Today we are excited to roll out an update to the Spotify app on Boxee, delivering the experience users have asked for and making Boxee the only set top box to bring these features to your TV!

For those who don’t know, a Spotify Premium subscription lets you stream all your favorite tunes from Spotify’s endless music catalogue right on your Boxee Box. With its recent Facebook integration, which makes it even easier to discover and share music with your friends, Spotify’s awesome service is quickly becoming the world’s social music center.

For current users, we listened to you. We’ve improved the app with:

Search

With access to Spotify’s full search built-in, now you can easily find and play any track, artist or album, even if it’s not in one of your playlists. Listen to whatever you want from Spotify’s millions of tracks.

Updated Inbox

Just like Spotify on your desktop, now you’ll know instantly when friends share a song, album or playlist with you. You’ll even see a notification icon whenever you have something new along with who it’s from.

Shuffle

The new shuffle feature lets you sit back and relax while Spotify does the DJ work with your tracks.

For those of you who have already been rocking out non-stop to Spotify’s music catalogue, you’ve got a few more reasons to bust a move. If you still haven’t checked out Spotify, try it for free here. Sign up for a Premium subscription to bring Spotify to your big screen with Boxee.

Baseball fans, get pumped, the 2012 season is nearly upon us!  Wednesday, April 4th, marks Opening Night for Major League Baseball lovers the world over and on Boxee. Make sure to check out the MLB.TV app, where MLB.TV Premium subscribers can catch every out-of-market regular season game live in HD. For $124.99/season or $24.99/month, your MLB.TV Premium subscription delivers access to games on-demand and interactive features such as DVR controls and clickable linescores, ensuring you get your fill of America’s national pastime.

Check it out here for details and to sign up today!

To kick off the 2012 season, the folks over at MLB.TV are doing a huge Twitter giveaway all day tomorrow where you can snag a Boxee Box (or other awesome prize).  Make sure to follow @MLB and be ready to win!

After 7 days, 1500 miles, 3 unexpected detours,  10,000 calories, 7 kegs, 7 headaches and one amazing time, we have finally recovered to the point where we are able to put together this blog post. Whilst some of us, (Sarah, Andrew and I) are now enjoying a delicious juice cleanse to eradicate the toxins from the sins of SxSW, we thought it would be timely to put together a recap for you all to enjoy.

Day 1

Our pilgrimage started Monday the 5th with a 7am start and a filthy GMC Yukon thanks to our friends at Hertz. First stop, Coffee at La Colombe Torrefaction. Avner drove the first leg with his soulful blend of road-trip tunes ranging from Lana Del Ray, to The Lion King Soundtrack. Our first stop was D.C which took us roughly 4 hours. We set the tone early for a week of calories with a quick meal at Ray’s Hell Burger which was closely followed by another coffee at one of our favorite little cafés, Baked and Wired. We were told to look for a single geared pink bike (fixie) out the front. Needless to say, there were plenty of Instagram opportunities in this hipster hangout.

Next, we were off to George Washington to heckle Andrew from the back of the classroom during his guest lecture on marketing in a start-up environment. Avner was especially distracting which may have been indicative of his time back at school. It was a solid dose of nostalgia for all of us.

We left Andrew with his minions in Lecture Hall 104 whilst Sarah, Avner and I went to our next engagement to speak to the GW MBA Entrepreneurs & GW Tech Collective. We had roughly 12 business leaders of tomorrow in attendance asking some very interesting and hard hitting questions.  At one stage,  Avner had offered 3 people jobs and asked all of them to quit school citing the success of Steve Jobs & Mark Zuckerberg.

After that we were off to The Big Hunt for our D.C meetup. We had a solid crowd of about 60 people with yours truly providing the beats via a digital jukebox and an exorbitant credit card transaction process. The stupid human tricks started slowly here with one man ‘teleporting’ to New York and back without us noticing his absence. The winner was eventually awarded for a Michael Flatly style performance of River Dance.

