Since launching in late 2007, Hulu has done one one thing very well: it lets you watch your favorite TV shows and movies from your computer, free of charge. But aside from improving the user experience with assorted niceties like smart thumbnails, improved navigation, and social features, the site hasn’t really done anything extreme to expand its functionality. That changes today.
One of my only long standing gripes with Hulu was that it could never really replace the TV watching experience simply because you had to sit in front of your computer to control it. Boxee was the perfect solution to this, as it allowed you to control Hulu via remote through a very snazzy media center interface. But Hulu has repeatedly killed that functionality, largely at the behest of its major network investors.
Now Hulu is releasing its own desktop application, allowing you to browse through the site’s content using your computer’s remote control (both the Windows Media Center remote and the Apple Remote are compatible). Both applications are native too, so you won’t have to deal with any quirkiness from Adobe AIR.
Hulu has posted an intro video for the Desktop application, which you can watch below. The app itself doesn’t seem to be live yet (oddly enough, the URL for the application that’s shown in the video is located on the company’s QA server, which requires a password). But we can probably expect an update later todayUpdate: It’s now live, download it here.
Of course, most people aren’t going to ditch cable in favor of Hulu, simply because they don’t have their computers hooked up to their TVs. They’ll just use it to make their Hulu experience at their computer even better. But for those of us who have been toying with Boxee and similar solutions to replace our cable boxes entirely, this is a very welcome addition.
Update: Looking back on the Boxee fiasco, the news is a bit strange. I (and a number of others) believed that content owners were against giving users this ‘lean-back’ experience entirely, but now Hulu has done just that. Given the change of heart, Boxee is reaching out to Hulu once more to give things another shot. It won’t be surprising if they get turned down though – Hulu may well want to keep all of its content contained in its own application.
Hulu is also planning to launch a new Labs section today, though details on this are still scarce. The new Labs site has just gone live as well.
Thanks to eagle-eyed TechCrunch alum Nick Gonzalez for the tip.
sweet,
I currently use PlayOn (http://getPlayOn.com) to transcode and display Hulu on my Xbox360 but if this integrates properly with Windows Media Center that would be very cool
So bad only available to US viewers!
You can get it through hotspotshield.com in Canada.
No, you can’t.
yes you can, I use hotspot shield to watch it from the UK.
Really? You tried that recently?
I’ve used Hulu on hotspot shield recently in Toronto and have had no issues.
I used Hotspot shield in BC and it doesn’t work. It’s been dead for a few weeks now.
You used to be able to use this loophole, but the folk at “hulu” have closed that option now… so I found out last night.
ca me desole vraiment que cette connection c,est a dire cettepossibilite de visionner un film en direct ne s,etend pas jusqu,en afrique A+
It’s U.S. based programming for a U.S. audience. It’s not our fault the Canadian based programming sucks.
Because that really makes a lot of sense online where lines on maps are really important.
The studios are trying to hold on to their dinosaur of a business model while dabbling with an online presence. No Hulu on my tv means more torrents on my htpc. I don’t mind watching ads but I’ll never accept having to wait a year or more for local networks to pick up shows when I can watch them three hours after they aired via BT.
The genie is out of the bottle and fuck you for pissing on your non-us markets. When you provide no legal way of obtaining content don’t be shocked that people download.
The F you was obviously for the networks. I don’t suspect you of being the mastermind behind archaic ways of selling tv shows
I like the idea; WMC integration is hot fire; but I would prefer to be able to search. Hulu’s library is pretty vast, and it’s also got a lot of crap on there; it could be bothersome scrolling through it all.
Correct Boxee link is http://Boxee.tv
This… is amazing.
As long as the selection remains there, this not only kills TV, but also iTunes, and even infringes upon Netflix.
Holy crap.
It doesn’t really infringe on Netflix. I have used Netflix for some time now, and most TV series that it has to watch instantly are not current. Old series that have already come on on DVD for the most part. And of course they have all the new movies and most old movies.
Hulu is more for keeping up with a current season of a show as the shows air. At least that’s what I use it for. They don’t normally keep libraries of TV shows (ie. all eps Season 1-4), and their movie selection sucks bad.
They are similar, and this might be the start of Hulu infringement, but at the moment they fill two separate aspects of the online video market.
But you can’t get HD programming on this. Many people are spoiled by the HD experience of cable that they won’t even watch to analog or digital channels offer the same cable company.
Even though its free I still prefer Tivo so I can ff>> thru the commercials, as time is money, so can I watch two shows in one hour.
2 minutes of less-than-terrible ads in an hour long program is something I can live with.
Hulu sucks, as long as they neglet Europe…
typo: neglect…
By that logic, the BBC iPlayer sucks because I can’t use it in the US.
Maybe Europe sucks because they can’t get Hulu.
Another european upset because their local programming sucks so they whine that they can’t leech U.S. based TV.
