It is the biggest athletic contest of the year for America.  Seats start at five grand, networks fight over the rights years in advance, and millions tune in worldwide as the top two teams in professional football face off after a blistering post season.  With all the hype and attention comes unparalleled advertising budgets, making the Super Bowl the showcase for television commercials of the year.

Want a replay of a particularly funny ad after the game is over? Go no further than Boxee with the latest Gonzee app release – Ad Blitz 2010.  Now available on Boxee, Ad Blitz 2010 will have every commercial aired during the big game available to watch immediately following an resolutely crushing defeat to the hated and hideous Indianapolis Colts.

Before the big game, the app is seeded with preview content a-plenty, featuring analysis on the two teams, how-to’s on executing a perfect Super Sunday party and the troubling story of a man auctioning off something very valuable to get a ticket to the game.

All available now in the Boxee App Library.

The best commercials for the biggest game of the year.

We have some new members of the Boxee community who divulged their fandom in the most unlikely of settings: a Congressional hearing.  Testifying before a House inquiry about the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal merger, NBC chief Jeff Zucker was asked a question about the ongoing Boxee / Hulu controversy by Representative Rick Boucher (D-VA):

Mr. Boucher: The second key question that I have is this: what about Boxee?  Did Hulu block the Boxee users from access to the Hulu programs?

Mr. Zucker: This was a decision made by the Hulu management, uh, to, uh… What Boxee was doing was illegally taking the content that was on Hulu without any business deal.  And, you know, all… We have several distributors, actually many distributors of the Hulu content that we have legal distribution deals with.  So we don’t preclude distribution deals; what we preclude is those that illegally take that content.

Mr. Boucher: Would you be open to negotiations with Boxee or whatever it was?

Mr. Zucker: We have always said that we are open to negotiations.

Did a Congressman just tell Hulu to play nice with Boxee?

Here’s the video:

Update: Boxee CEO Avner Ronen just posted a response to Jeff Zucker’s testimony arguing the accuracy of Zucker’s claim.

Boxee uses a web browser to access Hulu’s content – just like Firefox or Internet Explorer. Boxee users click on a link to Hulu’s website and the video within that page plays. We don’t “take” the video. We don’t copy it. We don’t put ads on top of it. The video and the ads play like they do on other browsers or on Hulu Desktop. And it certainly is legal to do so.

Mr. Zucker says they always said they are open to negotiations. That has not been our experience, but at this point, we will take Mr. Zucker’s offer at face value and will contact him. We are eager to work with both Comcast and NBCU to bring more content on more devices to our users. We believe the Internet represents a great opportunity for content owners and we hope that current artificial barriers put on distribution over the Internet will be taken down.

Does this mean the Hulu experience on Boxee is about to get better? Who knows, but the incident further highlights Boxee’s growing disruption in the IPTV space, a Wild West environment that is turning television on it’s head.

See Avner’s response in its entirety here.

Mark Tucker over at shazaml.com has put together a great six minute screencast showing how to develop a quick “Hello World” app on Boxee.  Mark’s video is very detailed and pro-quality, showing how to create a test app on Windows.  Great work here.

The popular step-by-step gonzo guide to building your first Boxee app has now been edited to reflect the API changes in the Boxee beta.  Several typographical errors and content applicable only to the Boxee Alpha client has been changed and the guide now produces a working app for the new Boxee Beta.

Enjoy!

The 2010 pipeline of release is swelling with a boatload of tasty Gonzee apps on their way to a television near you, but it’s already been too long since my last new app release.  To that end, I’m happy to report that a new live event app has been published for all Boxee users for tonight’s State of the Union address by President Barack Obama.

This milestone address for this young presidency comes after a rough freshman year of roadblocks and setbacks and a particularly difficult week that saw the Democrats lose the Senate supermajority they’ve enjoyed in this past year. Obama addresses an electorate with diminished hopes and increased skepticism of the efficacy of the federal government.

His first State of the Union needs to change the game and merits the attention of any American concerned about employment, healthcare, and the condition of our country.  This Boxee app delivers reporting recapping Obama’s freshman year as president and will feature the live feed of the State of the Union address as soon as it becomes live.

Check out the app now in Boxee’s App Library.

