credit: Boxee)

Boxee was approached by several hardware makers at CES earlier this month about embedding the Web content streaming software directly into a dedicated set-top box, the company said Thursday on its official blog. And it's actually considering it.

The blog post was written by CEO Avner Ronen to solicit feedback from users as to whether this is an attractive option and how much they'd be willing to pay for it. (If you want to chime in, head over to blogg.boxee.tv.)

Boxee is software that works on any Mac/Linux/Windows computer and can stream content online (videos, music, pictures, whatever) right onto a television screen. There's also a way to install the service on Apple TV. But it can be an expensive proposition for some who don't have the right equipment, as Ronen explains:

The issue with connecting a computer to the TV is that if you don't have an extra one lying around, then you're looking at a $500 investment (Mac Mini or Dell Studio). Getting Boxee on Apple TV is not simple enough for many users (plus Boxee is not optimized for the Apple TV hardware, Netflix doesn't work on it, etc.).

This is good for those who have grave concerns over others knowing what kind of videos they're watching.

On Wednesday, Veoh announced that its new Web video player (which is still in beta) is now available in a portable version, but only on SanDisk's Cruzer USB flash drive. For those who already own the drive, the download is available for free on SanDisk's site.

That means any TV shows, movies, or other Web videos found on Veoh can be downloaded to the drive and played on any PC, without need for an Internet connection. Veoh has content from MTV Networks, ABC, Warner Bros., ESPN, Lions Gate, and CBS (parent company of CNET's publisher, CBS Interactive).

SanDisk's own U3 Smart technology enables the player to work on any PC without any installation necessary. The Cruzer drive is also password protected, so no one will be the wiser to what you've been viewing.

Also, SanDisk specifically notes that this could come in handy for people who, say, want to watch videos at work, but whose employer blocks access to streaming video sites.

In other words, this is for rule breakers and the extremely paranoid. Check out the screenshot below.

The Veoh Web Player available on SanDisk's Cruzer flash drive.

(Credit: veoh)

Sling Media no longer wants to be put into a box--the theoretical kind, anyway.

Previously just a maker of hardware like the Slingbox, and related software, the company is now thinking bigger. With the official launch of Sling.com fast approaching, the small Silicon Valley company--bought last year by EchoStar--is making a bid to be taken seriously as an entertainment company.

Currently in private beta until November 24, Sling.com is a shiny new video portal that pulls in TV episodes, clips, full-length movies, and professionally produced Web videos to a single destination. The free content is provided by the NBC-Fox partnership Hulu, along with CBS (parent company of CBS Interactive, CNET's publisher), PBS, BBC America, and Web video sites like College Humor and Break.com, to name just a few. There are short ads before and during the videos.

Up until now, Sling had been mainly in the business of creating hardware and software that allow consumers to get their TV channels from remote devices.

The Slingbox, which allows owners to watch their own subscription TV channels remotely from a computer, marked the first introduction to Sling Media for many consumers. Then the company began releasing the SlingPlayer as downloadable software for Symbian, Palm OS, and Windows Mobile that lets Slingbox owners also get their TV channels on mobile phones. BlackBerry and iPhone versions are on the way.

The player and page for Arrested Development on Sling.com.

(Credit: CNET)

Sling then turned from just moving TV to the Web, and began pushing the idea of moving Web video to the TV with its SlingCatcher product, which started shipping last month.

Now, by creating a new Web destination, the company is turning the Internet into yet another destination for its customers to watch the channels they subscribe to along with a host of free, ad-supported content.

As you might guess from this photo, the ZvBox isn't the easiest gadget to set up.

(Credit: ZeeVee)

Awhile back, I wondered aloud when we'd finally see a "Hulu box" that could stream on-demand video from that increasingly popular online video destination directly to your TV. And a couple of weeks ago, we got our hands on the first potential candidate in the form of the ZvBox. The PC accessory converts your computer's video output and makes it accessible on your home HDTV (multiple TVs, in fact, if your home is cable-ready). It also includes an RF remote with wireless-mouse functionality, so you can navigate your PC screen from afar, and pull up any computer-based media content on the TV screen--including Hulu, iTunes, BitTorrent, or whatever other Web- or PC-based video strikes your fancy.

Unfortunately, we found the ZvBox had too many caveats. ... Read more

An array of classic TV shows from CBS are now available online, the network's CBS Interactive division announced Thursday.