Day 2

Day 2 started with breakfast at Tryst in DC followed by a long commute to Knoxville, TN. It was decided that to break up the drive we should do something fun. Our chief navigator Sarah chose the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg. After navigating us there perfectly, we discovered that we were in Lynchburg VA and not Lynchburg TN. Before long (2 hours) we were back on track and stopped for Pulled Pork Sandwiches at Still Porkin’, a little Mom & Pop operation running out of a trailer in a strip mall car park.

We got into our hotel quite late that night and retired early.

Day 3

Day 3 started with, you guessed it, another trip for gourmet coffee followed by breakfast. We found a cute little place called Old City Java that had a 4 day process for crafting croissants. Unfortunately we arrived on the 3rd day of the cooking process and the built-up anticipation was lost. We were still treated to cookies, sandwiches and great coffee. Before long we were on our way with a quick stop over for horse riding in the Smokey Mountains. This was my first horse riding experience and the others did their best to ensure my anxiety remained intact. This was followed by BBQ at Moogies Drive thru which put us well behind schedule. As a result Andrew tested the threshold of the spedometer on the Yukon to get us into Memphis on time.

We arrived at 5:30pm at Emerge Memphis, an amazing Business Accelerator and Tech Incubator right on the Mississippi.

They threw an incredible party for us on their rooftop complete with 100 guests, a DJ, a Keg and extremely talented stupid human tricks. It came down to a pitch perfect rendition of Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together, and a spoken word poet reminiscing of his love for Mary Jane. There were no losers in this competition.  Meanwhile we spent the night talking with local startups and press about Boxee, lessons we’d learned, and new startups they were brewing.

After that, we went to a warehouse party followed by soul burgers and table top dancing at an old (and retired) Brothel. Andrew showed us some of his moves in an old school dance off with some of the local talent. Needless to say he did us proud!

Memphis turned it on for us, and we left with extremely fond memories (read: huge headaches)

Day 4

Thursday morning started with Advil, Coffee and a long drive to Dallas. Avner stopped off at the  JFK Sixth Floor Museum upon arrival into Dallas which put him in a sombre mood for our 3rd Meetup. Our meetup was at the Press Box Grill where we had roughly 35 devoted fans come out to see us on a cold miserable and rainy night. The Boxee Box winner went to a swing dance teacher who performed a perfect recital of the Charleston dance.

Day 5

Day 5 was  a day for discovery. On our trip to Dallas we visited the Monolithic Dome Institute, where we were taken on a private tour of the president’s house. We inquired about purchasing/building a dome, and were taken to the boardroom where we can only assume serious deals are done. A cozy 1 bedroom will set you back $100 per week for rent. This price obviously increases exponentially once you consider multi-room domes or even multi-dome dwellings.  We also visited the Texas Ranger Museum for a solid dose of Texan history. Chuck Norris was nowhere to be seen.

Lunch included a mandatory stop off at Salt Lick BBQ in Round Rock for some delicious sausage, brisket and pulled pork. Next stop was Walmart as part of our team had already arrived in Austin and informed us that our RV had not been supplied with Linen. 8 sleeping bags and towels later, we were back on the road and in sight of our final destination.

We arrived in Austin shortly after 6pm to torrential downpour and an RV set up with a ghetto-rigged heater made from a large cooking stove and a cinder block from a nearby shed. Not kidding here.

That night we watched Avner speak on a panel at the Driskill hotel which was followed by a Samsung Party, a return to The Driskill lobby bar, and Korean Tacos before a relatively early night in for the 7 of us in the RV.

Day 6

Cafe Medici for Coffee, the YMCA for showers and then off to Heart of Texas Pedicabs, the venue chosen for our Kegger the next day to set up and get ready for the big party. The weather had shown little to no signs of relenting as we hung signs and finalized the last remaining outstanding items.

That night we went to the Suicide Girls party, followed by the gingerman and finally with Andrew and I convincing people that he was Jimmy Butler, Gerard Butler’s younger brother. Kudos to Andrew on 30 minutes in Scottish brogue. Kim Chi fries and burritos may or may not have been consumed later on in the evening.

Day 7 – Boxee Kegger

We woke up to billowing rain echoing loudly against the fragile frame of the Austin Rental RV. Despite the forecast promising clearing  weather, mother nature had decided not to play fair. Off to the YMCA to find out it was closed – no showers…Not a good start to the day.