Coming off their *huge* week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the folks at Boxee have released a revamped information resource for Boxee developers.  Most of the content was written by Boxee’s own Shawn Rieger who has been serving capably as the developer’s man on the inside and features a host of previously underdocumented features such as:

• Full documentation of the Javascript API (!!!)
• More accepted elements in the Boxee RSS specification
• New classes available in the Python API for the Boxee Beta client
• Three example apps
• A link to our own Step-by-Step “Building Your First App” series

Shawn has put a lot of work into this documentation and it really shows – huge ups to the Boxee crew for continuing their commitment to the open source development community that has sprung up around this project!

Hi my name is Joshua, I am a boxee and all around Python developer who will now be contributing to gonzee.tv. I have a background in web application and social networking development, but I’m also a huge HTPC nut. Boxee is the perfect middle ground. I hope my articles help you out in times of need.

Without further ado…

The sidebar is used in the factory boxee sections. It’s on the side and lets you sort, filter, and otherwise manipulate the list in the factory boxee sections.

The sidebar would be a great place to put things like preferences, sorting, and less used items within an app. The information is out of the way, but still in a comfortable place that is consistent throughout the boxee interface.

I’ve been wanting to use this in my own apps to really pull the experience together, so I started tearing apart the boxee skins. There are many “classes” and other things in the boxee skin files that you can use in your own apps to save code and increase consistency. I would recommend any developer to take a look.

I’ve recovered the base code required to have the sidebar working on your app:

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<control type="group" id="9000">
    <include>BrowseListsAnimation</include> # This is required for some reason.
 
    # Put your main app xml here.
    #
    # For example a list:
    <control type="list" id="600">
        <description>Media items</description>
        <posx>40</posx>
        <posy>160</posy>
        <width>600</width>
        <height>520</height>
        <onleft>8000</onleft> # Notice pushing left activates the sidebar from this list.
        <onright>-</onright>
        <onup>200</onup>
        <ondown>-</ondown>
        <scrolltime>200</scrolltime>
        <pagecontrol>-</pagecontrol>
        <orientation>vertical</orientation>
        <itemlayout width="600" height="60">
            <control type="label">
                <posx>0</posx>
                <posy>0</posy>
                <width>560</width>
                <height>40</height>
                <font>font28</font>
                <align>left</align>
                <label>$INFO[ListItem.Label]</label>
                <textcolor>grey</textcolor>
            </control>
        </itemlayout>
        <focusedlayout width="1280" height="60">
            <control type="label">
                <posx>0</posx>
                <posy>0</posy>
                <width>560</width>
                <height>40</height>
                <font>font28</font>
                <align>left</align>
                <scroll>true</scroll>
                <scrollspeed>30</scrollspeed>
                <label>$INFO[ListItem.Label]</label>
                <textcolor>white</textcolor>
            </control>
        </focusedlayout>
    </control>
</control>
 
<control type="group" id="8000"> # This is the sidebar
    <include>BrowseLeftMenuAnimation</include>   # Required for some reason.
    <include>BrowseLeftMenuBackground</include>  # This includes everything to draw the
                                                 # background of the sidebar
    <control type="grouplist">                   # A grouplist is a good idea so that if
        <include>BrowseLeftMenu</include>        # there's too many controls, it can scroll.
        <control type="label" id="402">
            <include>BrowseLeftMenuTitle</include>      # <- there are some 'classes' I found
            <label>[UPPERCASE]Available Feeds[/UPPERCASE]</label>
        </control>
 
        # Include whatever you want on the sidebar here.
        # Make sure to add "<onright>9000</onright>" to the elements so you can get back to
        # your app.
 
    </control>
</control>

Make sure to remove all of the comments before trying this code, the boxee XML parser doesn’t like python comments (#).

This will get you an empty window with a sidebar on the left.

Enjoy.

As we were walking up to the Music Hall of Williamsburg after the developer pre-game at Brooklyn Bowl, it was clear the early fear that crossing the river would keep Manhattan Boxee fans away from the beta launch was laughably unwarranted.  The doors had been open for fifteen minutes already and the line around the newly renovated venue was still around the block with still more people showing up in droves.  A crazy mix of dorks, home theatre enthusiasts, entertainment suits, and new media journalists mingled in the frigid Brooklyn air, all equally grateful the wait for the Boxee Beta was almost over and that the weather cooperated for the long wait in line.

