This is a big blow to Boxee, many of whose users (yours truly included) became fans of the software because it provided and easy way to bring Hulu to the TV. And, in their commitment to keep everything legit, Boxee left Hulu’s ads intact.

Hulu CEO Jason Kilar wrote a blog post today entitled “Doing Hard Things” in which he acknologed that ” there is no immediate win here for users.”

“Our content providers requested that we turn off access to our content via the Boxee product, and we are respecting their wishes. While we stubbornly believe in this brave new world of media convergence — bumps and all — we are also steadfast in our belief that the best way to achieve our ambitious, never-ending mission of making media easier for users is to work hand in hand with content owners.”

Both Hulu and Boxee have said that they will continue to work with content providers to restore the service.  In the mean time, try SageTV or PlayOn.

Read Boxee’s blog post on the subject here.

Described several times by company executives as a “hobby,” the current version of the Apple TV  sports a list of shortcomings that have kept many Apple fans from adding the little silver box to their arsenals. Limited storage and restricted sources of media, to name a few.

Geeks have been improving their own Apple TVs for a while, adding larger hard drives and third-party software like Boxee, and now they’re making such improvements available to the masses.

At the time of writing this post, an eBay search for “boxee” yields six listings for modified Apple TVs, most of which are brand new: bought, tricked out, and put up for sale for just under 400 bucks.

One commenter on Podcasting News’ article puts it succinctly, “Apple TV is DOA.” It’s a product that doesn’t bring much to the set-top party except for smooth integration with the iTunes universe. And with products like SageTV, PlayOn, and the Roku’s streaming video box offering up access to services like Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, and even Hulu, maybe we’re discovering that there are bigger, better universes.

Check out Podcasting News’ post for more info on the Piper Jaffray report and analysis from other experts.

I have said that Hulu on the TV would mark the true beginning of the demise of television. But this isn’t exactly what I meant.  Hulu, the magical online repository of free television and film, announced yesterday that they will air an ad during Sunday’s Super Bowl.

This is more exciting than most Super Bowl ads because it reveals something about where NBC sees themselves heading. NBC is airing the big game this year and is also the co-owner of Hulu (along with News Corp). As we all know, buying ad time during the Super Bowl ain’t like buying time on a parking meter. But apparently NBC sees some benefit in forgoing the several million dollars they could demand from an outside advertiser to promote their new platform (irony alert!).

What do they plan to use their precious 30 seconds for, you ask? An email sent yesterday didn’t reveal much. Quoth Hulu, “During Super Bowl XLIII this Sunday, look for the launch of Hulu’s ad campaign. Finally, we’ll reveal the secret behind Hulu.”

Mysterious!

Hulu has been open to the public since March of 2008 and though the site is steadily growing, it’s still unknown to many online Americans, even those considered to be relatively savvy. Sunday’s ad will surely introduce a whole new group of users to the site. Should be interesting to watch.

Any predictions on what the “secret” is? Comment it up!

···Thanks, TVWeek···

UPDATE

Here’s the ad (with a little ad before it).

What secret? I’ve always know Alec Baldwin is an alien.

All of the ads are available here.

In a blog post announcing the update, Boxee founder Avner Ronen said, “We strongly believe that given the option most users will opt to stream a TV Show (with a reasonable amount of ads) rather than using a file-sharing service.”

Whether that’s true or not, those who previously relied upon illegitimate file sharing services to watch ‘Lost’ may be turning to the ABC.com stream anyway. CrunchGear reports that ABC is “fiddling” with the broadcast signal, making the show more difficult to digitally capture (and pirate).

The ABC-enabling updates are only available to users running Boxee on Mac and will be released to Apple TV users “within the next few days.”

Boxee is free software (of which I am a huge fan) and is currently available for Macs. If you’re a PC user, you can apply to be included in their private alpha.

But today Blockbuster stepped up its game, if only by a bit. The brick-and-mortar rental giant has forged a partnership with Sonic Solutions, owner of video delivery service CinemaNow as well as Roxio, a manufacturer of digital media applications. The alliance will put Blockbuster on a wide array of devices compatible with CinemaNow and allow consumers to burn purchased movies to DVD thanks to Roxio’s digital rights management abilities.

All in all, it’s an impressive variety of features, beating Netflix on the functionality and flexibility front. But there are two things that keep this from being a truly meaningful development in the world of digital movie rentals.

1) It ain’t cheap. The $8.99 that gets you unlimited access to Netflix’s streaming service for a month will get you only a few rentals from Blockbuster. However, Gizmodo reports that Blockbuster Chairman Jim Keyes said that a subscription plan may be on the roadmap. We’ll see…

2) It doesn’t bring much to the party that isn’t already here. Sure, CinemaNow offers unique compatibility with portable media devices like the Archos players and Samsung P2, but otherwise the ability to rent and buy DRM-protected feature films is already offered by other established brands in more prevalent media ecosystems.

Still, this is a step in the right direction for Blockbuster. They have a brand that is regarded by many as the place for movie rentals and that’s a powerful position for them as they try to evolve their model. As for CinemaNow, being BFF with Blockbuster will help drive traffic from those who may have never considered their service otherwise.

I’m back from CES 2009. I recovered from walking 46 miles in a day, I got the smell of cigars and roulette out of my sweaters, and I found a box to hold all of the free USB drives I picked up on the show floor. Now it’s business time.

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show was certainly not spared from the recession, but it still occupied an area measured in football fields. All of the big guys as well as their scrappy challengers were in attendance, hawking their latest and greatest to retail buyers, gadget freaks, and industry experts. The trends this year: ecotech, quasi-3D, and broadband connectivity in the living room. A few highlights from the latter:

Sony appears to have realized that their $300 BRAVIA Internet Video Link that was released in 2007 was an epically silly idea. They announced integrations that will bring Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, Yahoo, and Slacker right to select TVs.

Panasonic announced their integrations with Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, and Picassa on their line of TVs with ‘VieraCast’.

Samsung BD-P3600

Samsung unveiled a new line of gorgeous Blu-ray players that allow for easy access to Netflix and Pandora in a sleek, shiny black package.

LG launched NetCast, a service that will ship with select LCD and plasma TVs, that brings Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, and Yahoo widgets to the set. It also allows users to access photos and music stored on their PC over a home network.

Boxee opened their previously private alpha for Mac and Linux users to all who want to join and began their private alpha for Windows users. They also announced integrations with MTV Music, Joost, and BBC iPlayer (UK only). If you’re unfamiliar with Boxee, it’s a free program that enables users to access video from services like Hulu, Comedy Central, and CBS in a couch-navigable interface.

Netgear, who is most well known for their home networking products, launched their Internet TV Player. The aptly (but blandly) named box appears identical to the VuNow Pod, a recently-released Roku competitor from Verisimo Networks, and facilitates access to a plethora of services including Hulu and YouTube. It was also the only device that features live video, though that did not work during the demo I received. Although it’s clear that there is a relationship between Netgear and VuNow, the product rep refused to discuss what that deal looked like. VuNow is still selling their ‘Pods’ for $99, a full 100 bucks less than the ostensibly identical Netgear box.

It was a big show and I obviously wasn’t able to see everything. Did I miss something that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments!