Hulu Plus hits the Amazon Appstore

Hulu Plus for Android

For the first time you can now download the official Hulu Plus on a device that doesn’t have the official Android Market app. Last week Amazon announced that the Kindle Fire would be able to run Hulu’s online video app for streaming movies and TV shows, and sure enough it showed up in the Amazon Appstore today.

The good news is that the Amazon Appstore doesn’t just run on the Kindle Fire… the bad news? The Amazon Appstore will only show you apps that are compatible with your device, and as far as I can tell if you’re using anything except a Kindle Fire you can’t download the Hulu Plus app.

While I was able to “purchase” the free app from the Amazon website using a desktop web browser, the app doesn’t show up on any mobile device I’ve tried. It’s not available for download on a Google Nexus One, Velocity Micro Cruz T410, or HP TouchPad.

Still, this is a big first step. Hopefully the app will soon be available for other tablets that don’t include the Android Market as well. The Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet will ship with a Hulu Plus app preloaded later this week, but it would be nice to be able to install it on other budget tablets as well.

The Hulu Plus service lets users watch TV shows and movies from the Hulu service on a mobile device. It costs $7.99 per month, but users also get access to additional TV shows and episodes which aren’t available to free users.

Hulu is currently only available in the US.

Hulu Android app adds support for more devices

Hulu Plus

Online video streaming service Netflix recently announced that its Android app could work with nearly every device running Google Android 2.2 or Android 2.3. Now it looks like competing online video company Hulu is stepping up its game as well.

Today Hulu released an updated Hulu Plus Android app that adds support for 8 new devices:

  • HTC Incredible 2
  • HTC Evo 3D
  • HTC Sensation
  • Motorola Droid 3
  • Motorola X2
  • Motorola Bionic
  • LG Revolution
  • LG G2X

That brings the total number of Android devices that support Hulu Plus to nearly 20 phones plus at least one tablet.

The Hulu Plus app lets US subscribers view hundreds of movies and TV shows for $7.99 per month. The company also offers a separate app for Japanese subscribers. Japan is the only country outside of the US where Hulu service is currently available.

Orb Live lets you stream Amazon, Hulu, Netflix to a mobile phone (with help from your PC)

Orb Live

Orb Live is a mobile app that lets you stream music, videos, or photos from a PC or Mac to your mobile device. But today the company is launching a major update which also lets you stream web video to your mobile device. The only catch is that you still need to run a desktop app in order for the service to work. That’s because the Orb desktop software captures video from the web and then transcodes it on the fly into a format that your mobile device can handle and streams it to you over the internet.

In other words, if you leave your computer running all the time, Orb Live can allow you to access media from your hard drive or the web wherever you are. If you don’t, the app might be kind of worthless.

That said, the app does a pretty good job of delivering high quality video streams from online video sites including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and VEVO. It takes a moment for video to buffer before you can start watching, but once playback begins, you’d be hard pressed to notice that the video wasn’t streaming directly from the internet to your device.

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Hulu Plus adds support for additional Android devices

Online video service Hulu is expanding the number of smartphones that officially support the company’s Android app. A few weeks ago Hulu launched the Hulu Plus app for Android, but at the time it only worked on 6 devices.

Now the HTC Evo 4G, HTC Thunderbolt, and HTC myTouch G2 and 4G phones can also use the app. That brings the total number of supported devices to 10.

Hulu Plus is a subscription-based service which runs $7.99 per month. it allows US customers to watch movies and TV shows including content that’s not available from the company’s free, web-based service. That includes content such as every current-season episode of TV shows from ABC, Fox, and NBC.

Competitor Netflix doesn’t tend to have current seasons of television shows and typically only features episodes from past seasons. Unlike Netflix though, most Hulu programming includes commercials — even if you pay for a subscription.

Hulu Plus hits Android (6 phones only for now)

Hulu Plus for Android

Hot on the heels of Netflix, Hulu has released a streaming TV and movie app for Android. But like Netflix, Hulu isn’t making the app available on all Android smartphones just yet. Instead, there’s a list of 6 currently supported phones with additional devices expected to be added to the list later this year.

Right now you can run Hulu Plus on the Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and Motorola Atrix.

In order to use the app you’ll need to be a Hulu Plus susbscriber. While the basic Hulu service is free (and ad-supported) in the US, Hulu Plus offers additional content including more episodes of current TV shows. Hulu Plus subscriptions have also always been a requirement for using the company’s iPhone and iPad apps.