By the time I got in, the hall was already bulging – early arrival, as is usually the case with the Boxee community, ended up being crucial.

—

With a couple days of rest and recovery to organize thoughts from the event that followed, I’ve put together this first person recap of the Boxee Beta launch party from the developer’s perspective.  The evening was pivotal for Boxee the Product, Boxee the Company and Boxee the Community; here are the highlights from this coder to you.

I’ll be talking about the night  in three parts – first the Boxee Beta software, then the Boxee Box and finally the new apps launched, all with some tasty anecdotes from the evening snitched in.

Pure eye candy

Believe it or not, the moment the Beta hit the big screen was not accompanied by a riotous cheer by the ravenous audience, but rather a collective gasp of astonishment at the new interface.  The new look for Boxee is a bold, dramatic change from the far more XBMC-like interface that came before it and it slammed the audience like a falling piano.    With a clean new interface, sexy color palette, and simplified navigation, it was like graduation day for Boxee where the software stopped being a social port of Xbox Media Center and came into its own as an open source project aimed for the mainstream consumer.

Here’s the rundown of the hottest sauce for Boxee developers in the Beta release:

1) Content Consolidation

Consistently the biggest problem for Gonzee users has been remembering which application had what content.  The effort to consolidate the navigation for television shows and movies has paid off big with the beta interface, allowing users to search *and* browse all the content Boxee can deliver without having to remember if MacGuyver was in the Crackle app or in Hulu.

Every TV Show that Boxee can view, now in one menu.

The potential for developers is huge, as it puts the content center stage regardless of the application it is in.  We know that a lot of people use Boxee just for Hulu television shows -  Boxee Beta’s content consolidation gives high quality, hilarious independent content greater visibility and another avenue to hook fans than just app install.

2) Huge App Improvements

The App Box has undergone a similar interface change, now giving users a far superior  Boxee app experience.  To install an application in Boxee Alpha, users had to navigate to the App Box, scroll through all 158 apps to find the one they were looking for by thumbnail alone, click to install then navigate back to the Applications menu to actually launch the app.

Global Menu - now apps can be two clicks away from anywhere in the interface.

All that is streamlined in Boxee Beta.  The apps that the user has already installed and the apps they can install are now accessible from within the same menu.  Further, users have three options once they find an app that is interesting: start, add to my apps or add to shortcuts.  “Start” allows the user to immediately launch the app, taking users directly to the app without committing to a full install.  “Add to My Apps” installs the app much like the original Boxee Alpha experience.  Finally, “Add to Shortcuts” adds the app directly to the home navigation screen, letting users keep their favorite apps no more than two clicks away from anywhere in the Boxee interface.

The streamlined application navigation is a very powerful display of commitment by Boxee to the dev community, which bodes extremely well for the future of the software as a real development platform.

3) Queue

It's queue-tastic!

As a Boxee user, the feature I was most excited to see demonstrated was the new Boxee queue.  Working much like one’s DVR or Netflix queue, the Boxee queue allows users to mark any media into a queue to watch at a later time.  The big revelation with this feature, however, was the fact that the queue will be web-enabled with a Boxee bookmarklet, meaning users will be able to add content to their queue from their non-Boxee computers and mobile devices.

This is another feature that has great potential for the Boxee developer.  “Add to Boxee” buttons for  video services and other content distribution channels?  An iPhone Boxee queue manipulation app?  A Wordpress Widget displaying a user’s Boxee queue on his/her blog?

Similar functionality was available with early Boxee apps like L8R (which I loved), but the full integration makes the experience a lot easier.

This feature could get really cool, really fast.

–

Next up: The Boxee Box!

For the voracious Boxee fans out there, the wait for the Boxee Beta unveiling finally ends tonight in Brooklyn, New York at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.  Christmas is coming a little early for Boxee diehards and Santa was sure to bring some Gonzee gifts in his sleigh.

I’m dead excited to announce today’s Gonzee releases coinciding with the launch of Boxee Beta as we push forward into a new chapter of social, open source development for the living room.  We have four spectacular apps getting some beta love, packed with pantloads of holiday cheer.

