Ever wish you could watch those cats playing piano on the big screen? Then today is your lucky day, as HP announced that YouTube videos will be viewable on its MediaSmart connected devices like the upcoming MediaSmart Connect and MediaSmart TV. Users will be able to log into their YouTube account and browse through videos using a remote control.

MediaSmart is like HP’s answer to the Apple TV, only it will be more open (like that’s hard). The system consolidates music, video, photos and other content into a single menu operated with a remote control.

Connecting your computer to your nice HD TV screen can get kludgy fast. A company called ZeeVee has an interesting solution that uses the existing cable wiring in your home to display what’s on your PC on an empty channel on your TV dial. Instead of requiring an additional receiver, it uses the HD tuner in your TV. No new-fangled wireless HD or old-fangled screen-scraping required.

You need a ZvBox and remote receiver, which you’ll be able to buy for $499. Connect them both to your (Windows-only for now) computer, and you can then control your PC wirelessly and play your iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Joost, BitTorrent content — whatever you can access from your PC — on any TV in your home. Except instead of being hunched over, you can sit back and relax and watch it basically projected onto your high-definition screens.

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Though I am loathe to encourage any company to create yet another set-top box for my TV, Sezmi is hoping it has the right combination to replace at least a couple of devices connected to your TV. Sezmi (formerly Building B, and not to be confused with the Ashton Kutcher-backed SaysMe) hopes to sidestep problems facing other video distribution platforms through a combination of beefy hardware and an antenna.

Sezmi has two components, a set-top box complete with one terabyte of storage and a broadband internet connection, and an antenna.

The Sezmi Flexcast video distribution technology uses a combination of the antenna and a broadband connection to receive content. The antenna captures the digital signals from the major networks broadcast publicly over the air. It will also receive private broadcasts transmitted via spare capacity leased from local TV stations. The broadband connection provides an additional means to receive both web video and supplemental content. This wireless/wired combo means that no new infrastructure needs to be built.

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Transferring wireless, high-definition content is a puzzle that hardware vendors have long been trying to solve. It’s hard to cram that much data into a fast wireless stream using unlicensed spectrum such as Wi-Fi or Ultra-wideband, but plenty of companies are trying. However, for any technology to win out, getting consumer equipment manufacturers to put the proper chips in their products will be key.

Today Amimon, a silicon startup pushing a whole-house wireless HD technology called WHDI has managed to hit that customer milestone by getting its chips inside the latest Sharp X-series of televisions to be released in Japan. Customers have the choice of spending from $3,000 to $4,600 on a plain X-Series TV or adding about $875 and making it wireless using Amimon’s WHDI technology.

That’s quite a premium to get rid of wires, but people will likely pay it. As well as the price premium, the wireless receiver box that attached to the TV adds about 50 percent more fat to the TV’s 1.5-inch depth. The wireless version of the TV also comes with a transmitter box that a consumer plugs their DVD player, camcorder, camera or whatever else into so they can stream the wireless content to the television.

Written by Aaron Huslage, a technologist who blogs about media issues, unified communications and infrastructure.

One of the holy grails of the PC maker has always been the complete integration of the machine into your life. Hooking up the computer to your television has long been touted as the ideal solution as it would allow you access to all of your photos, music and video content — along with your favorite oldteevee shows — from the comfort of your couch. This typically means hooking your PC up to your TV via a home-theater PC setup. For many people, however, this notion remains a foreign one. In order to help you get started, we have put together this beginner’s guide.

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Sony execs have been lining up licensing deals with the other major studios for a video delivery service on the company’s Playstation 3 game console that could launch as early as this summer, the LA Times reports today. This would go head-to-head with Xbox Live, which already offers a video download service, and if only for that reason, it’s a smart move — PS3 continues to trail behind the 360, with no killer app in sight.

But regular NewTeeVee readers will note the keen irony of the news as it was just a few months ago that Sony was bullying the studios into rejecting the HD-DVD high-definition standard in favor of its own Blu-ray disc standard. As I wrote back then, “broadband connection…will route around the need for any disc format.” I just never would have guessed that Sony would be the one to undermine its own format. Read more of this story

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said on the company’s earnings call today that it’s “thrilled” with the progress of its online streaming service. He disclosed that in addition to an announced partnership with LG to bring video to the TV, Netflix has signed three additional consumer electronics partners, two of them major and one of them “a small company.” LG and the other two large partners are expected to launch by the end of the year; the smaller company will launch sooner.

CFO Barry McCarthy, however, said Netflix had spent more on online delivery implementation than anticipated, prompting the company to cut its full-year per-share profit forecast. The lowered outlook sent Netflix’s shares down 13 percent in late trading despite posting a 36 percent jump in its latest quarterly profit.

The executives also said that: “Nothing about these [consumer electronics] agreements will be material to our financial results for the foreseeable future.” They did say of the digital offering that the company is “very confident it’s a positive influence for us” in terms of increasing subscribers, and that people are watching more content online than Netflix expected.

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For a company whose product sported a beautiful interface, TiVo’s web site was alway pretty ugly. But that’s all changed, as the DVR company has given its web presence a dramatic makeover to match its signature style. It’s even incorporated the playful pop and bell sounds TiVo makes.

The site is a dramatic improvement over the old one, featuring better navigation, clearer explanations and even some nice video tutorials. One small issue: I don’t know if it’s a glitch, an engineering hurdle, or that’s how they want it, but unfortunately the “Find TV Shows” takes you back to the original, lackluster design.

TiVo also launched a Facebook widget. I know, bo-ring. But at least it’s not vampire TiVo.

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The NewTeeVee team is looking for a special freelancer who loves TiVo, VUDU, the Apple TV, the Slingbox, routers, Flip cameras, and other assorted video consumption (and even production) gadgets. Well, you don’t have to love-love them, but you have to care about them. This writer would keep up on all the gadget blogs and product releases, and be able to pick and choose what relates to the NewTeeVee audience. You’d write a couple of pieces a week for us, some combination of news, features, and analysis. Hardware isn’t our main focus at NewTeeVee, but it’s super important if online video’s ever going mainstream. So we need that certain someone. Could it be you? Email my first name at gigaom.com with a couple clips and a couple ideas for stories.