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FFmpeg published release 0.6 of its set of multimedia tools and libraries this week. The release is code-named “Works with HTML5″ since it incorporates support for Google’s WebM open source video codec, as well as improved decoding for H.264 and Ogg Theora. FFmpeg is used by more than a hundred video players, transcoding applications and home theater solutions to support a wide range of video codecs, with VLC, Boxee, MythTV, Handbrake and MPLayer being some of the more popular projects utilizing FFmpeg. WebM was open sourced by Google at its developer conference in May and is based on On2′s VP8 video codec. It is meant to offer an open source alternative to the H.264 video codec, which is controlled by the MPEG LA licensing body — a fact that has stopped the makers of Firefox from supporting H.264 for Flash-free HTML5 video playback. Firefox and Chrome support the playback of Webm video content via preview-releases instead, and Adobe has announced that it will also bake WebM support into Flash.

Boxee, the popular home theater PC program, has received another serious blow in its quest to become a living room mainstay, as the release of its much-anticipated Boxee Box has been pushed back to November of this year. In fact, the delay might prove fatal to Boxee’s set-top hardware. In a blog post, Co-founder and CEO Avner Ronen announced that the device is being pushed back from Q2 2010 (which ends this month) to November because the “time-frame proved overly ambitious.” From Ronen’s announcement: “Earlier this week we got confirmation that the Boxee Box by D-Link will ship this November in US and Canada. We realize many of you have waited months to purchase the Boxee Box, and we know how frustrating this is. Believe us when we say that both Boxee & D-Link want to start selling Boxee Boxes yesterday.” While delays are normal in the development of any piece of hardware, Boxee cannot afford this delay, as Google TV approaches its high-profile release with the velocity of a high speed train.