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The disruption of cable television at the hands of the Internet and its premium video streaming services has been predicted for some time now. Perhaps there's something about the size and demeanor of the cable industry that makes some people long for it to be conquered by the free and open Web. Maybe that skews the imminence of the predictions. Either way, to many, cable's disruption just feels inevitable.

Cable is indeed losing subscribers, but it's happening very slowly. According to the latest data from Nielsen, the number of U.S. homes with cable subscriptions has declined 4.1% in the last year. Meanwhile, TV service provided by telephone companies like Verizon increased 21.1%.

Whether you love it or hate it, Facebook's so-called frictionless sharing concept isn't going away anytime soon. From songs played on Spotify to articles read on the Washington Post, everything your friends consume via participating sites is broadcast to the news ticker in real time.

Today, the social TV and streaming media center service Boxee became the latest to join in on the trend when it announced a new partnership with Facebook. Users who opt in can automatically update Facebook about TV shows and other videos they watch through Boxee's interface.

The Boxee folks have posted an update today about the 1.5 beta release. After the details of the release's UI enhancements, the Boxee team has also let slip that the 1.5 release will be the last one for Windows, Mac OS X or Linux.

According to the post, the team has been able to bring "Boxee for Computers to about 85% of the Boxee Box in terms of features and functionality."

This year wasn't the first time any of us heard about the impact of social media on television. People have talked about TV shows on Facebook and Twitter for about as long as those social networks have existed, and the trend has only accelerated as social media usage in general has exploded.

Last year, chatter on Twitter helped the MTV Video Music Awards boost its audience to the biggest it had been in eight years. In 2011, services like Twitter and Facebook served as the virtual water cooler for just about every major news story and broadcast media event. It may not have been invented this year, but 2011 was pivotal for social TV.

The capability to watch live TV that was rumored to be coming to the Boxee Box last week is indeed real and the $50 USB dongle required to do it will start shipping early next year, the company confirmed today.

The Live TV stick, as they're calling it, is simply a way to build a bridge between your Boxee Box and an HD antenna (sold separately), which of course can pick up all the basic local channels in HD for free. This allows viewers to enjoy their Web-based streaming content and jump over to live TV broadcasts without fiddling with different inputs on their TV sets.

You might call me a cable cord cutter, except that I never subscribed to a pay TV service in the first place. Instead, my HDTV set is hooked up to a Boxee Box, with a MacBook waiting in the wings in case any Web TV content isn't available via Boxee.

Yet every now and then, even the most ardent cord cutter still has a need to tune in to something in real-time. It could be a sporting event or a local news broadcast. For me, it's the fact that members of my family are being featured on the current season of PBS's This Old House, something I like to check out when each episode first airs. Soon, I'll be able to watch those broadcasts without leaving Boxee.

If you thought cable companies were in a panic about the threat the Internet poses to their business model, think again. Rather than sit idly by as Web content makes its way to television screens via set top boxes and smart TVs, companies like Comcast will instead try to position their traditional offerings alongside that streaming content. How? By adding it to set-top boxes.

Specifically, Comcast and Verizon are talking with Microsoft about the possibility of including cable subscriptions via the Xbox 360, according to a report from Digiday. The tech giant's gaming console, which already streams content from sources like Netflix, Hulu Plus and others, could in effect become a cable box if Microsoft manages to strike a deal ahead of its upcoming release of Xbox TV.

Plans by Viewsonic to launch a smart HDTV set powered by Boxee's popular media center software have been canceled, both companies have confirmed.

The project to produce a TV set running Boxee, which was due out before the end of the year, was cut short by Viewsonic. The company cited high costs of production and underwhelming consumer interest in Internet-connected TV's, according to GigaOm's New Tee Vee blog.

With the proliferation of Internet-connected devices, it's getting easier to create or consume media on devices like smartphones, tablets and set-top boxes. However this multi-device world is still evolving and it's often not obvious which apps to use or even how to set them up. So in a series starting today, we're going to explore how to get off the computer and enjoy the Web.

I've always wanted to have an Instapaper-like service for videos, an application which would allow me to save videos so that I can watch them later. Preferably when I'm relaxing on the sofa at the end of a long work day. Because who has time to watch videos during the day? Indeed, maybe your work place forbids that. Earlier this month Internet TV service Boxee launched an iPad app, along with a bookmarklet to put your daily video finds in a queue to watch later. It takes a bit of setting up to get both working properly, but it's worth it. Here's what to do.

Boxee, a company whose set-top box and media center software bring virtually any Web video content to the television screen, finally launched its iPad app today.

Recreating the experience of the full-size version of Boxee would be impossible on the iPad, given the widespread use of Flash-encoded video on the Web and Apple's refusal to support it. Instead, the app was thoughtfully designed to make the most of the features that are most appropriate for the iOS platform.