We went to Cafe Midici for coffee, It was at this point that the sun poked through the clouds and it began to clear up into an amazing day. Meanwhile the Spider Man moon bounce, DJ Gear, Kegs and Snacks were all being delivered to our space. This was going to be a huge party.

We opened the doors circa 1pm to a line 50-strong. There was a steady flow of people coming in throughout the entirety of the party. Salt Lick arrived around 3:30pm and provided a delicious round of sausage, brisket, beans, and coleslaw. The boys from epic meal time, including the Sauce Boss, arrived shortly after that to meet the guys, sign some autographs and enjoy some bbq.

4 out of the 5 kegs were floating by this time so we arranged for an urgent delivery of two more. At this stage there were about 350 people in the party with another 300 that had come and gone. Tunes were provided by DJ Andrew Kippen as the two new kegs arrived to a standing ovation (most people were already standing). There were games of Flip Cup and Tackle the Tortoise (not entirely sure what that is). We closed off around 6pm pushing the last few people out with old mops and broomsticks. It was a rousing success.

The Boxee team headed off to Barton Springs where we enjoyed a very chilly dip in the water. Then we hit up one of our favorite spots in Austin, Juiceland, for a quick dose of nutrients and Home Slice for sharing pizza on the car hood. We hit up the foursquare party shortly after this and ended up at an alcohol free (liquor laws) rave (networking event) around 2am. It was a big day.

We had a great time and enjoyed the many stories shared along the way. Special shout out to our friends at Turntable.fm and Sling who supported the entire roadtrip, and were great partners during the trip.

The annual road trip offers us a unique opportunity to meet one on one with users around the USA, demo new features like Live TV, and hear first hand why you love Boxee and what could be improved.  It’s also spawned numerous business development and marketing discussions with new partners.  A big thanks to all of our fans, users & SxSW party goers for making the trip a rousing success.

We look forward to seeing you all next year.

- Boxee

First up, Boxee Watch Later and Bookmarklet!  A simple tool that lets you save videos from the web to a queue you can access at home on Boxee, or on the go with Boxee for iPad.  Here’s Andrew to show you how it works.

Just drag this icon up to your bookmarks bar and you’re ready to go.

We are looking for iOS/Android/Web developers in NYC and will give a free Boxee Box to any candidate we interview in person or over Skype, no strings attached.

Send us an email to nycjobs@boxee.tv with your CV, link to your github profile or anything else you believe will get us to invite you for an interview.

Important things to know about working at Boxee

• On the server side we use ruby, rails, node.js, mongodb, mysql, redis, ember.js, jquery and php
• Our iPhone/iOS team is working on a top-secret project with the potential for saving small puppies
• We work in small teams with lots of responsibility, solving hard problems
• Our fridge is full with organic foods and we are very particular about coffee
• Everyone must appreciate Korean food and most specifically kimchee

Btw, if you can beat us in a FIFA 2012 match or COD we will also give you a t-shirt and Boxee Live TV..

Interested? Go to jobs.boxee.tv and apply.

We have a SlingBox Pro-HD to give away at each stop for the most committed Boxee fan.  Details are below so register today and we look forward to seeing you on the night. Just look for the posters of the Boxee Cowboy…Yeee Haa!!!!

Monday March 5th – Washington D.C

The Big Hunt 7pm – 10pm
1345 Connecticut Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20036

7pm – 10pm

http://boxeedc.eventbrite.com/

Wednesday March 7th – Memphis TN

Fox & Hound English Pub/Grille 7pm – 10pm
5101 Sanderlin Ave # 100
Memphis, TN 38117

http://boxeememphis.eventbrite.com/

Thursday March 8th – Dallas TX

Press Box Grill 7pm – 10pm
1623 Main Street
Dallas, TX 75201

http://boxeedallas.eventbrite.com/

It’s Oscar weekend, and we’re busy predicting winners and losers (The Artist for the top prize) and are psyched to watch another major TV event on Boxee Live TV.

We’re also working with VUDU to let Boxee users get free credits to watch the nominees by inviting friends to the VUDU service.

