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No doubt, Hulu’s been kicking butt in growing their web audience by providing legit, mainstream television content. And word is they’re now considering international expansion. So Engadget’s ‘Best portable Internet device‘ query has got me thinking… Are there any mobile devices capable of streaming Hulu shows?
Let me start by saying “best” is a relative term term - In my experience, the iPhone provides the most efficient and enjoyable way to browse the web on a small form factor device. However, it’s obviously not the “best” browser for visiting sites that embed Abode Flash. While Apple’s gone outside the browser to offer YouTube via a custom interface and H.264 content, a large percentage of web video is off limits. Such as Hulu.
The Nokia N800 and N810 Internet Tablets also utilize a highly regarded web browser - Mozilla-based and with Flash support. Though, you’ll probably need to use the stylus… Supposedly YouTube does OK, but reports on Hulu have been mixed as Steve O’Hear of Last100 and I discovered this AM - seems like the CPU and/or Flash version aren’t sufficient to present smooth video playback.
Other than bringing a Windows UMPC into the mix, is anyone aware of a mobile device that’s capable of streaming Hulu video?
(And let’s not even talk about Netflix Watch Instantly and Microsoft DRM… Though, Silverlight will be going mobile - which might have come in handy at NBCOlympics.com this month.)
8 Responses for "Hulu on Mobile Devices?"
“..Other than bringing a Windows UMPC into the mix, is anyone aware of a mobile device that’s capable of streaming Hulu video?”
Ask the people over at Adobe’s “Open Screen Project” skunkworks thingy, they have an answer to your question:
“…The Open Screen Project is dedicated to driving consistent rich Internet experiences across televisions, personal computers, mobile devices, and consumer electronics. The Open Screen Project is supported by technology leaders, including Adobe, ARM, Chunghwa Telecom, Cisco, Intel, LG Electronics Inc., Marvell, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics Co., Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Verizon Wireless, and leading content providers, including BBC, MTV Networks, and NBC Universal, who want to deliver rich Web and video experiences, live and on-demand…
…The Open Screen Project is working to enable a consistent runtime environment and will address potential technology fragmentation by allowing the runtime technology to be updated seamlessly over the air on mobile devices.”
http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/
I am running skyfire beta browser on my AT&T 8525 and hulu as well as most video sites runs very well on the phone.
I’m on the waiting list for the Symbian S60 (N95) Skyfire Beta. Ready to check it out.
Im waiting on the Skyfire beta for the iphon…ohh right, why would apple allow another browser on the app store when they’ve already coded “The Perfect Browser”…
Skyfire Beta Codes:
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=515&t=902790
I’m using the beta on my Moto Q9M and it handles Hulu, Silverlight, youtube, everything. It is nice.
Obviously theres a need for three things here.
1) Form factor. 4+” screens for the long-format.
2) 3G
3) Processing power in CPU or hardware.
I believe Hulu uses FLV doesnt it? H.264 has got to be the way forward here as hardware decoding chips are popping up all over the place.
Intels Atom-based MIDs and Archos new 5G are the perfect place to start. The hardware market is only just beginning to get ready for this though.
Steve
Screen size is probably debatable and a personal preference. And instead of just 3G, I’d say 3G or WiFi. Processing power is debatable in some ways - I’ve been watching Slingbox on mobiles for a couple of years, including the old, krusty, and tired Palm OS. Though who knows what the requirements of Hulu are - their site is obviously not optimized for a mobile device.
Hulu may use Flash as an enclosure, but the content itself may be H.264. Not sure.
Wow, Skyfire really does a rather amazing job rendering some of these complex web pages. I’m amazed at how well it works on hulu and youtube. If you’ve got a supported handset (I’m using a non-3G AT&T Nokia E61i, so the Symbian version) you really should try it. This new approach (basically remote viewing of a page rendered elsewhere) seems to be pretty viable…
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