Hey we let you guys in on the www
Well you can drop the www and still access the interwebs, you CERN fanboi :p
Hulu, IMO, is underwhelming. They remind me of the online video equivalent of Zappos: great concept, poor inventory.
You’re not missing anything given the seldom minutes I ever spend with Hulu.
Hulu via Boxee on my AppleTV is still better IMHO.
Or just install a Hulu frontrow plugin like Frulu or Understudy.
OK, so this is a killer step in the right direction, but am I missing something here, can’t stream this to the TV ala Roku, etc… ?
I finally let go of Comcast’s $70 service a month for basic, $12 — and use Roku/Netflix to supplement – If we can stream Hulu through to a TV then we may be close to media nirvana.
Yea – let’s get Hulu on Roku. Then I can really watch Hulu away from my computer.
Works great so far! Haven’t used the apple remote yet but I’m assuming this will be a great combination with a mac mini next to the TV.
No ESPN, no for me
Hulu is just the evil cable company of the future. They are building a walled-garden website and application and will lockdown as much content as possible.
If you need proof, look at their treatment of Boxee. Once consumers begin to move from cable to Hulu en mass, Hulu will begin to treat them the same way. Expect more commercials, fees for “premium” content, suing anyone that attempts to circumvent their interface, etc…
In five years, you will be paying the same amount to Hulu that you are paying to your cable provider and since it isn’t a public utility, you won’t have anyone to complain to about their crappy service.
I hate Comcast with a passion, but it is just a matter of time before Hulu engenders the same feelings.
Based on what we’ve seen in the past and the greed that seems permeate media companies, I think it’s fair to assume Hulu will create a helluva nasty walled garden.
It’s time for startups to startup real competition now in order to fend off all out domination by a reinvented version of a cable company.
I agree, but where is a start up going to get the content!!! Lets remember that Hulu is owned by the companies that produce the TV shows.
We pay the cable company, they pay the networks for access to TV Shows. They are just cutting out the middle man and working together. So how is a start up going to compete with that when they will have to get the content from somewhere (aka the owners of Hulu).
Hulu was that startup…It literally is an attempt by the content owners to be more open with their content.
Given the history of the content industry in America (see the Sony Betamax case), Hulu is a surprisingly open move.
Very Joost-y, just better!
It’s a pitty that only US users can enjoy this site…
It’s a pity that the programming in your country sucks so you whine when you can’t leech U.S. based programming.
Yeah real constructive response there Robert!!! I’ll bet you’d be the first to bitch if the roles were reversed. Leave your condescending comments for your wife before she divorces you for the jackass that you are.
It’s a pity your wife ain’t got 2 titty.
and it’s a pity that you’re such a narrow thinking fellow that defends big tv networks on the internet.
There’s no reason an internet application shouldn’t cross national boundaries. Everyone knows that international markets are the ultimate money-maker for media companies, and the sooner Hulu and the content providers decide to deal with European copyright laws, the sooner they’ll be making buku bucks. Don’t forget that Europeans have more income and work less than most Americans. There’s real money to be made.
It’s a pity that you get arrested for mooning every time you look out your car’s window.
Your boxee link has .com instead of .tv
Which is funny… boxee.com is for some nutritional program, haha.
I love Hulu, and hopefully they don’t go down the “comcast” route.
Don’t even have a TV anymore–just a laptop and a projector. Haven’t looked back.
it’s boxee.TV … not .COM
testing commenting.. sorry
testing replying
One major reason people aren’t going to replace cable with Hulu is that you can’t take full advantage of that 1080P TV you just bought by streaming video from the internet even if you have it hooked up directly.
Another reason, if you’re like me, is that you have all of your audio sources running through your home theater receiver – Cable/Satellite offer 5.1 digital audio on almost all of their HD channels which Hulu could never stream.
Finally, the US does not have the bandwidth necessary to rely solely on the internet for Broadcasting entertainment. The Japanese have like 100Mb/sec while most US consumers only have 5+.
Until the technology catches up & it’s cost efficient, I will keep my FIOS…Thank you very much:)
Of course we’ll have to keep our FIOSno matter what… FIOS internet, that is… gotta have the pipe to feed it in.
Are you sure you don’t mean tubes…With FIOS I can d/l the internet…
Here’s the reason why I didn’t agree with Joost ceasing development of its desktop application.
Sweet! I’m so glad I bought a mac mini for the 52″ in the living room.
If anyone’s considering an AppleTV, I highly recommend getting a mac mini instead. (and wireless mouse/keyboard)
I do not get it. hulu blocks boxee because it says that their content partners do not want to have hulu content on the TV. Then hulu turns around and creates a solution to remotely control the experience. Perhaps I am missing something, but the only way that I need a remote for hulu is if I am watching in a 10 ft experience. If that is the case, then I am probably watching on my large screen TV (computer hooked up to TV) as opposed to my laptop screen.
I just do not understand how hulu can tell users that it is blocking boxee because the content providers want an “online experience”.
