Boxee, a set-top box software purveyor, has updated its feature set.

The site enables users to view select TV and online video content from their computer desktops, over the internet or even on HDTVs. Users can also "see" what videos their friends are watching in real-time, and auto-update social media accounts like Twitter, Tumblr and Friendfeed.

New features include:

• Access to the WB, a network-cum-online-destination; and MTVMusic, MTV's new music video site.
• Access to Netflix's "watch instantly" library of 12,000 movies and TV shows, available to Netflix subscribers. Netflix cannot stream to Apple TV — a better-known rival to Boxee — because it's not powerful enough to run Microsoft's Silverlight plugin, Boxee stated (via Silicon Valley Insider).
• Improved user interfaces for its Hulu and YouTube channels.

Boxee describes itself as "like TV — but all your programming, on demand." Its media player can operate on a laptop or HDTV, bringing internet content to living rooms — a task Apple and Microsoft are also working on, and with more cash at their disposal. But Boxee fights on: it raised $4 million from Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital last month.

View the demo:

An intro to the service is also available on Vimeo.

Boxee is in alpha. For an invitation to try it, register at the website.