Never mind the bollocks -- on to the apps!

1) Man in the Box 1.0

The brilliant office comedy from Break.com is now available on Boxee.  Man in the Box is a hilarious web series featuring the exploits of Greg and his insane set of coworkers suffering in cubicle hell delivered weekly in 3-4 minute shorts.  Like NBC’s The Office, only a tenth of the length and too demented for broadcast television.

Here’s a great taste with Greg’s viral hit “Facebook Abuse.”

2) KidMango 1.4

The very first Boxee app for kids has gotten a holiday brushup with a full Brightcove integration, making the video bigger on your screen, easier to control and faster to load.  KidMango joins Wired and Style.com with full Brightcove support, making it even easier to enjoy KM’s enormous library of children’s telvision.

3) Cliqset 1.5

The first real-time social experience for your living room has exploded on Boxee with a ton of great conversations in the short month since its release.  The crew at Cliqset rarely rest on their laurel, so of course the Cliqset Boxee had to join the rest of their huge releases this weekend.  Here’s the short list of the new features:

1. Complete Redesign -- The app’s design has been completely redone with a new diesel look for the Boxee Beta -- guaranteed to melt your face.
2. Notifications -- You can now view and clear your Cliqset notifications directly within Boxee.
3. Share Videos on Cliqset -- Like what you’re watching and want to share with your crew?  Video chat now let’s you share the video you are watching in Boxee with everyone on Cliqset.
4. Play Shared Videos -- You can now play the videos your friends share on Cliqset directly in Boxee.
5. Channels -- The Cliqset app revolutionized the social experience in your living room with its content-aware video chat.  That experience just got even better with Channels that allow you to talk not only with the people who are watching the same video, but also the same TV Show, film genre, director, online video service, or -- even better -- anyone watching anything on Boxee!
6. New Activities / Video Chat with Video Inlay -- Tired of switching between your activities and your video chat?  By default, the Cliqset Boxee app now let’s you switch between both with an easy tab navigation while viewing your video inlayed on the screen.  Prefer the classic overlaid video chat? Easily access it with the “Video Chat” button at the top of the screen.

4) Boxee Beta Live

Not making it to the Big Apple for the launch tonight?  Well the Boxee crew and I put together a very special app for you.  Tonight’s event can be watched on Boxee with the Boxee Beta Live app now available in the App Box.

For Linux, Mac and AppleTV users in particular there is a special treat, as the folks over at Cliqset are powering a special real-time conversation for the event embedded in the Boxee app.  You can chat anonymously or register on Cliqset right from within the app.

Check out the great posts about it in the media:

• Mashable -- Boxee’s Beta Unveiling To Add Interactive Twist
• The Open Web -- Cliqset Powers Real-Time Conversation, Potential Business Model?
• Interactive TV -- http://www.itvt.com/story/6168/sonys-crackle-launches-boxees-ott-platform
• 24Mashti -- Boxee Beta Unveiling Tonight!

Who’s that good looking guy in the screenshot?

Source: Mashable

After nearly a year of development since the first public version of Boxee got into our early adopting hands, the Boxee developer community has been anxiously awaiting the next milestone for our favorite open source social media center.  At long last, the wait for the beta version of Boxee is soon to be over with an unveiling being held in a little over a week in the (718).

What better borough than Brooklyn for the next big release of the subversive TV software and what better place that the venerable chapel for rock and roll, the Music Hall of WIlliamsburg?  The word from the Boxee crew is that  RSVPs for the beta launch have already passed 1,000 with ten days yet to go.  No doubt it is going to be the best holiday party in open source and I’ll be there in full Gonzee effect looking for fellow devs and Boxee lovers.

You coming to New York for the Boxee beta launch?  We’re getting together for a little developer grip-and-grin before the Boxee event at the best happy hour to be had in the (718), the Brooklyn Bowl.  Near the L line and just a couple blocks up from the Music Hall of Williamsburg, we’ll meet for a pint, some appetizers and a few frames of the dorkest, kludgiest bowling imaginable before heading in to scope the latest news from the Boxee crew.

Check out Brooklyn Bowl here.   RSVP for the Boxee event here.

See you in Brooklyn!