"Hulu Plus" app for iPhone

Anyone else catch this earlier today? Saw it on twitter and have been testing out the demo/beta all day. Very cool app. Not sure of it's worth 10 bucks at all but so far I like it. Between Hulu and Netflix though, and iOS4, the iPhone is starting to shape up. Hopefully Apple stays on top of things.

For those who can't find the app in the store, try this link:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hulu-...376510438?mt=8

Gizmodo Article:
http://gizmodo.com/5575719/hulu-plus...-eff-off-cable

• Oh, I wish the Netflix app on iPad felt this smooth. It's a real app on the iPhone, not a hacky web page that pushes content into iOS's native h.264 stream player.

• On an iPhone 4, videos look pretty good over 3G. Not great. But pretty good. More than good enough. Over Wi-Fi, they look marginally better. On an iPad, Joel says it's "roughly on par with the 480p streams on the web."

• Ads. Yes, there are ads. Yes, even though you're paying $10 a month. Yes, they're more annoying on a phone, since they're still 30 seconds, and occur at roughly the same intervals as they do with the normal free Hulu. (Plus on app consoles like the iPad and Xbox, you can't just switch over to another window while you wait.)

Clicking a button on the top right takes you to a web page for the ad using the in-app browser.

• Subscriptions to particular series are nice. Every time there's a new episode of 30 Rock it'll push it into your queue. (It may even send you a status update. We haven't tested that yet.) The queue is helpful, since browsing on here is slightly more annoying than on a computer, and it's linked to your Hulu account.

• Movies, oddly, are buried under the 'More' tab on the iPhone. (There's a proper tab for them on iPad.) But did I just start streaming High Fidelity over 3G? Yes I did.

• When you return the app it asks you if you'd like to resume watching what you were last watching. Lovely.

• There's a built-in search that works just as you'd expect.

• The standard Hulu player interface remains intact (which is nice), minus the thumbnail previews when you're scrubbing through a clip.

• On the iPad, it feels more or less just like Hulu.com. A clean, simple design has always been one of Hulu's strengths; that's a plus. On iPhone, it's more like an app, and there's a bit of a struggle to pack all of Hulu into such a small screen. Though it works, mostly. For instance, there isn't a great way to skim through episodes yet other than by air date, recently added or popular. When you get to the Buffy show page, you have to scroll through all 143 episodes, or go back to the search tab to find the one you want. The show splash pages are pretty, though.

• Which is all to say, this is powerful stuff. Hulu won't kill the traditional cable model today or even tomorrow (there are huge content holes, even as it offers 120 seasons and 2,000 episodes of TV, like every episode of Buffy ever). But you can start to see, more clearly than ever, how it might. The app's slick, and it's the full, undiluted Hulu experience. You can get to the TV you want nearly instantly. That's kind of a big thing.

[Sazar]

I was hoping to see a free version (I don't care if there are ads) but alas.

Play me a 2 minute ad at the start and then let me watch a show or a movie and I'll be kosher.

Paying 10 bucks is ridiculous, especially if I can just go ahead and stream shows over Orb without issues for free.

I would agree. Like I said, I would never pay 10 bucks for use of it. Thing is, even when you DO pay, their are still ads. Not cool.

Like you said, different options, like Orb, are available. Just thought I would post for others to see.

[ViN86]

I just downloaded it and it was free for me...

EDIT: wait the service is $10 or the app is?

EDIT 2: Ahh they have some free videos, but not all.

Originally Posted by ViN86

I just downloaded it and it was free for me...

The app is free (Says on iTunes "Free for a limited time" Hmm...) but they are going to start charging PER MONTH for use of it. Now, what I don't know if it is 10 bucks a month regardless or 10 bucks for all the PLUS content.

One thing I can't stand with mobile apps (iPhone) is that the website is free but then they make a mobile version and it costs money. That's ridiculous. Like Saz and I said, there are other ways to get it for free AND I can wait until I get home and watch on my PC.

[Albo]

n/g

Albo, if you're not going to add anything constructive to the thread, go to the Testing Forum.

Thanks.

[Albo]

Originally Posted by Bearclaw

Albo, if you're not going to add anything constructive to the thread, go to the Testing Forum.

Thanks.

Funny you are the one to say that.



Anyways, what is a good app to stream videos? That's also free. I looked up ORB, but it said I needed a TV Tuner on my PC? I'm willing to stream it on my PC or something but it shows up on my iPod.

Originally Posted by Bearclaw

Albo, if you're not going to add anything constructive to the thread, go to the Testing Forum.

Thanks.

.

[NaitoSan]

I wonder if $10 per month fee for Hulu Plus will let you access all contents on iPhone, Xbox Live and PSN? If that's the case... that's actually a pretty good deal. I'd just drop cable box and use this instead to save money.

[Sazar]

Hulu is not live TV so it will be interesting.

I don't watch a lot of TV so this MAY be a decent option if I drop my cable subscription.