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Tag: "Hulu"

Hulu Plus Subscriptions now only $7.99 – TV for your iPad

By | November 17, 2010 | 1 comment
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When Hulu launched its Hulu Plus iPad app and video subscription service earlier this year, people were scrambling get one of the highly coveted invitations to participate in the private launch.  If you missed getting in on the private launch,  don’t worry.  Hulu announced today that their Hulu Plus service is now open to anyone willing to pay the $7.99 monthly fee.

If you love TV, chances are you’re already familiar with Hulu’s online TV service.  The web site lets viewers watch popular TV shows from major studios including ABC, Fox and NBC all from the comfort of their Mac or PC.  The Hulu web service is free, but viewers have to put up with advertising inserted into their TV shows, much like what they would get when watching a TV show on cable or broadcast TV. Unfortunately the Hulu Plus subscription service doesn’t eliminate the ads and this has been one of the biggest complaints against it.

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TV Shedding Audience as iPad and iPhone Gain Popularity

By | October 11, 2010 | No comment yet
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A new study published by Flurry was released earlier today: after the notebooks and the PCs, the good old television seems to be another casualty of the iPad and iPhone’s popularity.

After enjoying more than 50 years of comfortable growth, the television industry hit troubled waters in the nineties, as new technologies allowed users to radically change their viewing patterns. Since then, because of the advent of the DVR, the launch of the Internet, and the fact that our lifestyles demand more and more flexibility, the industry has been trying to reinvent itself, as less and less viewers are willing to watch linear content. To fight back, networks have been forced to push more and more content online and to multimedia stores such as iTunes, and even created dedicated sites such as Hulu.

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PlayOn Available for iPad with Wi-Fi and 3G

By | September 17, 2010 | 2 comments
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Are you a PlayOn user? If you’ve been looking forward to enjoy PlayOn content on your iPad without solely depending on your iPod Touch and iPhone, or without tricking your iPad into using PlayOn, then you’re in luck.  Up until today, PlayOn users could only use the web app to enjoy streaming content on iPod Touch and iPhone.

Today, PlayOn announced a free sofware update for PlayOn Premium service, which enables users to stream media to their iPads using HTML5 and Safari. With this update, you can now stream content from Hulu, Netflix, ESPN3, ABC, MTV, Comedy Central, CBS, TV.com, PBS, SpikeTV and more over WiFi and 3G.

In order to use PlayOn streaming, all you have to do is pair up your iPad to a networked PC and a subscription to PlayOn’s Premium service. Of course, there are other streaming services out there today, but if you haven’t used PlayOn before, the company is already offering a free 14 day trial. If you decide to join the PlayOn streaming service after the free trial is over, you can buy a subscription for $39.99 for the first year, and $19.99 for each year thereafter. A lifetime license is also available for a one-time payment of $79.99.

If you’re already an existing PlayOn Premium subscriber, you can simply download the update to your PC and begin streaming videos immediately to your iPad. PlayOn Basic customers will be required to upgrade to Premium to take advantage of the new feature.

To try PlayOn absolutely free for 14 days, simply click here. For more information about how to access PlayOn using your iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, click here.

Did You Get Your Hulu Plus Preview Invite?

By | August 2, 2010 | 13 comments
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Today, we’ve received a few tips from readers who have started receiving Hulu Plus preview invites. It seems there are many in queue awaiting for their official invites.

In case you were not aware of it, Hulu is asking for feedback for their Hulu Plus service as they get ready to launch the service across several platforms, including your iPad.

If you don’t know what Hulu Plus is, it’s a $9.99/month service that allows you to manage and view your favorite shows for an iPad, iPhone, computer, or connected TV. The service has been touted as one that will give you access to full seasons of your favorite TV shows versus just a few recent episodes that you normally find on Hulu’s free service. In addition, Hulu Plus will provide 720p HD quality video streamed over either WiFi or 3G.

If you’re one of the lucky ones that have already received the preview invite, please share your comments with us. Send us an email or feel free to share comments below. We’re interested on hearing about your experience. Will this be the future of web-based television? Will it replace the way you consume TV shows today?

Hulu Plus for iPad – Limited by TV Content Licenses

By | July 17, 2010 | 2 comments
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Just about 3 weeks ago Hulu announced their subscription TV service giving users access to an even deeper set of TV content over a number of new devices, including your iPad.

The new service, dubbed Hulu Plus, has been touted as a service that gives you access to full seasons of your favorite TV shows versus just a few recent episodes that you normally find on Hulu’s free service.

This week Hulu acknowledged that Hulu Plus users on some devices can’t get access to the entire video catalog. Owners of iPads, PS3 consoles and other Hulu viewing devices are finding out they only get a subset of all the video content available on the Hulu website.

But, why are they running into this problem? It’s simple. Anytime you want to provide someone else’s video content you must have the licensing rights to include some of the shows as part of your premium offering. Hulu doesn’t have the licensing for all TV shows and episodes out there.

In addition, the licensing for free episodes doesn’t transfer to Hulu’s $10 monthly subscription. This prevents Hulu from offering their full video catalog via their dedicated apps, such as the iPad app.

