The news wasn’t exactly “stop the presses!” worthy, but it’s interesting nonetheless to see what the folks at YouTube are thinking about and how they are looking to improve their product.

At an invitation only event last night in New York dubbed “Videocracy,” YouTube gave advertising moguls a sneak peak at some upcoming initiatives. In this day and age is it even possible to give a “sneak peak” of anything? Deep Focus CEO Ian Schafer jotted down a few notes, which he shared on his blog.

I’ve been waiting 330 days for this. With the release of the AppleTV Take 2 software update, the original AppleTV finally resembles the device it should have been on Day 1, the day I purchased it.

Since then, I’ve put up with the jeers of friends, home entertainment enthusiasts, HD TV and movie nerds, and less-than-pleased media pundits. I knew when I bought the AppleTV it wasn’t a perfect device, but I purchased it on the belief that Apple would nurture it along and improve the limited set-top box because it had to.

The device was Apple’s entry into the lucrative-but-cutthroat living room, the heart of our digital lifestyle. The battleground is fierce: Microsoft’s Media Center, TiVo, DVRs, cable and teleco video-on-demand, game consoles, laptop computers (and YouTube, Joost, Hulu), Vudu, and so many more are bashing it out for our attention and entertainment dollars.

Except for ease of setup and use, the AppleTV has been a disappointment — I readily admit it — and I’ve watched as competitors continue to improve their offerings. Meanwhile, Apple was messing around with something called the iPhone and gaining entrance into the wireless world.

With the release of AppleTV Take 2, Apple is arguably on near-equal footing with everybody else, but before we go comparing apples and oranges let’s take a brief look at the “new” AppleTV.

One of my favorite times of the year are the first two days of the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships, better known as March Madness. I sit on the sofa in a stupor, watching games from morning till midnight.

This year, not only can I watch the games on television but I can also sit with my laptop and watch any game on the ad-supported March Madness on Demand — with no blackouts, according to paidcontent.org. (FAQ.)

Until now, CBS Sports has protected local affiliates by maintaining similar blackout rules online as it has on air, keeping the “local” games TV-only. It also stopped coverage after the first 56 games, focusing all attention on the TV broadcast.

It doesn’t make much sense: According to Valleywag, Microsoft is in “advanced discussions” with lifecasting startup Ustream.tv for more than $50 million.

Why would the venerable Microsoft want upstart Ustream now, particularly with the whole Yahoo! purchase thing going on? Valleywag says Microsoft would use Ustream “as a way to promote its Adobe Flash competitor, Silverlight.”

Again, we ask why?

But when you take a closer look at what Ustream has been doing lately, it makes more sense for a major buyer like Microsoft to become involved. Ustream is more into eventcasting than lifecasting these days, and eventcasting has greater potential in the long run.

While we’re waiting for that AppleTV update . . .

Apple is teasing us with a patent filing that hints at a rosy future for the AppleTV. It includes everything from widgets appearing on the screen, to a new widget-enhanced remote control, to iChat instant messaging, to — get this — broadcast television.

Yep. The AppleTV could become an actual set-top box capable of receiving broadcast television signals and recording to a hard drive like digital video recorders (DVRs).

Wow.

The Archos TV+ set-top box, first seen at this year’s CES convention, launched in the U.K. today. It’s available in two flavors, £180 for the 80GB model, £250 for the 250GB.

The Archos TV+ is a slick set-top box and a rival to the Apple TV. Archos’ first DVR combines a Wi-Fi media player with a hard drive that allows you to stream or store the usual digital content — movies, music, Web video, podcasts, and photos. (See last100 coverage.)

To use certain TV+ features, an additional £20 is required for a video podcast plug-in that allows for video and audio playback in formats such as H.264 and ACC. The plug-in and DVR can be purchased from the Archos online store.