Full-length episodes of Star Trek, Melrose Place, Hawaii Five-O, MacGyver, and The Twilight Zone have been added to the lineup of the company's CBS Audience Network, as well as its central streaming-video site. All of it is free and ad-supported; only select seasons of each show are currently available, but CBS has hinted that more episodes, as well as additional TV shows, will go up in the near future.

Five classic CBS shows, now playing at a browser near you.

(Credit: CBS)

The CBS Audience Network consists of more than 300 partners, including video-sharing start-ups such as Joost and Veoh, social networks such as Bebo, portals such as AOL and Microsoft, as well as a number of other companies and Web sites. Among them is CNET Networks, publisher of News.com.

But at least for now, you won't be seeing these TV shows, or any other CBS content, on the nascent online-video hub Hulu. Despite rumors that additional players, such as Viacom and Time Warner, are close to jumping on board, the site remains a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp.

NBC Universal, meanwhile, announced on Tuesday that it will similarly stream online a number of its classic TV shows, including The A-Team, Kojak, and Buck Rogers. But instead of openly syndicating them, as CBS plans to do, NBC's streaming operations will be centered on genre sites such as SleuthChannel.com, ChillerTV, and SciFi.com, as well as on NBC's own video site and Hulu.

One thing iPhone and iPod Touch users have been enjoying over the past year has been a finger optimized version of YouTube that pulls in videos on demand. However, users of older video-enabled iPods have been left to fend for themselves using a bevy of services to pull down videos from popular hosting sites and reformat them to fit using third-party conversion apps. A new service called Tooble (download) that aims to streamline this process is showing off its wares on the Macworld Expo show floor tomorrow. We thought it would be a good idea to give it a spin, and see how well it performs.

The good news is that it works flawlessly, and for the novice user who wants a highly affordable way of filling up their shiny Apple device with video content, Tooble is hard to beat. The killer app here is the workflow, which lets you queue up multiple videos for downloading at a time. Once finished converting it'll send the videos straight to iTunes so you don't manually need to hunt them down and drag them into your library. I'd personally love a way to avoid iTunes altogether for syncing up video content while on the go, but if you're using Tooble on your home machine, you're in luck (ed's note: Tom Merritt has a good Insider's Secrets video on a workaround here).

Tooble is Mac-only for now, although there's a Windows version on the way which the company is currently beta testing. Additionally if you're looking to simply grab Flash videos off the Web for personal use on any portable device, there are a handful of services including the latest RealPlayer, Hey!Watch, and Vixy, the latter of which I'd recommend using over Tooble if you've got an older machine (read: non-Intel) since it'll do all the conversion crunching on its servers.

Search and browse YouTube videos on Tooble, then download the ones you like to put on your iPod.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Today marks an important milestone in Web video. Hulu, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite online video sites, has started to add high-definition videos to its site. The most recent release of Adobe Flash Player added support for streaming HD, using H.264 encoding.

Hulu's HD Gallery is a little bit limited right now, only offering nine HD movie trailers, but we can assume that Hulu will probably be adding HD versions of other content in the future. Noticeably absent from the HD offering is the ability to embed the video in another Web page, which is a killer feature of Hulu, in my opinion.

Hulu is serving up its HD video in 1,280x720 and requires some beefy system specifications, including a 2.5 Mbps Internet connection. Hulu has a whole lot going for it right now, and it will only get better as the company signs more networks and studios. The embed feature is really great and it makes it easy (and legal!) to serve up your favorite shows on your Web site. For your viewing pleasure, I'm going to leave you with one of my personal favorites.

... Read more

As we have seen, Netflix and NBC have a very solid working relationship, offering exclusive web content for the site in the past. Today, Netflix announced that it will offer episodes of hit NBC shows, such as Heroes, The Office, 30 Rock, and Friday Night Lights to its subscribers for instant viewing online.

Just to clarify, Netflix has offered instant viewing of various DVDs, including Heroes Season 1, prior to today, but now it will be making episodes that are currently unavailable on DVD available for viewing. This also marks the fourth way that you can see NBC shows online. NBC currently offers its shows on Hulu, NBC.com, NBC Direct, and now Netflix. It's nice to see that NBC is really forward thinking about Web distribution, now hopefully the Writer's Guild can get the strike settled so that they will be compensated for this content.