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Hulu Plus Subscription Service for the iPad Unveiled

By | June 29, 2010 | 1 comment
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Hulu just announced they will offer a subscription TV service giving users access to an even deeper set of TV content over a number of new devices. The new service,  dubbed Hulu Plus,  gives subscribers access to full seasons of their favorite TV shows versus just a few recent episodes that you normally find on Hulu’s free service.

Hulu Plus now supports the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and provides 720p HD quality video streamed over either WiFi or 3G.  The Hulu Plus service will cost $9.99 per month and although the service will continue to be ad supported, there is no word if the number of ads per episode will be kept at the same level as Hulu’s free service.

Jason Kilar, Hulu’s CEO,  is excited about the new service and said “you can always pull up Hulu Plus on your laptop, but starting today you can access Hulu content via Wi-Fi or 3G on another device: the Apple iPad. I’ve been watching Hulu on my iPad for several weeks now, and I’ve watched more TV through the iPad than any other device.”

If you’re interested in signing up for the service, it is on an invitation only basis for now but will “soon” be opened up for everyone to subscribe.

Update: The free Hulu Plus app is now available in the Apple App store

Hulu Subscription Service Could Come to iPad Next Week

By | June 25, 2010 | 4 comments
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As reported by PadGadget multiple times over the last couple months, Hulu has been experimenting with new ways to deliver its content, including the iPad. Rumor has it that the video site is finally ready and will launch its new service as early as next week. The service will be subscription-based, and is currently tentatively called “Hulu Plus”.

According to CNET, the launch will be limited 10,000 people only, in order to get some early feedback before the service launches on a large scale. Since Hulu Plus is considered a “premium service” by Hulu, it will cost $9.95 per month – a pretty steep price tag given that a majority of the content made available can also be watched through other means, such as Netflix. However, the subscription will offer a deeper catalog of shows than the free service currently offers, and will let you watch a larger selection of new shows, the day after they air on TV. Currently, Hulu is mostly financed by ad sales, and is betting on this new subscription service to increase its revenue quickly.

People familiar with the matter have already confirmed that the new service will be iPad-ready from day 1.

iPad Users Have to Wait for Hulu

By | May 13, 2010 | 1 comment
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If you’re waiting to watch Hulu on your iPad, it looks like you’ll need to wait a bit longer.  Eugene Wei, VP of Product at Hulu announced on their blog that they will stick with Flash and not move to HTML5 in the near term.

“Let me address a related topic that’s been in the news a lot recently: HTML5. Plenty of users and members of the press ask about this topic all the time…We continue to monitor developments on HTML5, but as of now it doesn’t yet meet all of our customers’ needs.”

This of course means iPhone, iPod and iPad users will still not be able to view any video from Hulu’s site for the foreseeable future. Hulu has been one of the top websites demanded by many of our readers.

Hulu’s announcement is a bit surprising as rival site CBS.com announced they would have all their CBS.com video available for the iPad this fall thanks to an HTML5 site redesign. Of course Hulu could decide to release a dedicated iPad app, much the same way ABC has done with their hit app, to deliver their video programming to iPad and iPhone owners.

We would be surprised if Hulu stays on the sideline much longer while rivals continue to release programming for iPhone and iPad users.  This market is simply becoming to large and valuable for media companies to ignore.

ABC’s iPad App a Hit

By | May 10, 2010 | 2 comments
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As many predicted, Apple’s iPad has become a must-have device for video enthusiasts.  The iPad’s high definition screen and small form factor make it convenient to carry around the house, or on the road, and watch great looking TV shows or movies.

ABC’s iPad application has been extremely popular here at PadGadget HQ and it looks like we are not the only ones that love ABC TV.  Disney, ABC’s parent company, announced users have downloaded the app over 400,000 times and they have watched more than 1.5 million TV shows in the first month of the app being available on the market. That’s over 39 million minutes of Internet TV!  With these numbers, it’s no wonder Hulu and CBS are looking to jump on the iPad TV bandwagon.

ABC recently updated their iPad app to add 3G wireless connectivity allowing iPad users to watch TV anyplace at anytime. There was some initial concern among readers that video quality while streaming over 3G vs WiFi would not be as good. Our informal tests showed the two devices produced similar results but WiFi still had the best video quality.

Curious what folks are watching on ABC?  To date, the top five series viewed on the iPad are:

  • Lost
  • Modern Family
  • V
  • Dancing with the Stars
  • Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

Hulu Subscription Service for iPad?

By | April 23, 2010 | 4 comments
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The Los Angeles Times reports that Hulu intends to release its subscription service on May 24th. The newspaper cited people who have knowledge of the plans, although the company declined to comment. Hulu is not planning to abandon free content, as the company plans to offer the five most recent episodes of popular shows outside of the subscription plan.

According to the Los Angeles Times, under the proposal, Hulu would continue to provide for free the five most recent episodes of shows like Fox’s “Glee,” “ABC’s “Lost” or NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” But viewers who want to see additional episodes would pay $9.95 a month to access a more comprehensive selection, called Hulu Plus.

Earlier reports have claimed, that Hulu has been planning to roll out the subscription service for the iPad as a means of testing the subscription model. So, it is very possible we see an iPad version of Hulu on or soon after May 24th.

Will you pay $10 for a Hulu subscription?

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