Here is a quote from the Kara Swisher interview of Jeff Zucker – Hulu is making it harder to watch Hulu on TVs via software like Boxee. What’s up with that? Zucker: “Right now we’re committed to Hulu being an online experience, and that’s where our vision is today, and I think that will continue.”
hulu’s position on the boxee situation seems contradictory to me based on this release which is clearly designed for people to use their TV for the hulu experience…
BTW…I use hulu through PLEX on a dedicated mac mini connected to my home theater setup. I am also a Dish subscriber and will not leave any time soon as I enjoy sports too much. That said, services like hulu, boxee and PLEX are the future.
The main part that I just do not understand is why hulu would have used the content partners defense with the blocking of boxee.
Just today when Zucker (Head of NBCU) was asked about boxee he alluded to wanting to keep hulu as a desktop experience (i.e., we will keep blocking boxee). Lo and behold we get the new hulu boxeeified for the lean back experience.
Was Zucker out of the loop on this one? I doubt it…why would hulu use that defense which just sets them up to look like the bad guys?
I guess what Zucker should have said is we want the lean back experience for ourselves (hulu) and no one else (boxee).
Poor thought process on that one…
Very cool! Hulu is awesome.
Some speculation: could this be a step in the direction of Hulu making their own set-top box? And, if so, that would seem to be the reason they are so adamant about blocking those other streaming services…no?
They allude to the fact that they’ll "work together" with their "partners" to "determine availability" on Hulu Desktop. At this point it sounds like not everything is available on Desktop. So, why bother really?
The DEATH of Cable. Goodbye Time Warner, goodbye Comcast, goodbye Cox, goodbye Verizon, goodbye AT&T.
Goodbye great programming, as trading 8 minutes of ads for 2 minutes of ads at trivial CPMs won’t support television show production values. Guess we will have much more reality TV.
RIP
dont think so – we will just see our internet bills go up
I was just playing with it and its slick
Hulu is missing a substantial amount of its affiliates’ content.
Until Hulu furnishes this missing content, they will never make it outside of the little flash box on the little PC screen.
It doesn’t seem to be working very well for me.
I’m using a MacBook Pro, with a pretty fast internet connection. After I downloaded it, it took four tries to open it without it crashing after about 20 seconds (some generic “there was an error” message).
Now it keep saying there is a new update available, and that I need to restart to continue. I restart, nothing updates, and after a few seconds it tells me I have to update again. It won’t let me continue without updating, yet there is nothing to update.
Does seem pretty slick, but looks like a rip of Boxee. The whole Boxee rejection makes a lot more sense now.
“Of course, most people aren’t going to ditch cable in favor of Hulu, simply because they don’t have their computers hooked up to their TVs”
WHO DOESN’T? PCTVCABLES.COM
crashes quite a bit, but its pretty new, so no harm anyway. Lots of garbage “content” though, and bad sitcoms
Does Hulu Desktop Work With Apple TV? Confused…. {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/wLCjGBj3rA_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”Does Hulu Desktop Work With Apple TV? Confused…. ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/IQ9TQ0Lpxg”}}}
now we need one of these apps from cbs.com and hulu to broadcast in HD like cbs.com and that is really game over for cable for me -
I don’t really see how this is useful. I ran an HDMI cable from my motherboard to my 32″ HDTV, load what i want to watch in my list, click play, and lounge. So whats the benefit to this? Using a remote? Too much work if you ask me.
Hotspot shield doesn’t work all that well. glitching / crashing etc. Also, it’s useless for 64 bit machines!
Wow, Hulu just gets better and better. I luv HULU!
RT
http://www.priv...tools.echoz.com
They can announce anything they want and it won’t matter a damn bit because I still can’t use Hulu in Canada. BASTARDS!
Plex anyone? http://www.plexapp.com/
Only for MAC, but why would you be using anything else?
hulu desktop brings my online video watching close to TV experience. it looks like boxee for hulu but i think boxee navigation is better. however this has one good feature i am looking for in boxee or hulu.com is playing related videos as a list, very useful when i don’t want to select next for each video in a category.
one thing i don’t understand is why this rich user experience app is on desktop, why not in browser it self? is it due to limitations in browser or media center consoles?
Exciting day in the evolution of HULU. Will only continue to get more popular.
This whole article is lost on me. Just get a cheap vid card with an HDMI port. I’ve been watching Hulu on my TV for weeks.
Does anyone know if any of this is avail so working in Australia yet, or in the near future?
This may be a stupid question, but…
Is there a way to watch live TV online or directly on my computer? (without using a slingbox type device)
all of america starts whining when hulu does this or that which restricts their experience, but when europe and canada says they want hulu too, they shouldn’t whine?
i … HATE … americans :/
Hulu Desktop Is A Big Deal {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/t71hudAJed_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”Hulu Desktop Is A Big Deal ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/huWVZ2Wjcw”}}}