Broadly speaking, there exists two apposing camps in the battle to deliver Internet TV into the living room. On one side are devices that connect to and run on the “open” Internet: consumer-facing set-top boxes (think TiVo, AppleTV or Vudu), along with Internet-connected game consoles, DVD players and televisions. On the other side are Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services offered by major Telcos such as AT&T.

Which of the two strategies will win out in the end is yet to be seen. But one company, Microsoft, has long been spreading it bets — developing consumer-facing Internet TV products along with those sold directly to Telcos and ISPs.

With yesterday’s announcement that BT will soon enable customers of its existing IPTV service, BT Vision (powered my Microsoft’s Mediaroom), to use an XBox 360 instead of its own set-top box, Microsoft has managed to bridge the gap between the two.

Archos, best known for its portable media players, is the latest company to enter the highly competitive and volatile consumer facing set-top box market. Offered in 80GB ($249) and 250GB ($349) versions, the Archos TV+ features TiVo-like DVR functionality, as well as WiFi and Ethernet connectivity to support access to the Internet for web browsing and downloading paid-for video content from CinemaNow. Additionally, the device can operate as a media extender of sorts, to stream content (movies, TV shows, photos and music) from a PC to the TV.

The video Website Veoh is adding — albeit unofficially — more videos from traditional TV networks, with the content this time coming from Hulu, the NBC-Fox joint venture.

Veoh and Hulu have no official partnership. As NewTeeVee notes, Veoh “is basically pulling an OpenHulu — taking the embeds of shows like “30 Rock” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” straight from Hulu and plunking them down onto its own site.” The streams do include the original advertising on Hulu.

NewTeeVee quotes Dmitry Shapiro, Veoh founder and chief innovation officer, saying, “Look, people want access to all kinds of content. We are striving to provide access.”

NewTeeVee questions Veoh’s move, contending that it “cheapens” the Veoh brand because it comes off as though “they couldn’t get a straight-up deal with Hulu, so they did a workaround instead.”