If you recommend VUDU to a friend using this referral page and they rent a movie, you’ll get $3.99 to spend on any movie of you want.
So before the main event, tell your friends about VUDU, and catch up on the nominees for free.

Who do you think will win?  Who do you think SHOULD win?  Let us know in the comments.

• The Help
• Moneyball
• The Tree of Life
• Hugo
• Midnight in Paris

Your friends don’t have to use Boxee, but you do. So make sure your account is registered through the Vudu app on Boxee, and head over to the referral page.

Valentine’s day is one of those holidays that require more planning than most people prefer to do (or at least that’s how we feel about it). So, today we’re here to help save you from yourself – Boxee and ifood.tv bring you Valentine’s-date-night-plan to the rescue!

We’ve got everything you need, all nicely laid out for you right on your Boxee homescreen. So don’t worry if you haven’t figured out your evening yet, we have a movie and recipes that will get you and your Valentine in the mood and help you sweep them off their feet.

You can thank us tomorrow. Hopefully twice.

The team over at ifood.tv – who recently launched their app on Boxee, bringing over 20,000 cooking videos to your TV – have selected two recipes which will impress your sweetheart, get the kitchen steamy and give you a straight shot to their heart, right through the stomach. Not much of a chef? Never fear! ifood.tv made sure these recipes are not only totally delicious, but they also are certifiably super-easy! So get ready to knock your Valentine off their feet tonight!

To get you started, here is your shopping list (candles,wine and roses not included but highly recommended):

Raspberry Chicken

Here’s a summary of the arguments and our rebuttals:

ClearQAM requires consumers to wait for hours for the “cable guy” to setup service - Not true. Waiting for the cable guy has nothing to do with ClearQAM. Today the leading cable companies, Comcast, TimeWarner Cable, Charter and Cox, all offer self-install kits that do not require a cable guy to come to your home.  All of these companies continue to offer ClearQAM, so the two issues are not related.  A quick call to their customer support lines easily validates this and falsifies their claims.

ClearQAM requires consumers to wait for hours for the “cable guy” to disconnect service – Not true. When you disconnect from Cable (which we certainly encourage you to do if you have good antenna reception) you don’t have to wait for a cable guy to come to your home.  If the cable company wants to block you from getting service they actually do it outside of your home.

Last week NCTA PR people actually posted the following tweets trying to smear Boxee:

“Like waiting for the cable guy? #Boxee is looking out for you – from the NCTA blog http://cble.co/AmtbcG” from @NCTACable

“If you like taking time off work for cable service calls, Boxee is on your side!” from @BrianDietz (Vice President, Communications for NCTA)

Seriously??? As we noted above waiting for the cable guy has nothing to do with encrypting QAM, it has everything to do with cable companies’ poor customer service, a pretty common phenomenon among monopolistic enterprises.

Boxee is asking the FCC for a “one off”, Boxee-specific solution – Not true. Encrypting QAM impacts any consumer that connects a cable directly to a TV or a standalone tuner. It could mean millions of consumers. Our position is that if the FCC ends up letting cable companies encrypt QAM they should do so on the condition that an alternative, standards-based IP solution will be made available. One which would not force the user to rent new hardware from the cable company, and would not require device makers to certify their solution with each individual cable operator.

Nothing we’re pointing out or suggesting is “one-off” or Boxee-specific.

Boxee should adopt CableCard instead of QAM – Implementing a CableCard based solution would have made the Boxee Live TV tuner 2-3 times more expensive for consumers, would require a CableCard from a local cable company, and an extra monthly rental fee.  In addition customers have had a lot of bad experiences with CableCard installs (here is one, and here’s a former installers comments), meanwhile the cable companies are all moving towards IP delivery anyway. So it is pretty obvious why we don’t believe CableCard is the right answer. (btw, off the record even cable executives will tell you CableCard does not make sense for what Boxee is trying to do).

Conclusion

The NCTA took 12 pages to make these arguments. It’s pretty repetitive and not a great read. They seem to subscribe to the doctrine that if you repeat a falsehood enough times, people are bound to start believing it. We encourage the NCTA and cable companies to spend less money on lobbying the government and more on improving their overall customer experience.