[knarx]

I just found a cool piece of beta software called PlayOn which is a UPnP MediaServer that turns those internet streams into a UPnP Media Server that can forward internet video and audio streams. It's supposed to be for streaming to a PS3 or Xbox360, but since it functions as a standard UPnP MediaServer, there's nothing to stop XBMC Media Center users from using it too as XBMC also has a built-in UPnP client that works great with most UPnP MediaServers, and you can stream to multiple XBMC boxes from just one PlayOn UPnP MediaServer without having to buy additional licenses for each XBMC box.

It is called "PlayOn" and can be found at:
http://www.themediamall.com/playon
http://www.themediamall.com/signupforplayonbeta/
(Free trial for 14 days or buy for $39.99)

PlayOn enables consumers who own a PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or HP MediaSmart TV to access content from sites including Netflix, Hulu, CBS, YouTube, ESPN and more on their television. We have just released PlayOn Beta, and the fully featured release will be coming shortly! We will also be adding support for Nintendo Wii by the end of 2008. Stay tuned!

NOTE! If you want to get PlayOn to work on XBMC as an officially supported platform, I suggest that you register an account themediamall.com (which is free) then log in and pile-on to this request:
http://www.themediamall.com/node/831

Review:
I was messing around with it last night and it's pretty great, albeit this first Beta version was still a little buggy. So far it supports YouTube, Hulu, and a bunch of others. They're also claiming it will eventually support NetFlix (!!!).

I didn't get to test it extensively, but when I was watching Hulu videos the quality felt as good as digital cable. Unfortunately PlayOn can only run on a computer with XP and WMP11. I'd love a Linux or Mac port, but have a feeling the necessity of WMP11 is to deal with whatever DRM the sites have.

Just goes to show that the more software adopts open protocols and standards, the greater the possibilities.