There are two major announcements out of software-based PVR makers SageTV this week. First off, Version 6.0 of the software is out, featuring a number of improvements.

Probably the biggest new feature is the inclusion of online video. Right now, that means you can access content from Google Video from your couch. You can browse through videos online just as easily as you can schedule and watch television recordings with SageTV 6.0. There are plans to add other online video services in the future.

There's also a new function that lets you save unencrypted DVDs to your desktop and view them through SageTV, with the original menus and special features intact. Add to that support or a number of new audio and video file formats including AAC, and SageTV's got a pretty solid release on their hands. There's a free upgrade for SageTV 5.0 users. If you've got version 4.0 or earlier, you can upgrade for $30. Everyone else will have to pony up $80, although there is a 15-day free trial.

The other big announcement is that SageTV has launched a $30 "placeshifter" client for Mac. While SageTV currently runs only on Windows and Linux, you can run Placeshifter on a Mac to schedule and watch recordings through the internet or your home network.

SageTV CEO Mike Machado tells PVR Wire in this week's podcast that a full version of the software for Mac is due out early next year.