There is also a “free gallery” with limited content for anyone who wants to check out the app before signing up though.

The new Android app supports streaming video over WiFi, 3G and 4G connections. You can also sign into your account on mulitple devices to pick up viewing a program on your TV or computer where you left off watching on your phone.

Hulu Plus for Android coming soon

Online TV and video site Hulu offers desktop and mobile apps for watching videos without a web browser. But right now the company’s mobile apps are only available for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The folks at Engadget noticed a change to the list of supported devices this week though. There’s now a listing for “Select Android OS 2.2 phones.”

The Android app is listed as “coming soon,” and users can sign up to receive an email when the app goes live.

It’s not surprising that Hulu Plus for Android won’t be available for all phones. As developers at Netflix have noted, Android doesn’t include a system-wide DRM scheme to prevent people from saving video streams without the content owners’ permission. So it’s up to each individual phone manufacturer to put tools in place to enable copy-protection, and Hulu will likely have to work directly with phone makers and chip manufacturers to ensure its app works properly on each device.

In other words, there’s no technical reason Hulu, Netflix, or any other company couldn’t launch an app today that would stream video to all Android phones. There are already plenty of apps that do just that. But since Hulu and Netflix have close relationships with copyright holders which they kind of want to protect, they’re going to have to make sure that any mobile apps have digital rights management features.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Hulu is working with Qualcomm and Texas Instruments — just as Netflix is already doing.

Watch Hulu, Netflix, Amazon on Android with PlayOn Mobile

PlayOn is an app that lets you stream audio and video from internet sites including Hulu, Netflix, and Comedy Central to devices that wouldn’t normally support them such as an Xbox 360 or a Nintendo Wii. PlayOn works by having you install a server application on your Windows computer which basically grabs the internet video and then streams it in a supported format to the appropriate device. Last year PlayOn released an app that works with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. And this week the company launched an Android app.

Now you can download and install the server software on a PC and then use the PlayOn Mobile app to watch web video on your Android phone or tablet, stream music from Pandora, or stream audio and video content your PC to your mobile phone.

PlayOn offers a 14-day free trial, after which you can sign up for a subscription at $40 for the first year and $20 per year after that, or a one-time payment of $80.

Earlier versions of PlayOn supported streaming content to video game consoles or an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad even if you had paid for an older license which ran as little as $9.99 at times. That’s what I signed up for. Unfortunately after upgrading to version 3.2 of PlayOn’s desktop software to add support for mobile streaming to Android devices, I was informed that Hulu, Netflix, Amazon VOD, and pretty much every other online video source was now a “premium preview” feature, meaning that you have to pay for a new license to continue streaming after the trial expires.

Fortunately you can also stream local content using the My Media Beta feature for free.

When I first installed the PlayOn Android app, I was able to pull up a list of available channels and view programs available for viewing. What I wasn’t able to do was actually stream any content. It turns out PlayOn didn’t know how to automatically work with my WiFi router to support streaming to a mobile device, and after spending a good 20 minutes looking for a way to manually configure my router I’m about ready to give up. Interestingly, I’m having no problem streaming video to my iPod touch though.

If you do manage to get the app working, you should be able to stream content over a WiFi or 3G connection as long as your PC is running and the PlayOn desktop client is active.

The PlayOn mobile app for Android is available as a free download from the Android Market. It supports Android 2.2 and up. You can also check out a promo video from PlayOn after the break.

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Hulu Plus coming soon to Google Android

Online video service Hulu has announced that it will soon offer its Hulu Plus service for Android phones. Hulu Plus is a subscription-based service that allows users to view more episodes of more TV shows than Hulu offers for free. The Hulu Plus service is also currently the only way to view Hulu content on an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.

Hulu’s web site is Flash-based, but Hulu blocks mobile browsers, so that even Android phones that support Flash can’t get Hulu videos to play unles you jump through some hurdles (which may, or may not work). So it’s pretty good news that Hulu plans to bring Hulu Plus to Android.

The bad news is that not all phones will be supported. You’ll need Android 2.2 and up, and even then only certain phones will be supported. That likely has to do with the way Android handles DRM… or rather, doesn’t handle DRM. Netflix has already explained that the reason it’s taking so long to bring its video streaming service to the Android platform is because the company has to work with individual phone makers and wireless carriers to enable support for the Netflix DRM. I imagine Hulu has to do the same.

It seems like some Samsung phones will be among the first to support Hulu Plus when it rolls out in a few months, since the announcement came during the Samsung Keynote at CES this evening.


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