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Hulu Testing Client App; Boxee Dispute Explained

Posted by kdawson on from the my-way-or-the-i-way dept.

N!NJA sends in word of Hulu's new beta section, Hulu Labs, which is now showcasing Hulu Desktop, a client that runs on both Windows and Mac. The author believes that Hulu Desktop explains why Hulu has been so touchy about Boxee. "This clearly explains why Hulu has been so persistent in blocking Boxee — an open-source media-center application for Macs, Apple TVs, and other devices — from including its content. Since Hulu provides free, ad-based mainstream content from the largest studios and networks in the business, they are under tight constraints imposed by these major players. We have already seen good examples of where Hulu is heading with integrated advertising inside the browser. A desktop client produced in-house will be much more conducive to monetizing Hulu using these kinds of campaigns."

4 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. No love for the Penguin? by lordofthechia · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This has been asked before, but... where's the Linux version? And will we need a liquid cooled Phenom x4 processor to render the Adobe video in full screen?

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    Georgia Tech, the leader in Chia(tm) technology.
    1. Re:No love for the Penguin? by phrend · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I would think that it has more to do with the markets that the advertisers are paying to reach... if the advertisers are marketing a product that only exists in the USA, then allowing other countries access to the video doesn't make financial sense. I suspect that the technology will mature over time, and it will reach a point where they can insert local advertisements in to the video streams on the fly, and allow access to every geographic location they receive advertising dollars from... but, what do I know - I'm just an outsider guessing here. :)

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      - phrend
  2. I don't think ads were the sticky issue with Boxee by IANAAC · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As I run Boxee on Ubuntu and I get all the ads from Hulu. Currently using the latest Boxee build, which uses the Hulu public feeds.

  3. Adobe Flash. It Hurts. by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Interesting
    From the article:

    As Hulu's popularity has skyrocketed over the past year, users have been clamoring for a way to get it out of the browser and into the living room. Hulu Desktop looks like quite a major effort towards answering this call, so we'll have to see how users respond.

    Hulu Desktop is a free download and requires a Mac with a 2.4GHz Intel Core Duo or comparable processor, 2GB of RAM, and Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or later. You'll also need Adobe Flash 9.0.124 and a 2Mbps Internet connection.

    Great, something about to explode in the consumer market passing up on open source and instead locking everyone and all their hardware in to the requirement of Adobe Flash. You want to discuss why you need a core duo to run this!?

    *massages his forehead* I see in the future ... people having to pay again ... for their hardware and ... software and ... codecs and ... media licenses and ... internet connection and ... no one will have enough money to afford it anyway.

    There's free (and I mean actually free) alternatives out there that could make it so that hardware manufacturers and mobile companies don't have to get Adobe Flash on their devices. I'm not sure why Hulu isn't beefing up other open source software, containers and codecs to meet these needs. It would certainly make it easier for them to satisfy the media licenses with ad revenue. Oh well, enjoy your setback.

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    My work here is dung.