Reuters: Hulu plans to expand to iPad, Xbox 360, offer subscription service

We've already heard rumors of Hulu coming to the iPad and Xbox 360, and rumors of a subscription service, and it looks like those might now all be coming together. According to Reuters, two sources and "another with knowledge of the matter" say that Hulu will be rolling out to "multiple devices" in the next month or two -- only the iPad and Xbox 360 are mentioned by name -- and that it will indeed be offering a subscription service. As we had heard, the subscription service would apparently only be for older episodes of TV shows and other content -- you'd still be able to watch new episodes of shows for free -- and it sounds like it will apply to Hulu as a whole, not just those aforementioned devices. Not many more details than that, unfortunately, but this does certainly seem to be taking on a feeling of inevitability.

[The Albatross Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:25PM]

This is great news, I might actually watch new TV now.

[madwh Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:30PM]

@The Albatross In other news I'm enjoying hulu on my iPhone NOW. http://i.imgur.com/EK798.png

[Sled Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:31PM]

@The Albatross
Still sucks for everywhere besides the states,
The rest of the world doesn't care about Hulu

[Peter Church Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:35PM]

@The Albatross

So the two biggest arguments for Flash, Farmville and Hulu, are being extinguished in the not too distant future by ports to the iPad. So what else is left?

[N900 Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:38PM]

@Peter Church I have a better question: Which do people really hate, Flash as a video format, Flash as a animation/vector editor, or Flash in general?

I generally see people saying "DIE FLASH DIE" but they need to know that Flash isn't ONLY for video...

[Derrik Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:39PM]

The PSN Network is down NOOOOO

[MattsZ Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:40PM]

@Peter Church

exactly, this is all around win... I personally can't wait until I can farm from my iPhone.

[Psyclotr0n Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:40PM]

@The Albatross
i love how none of these replies have anything to do with Albatross' post

[Peter Church Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:52PM]

@N900

I hate Flash in general, but my kids like Flash games, so I guess it has uses. I would rather have a native game on my iPhone however. I can't imagine playing Flash games on my phone, even if it was supported. Flash games barely work in the browser, Mac or PC.

[hodedofome Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:56PM]

@madwh Sounds hard dude :)

[N900 Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:56PM]

@Peter Church I can imagine that. Flash objects have a love-hate relationship on my 5800; sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. I would also prefer native games.

Although I DO love Flash games. I have a collection of them in .swf format on my computer. They don't do so well in maximized resolution (On my old Acer, though), but I love playing them.

I also believe that Adobe should step their game up when 10.1 is out of beta and RC. Flash animators do some pretty awesome things and I would love to see their animations and work on my laptop (running without hiccups, of course ^^). So they need to get to work.

But, that's all I wanted to know. Thanks for the input.

[JXCGunrunna Posted Jun 9th 2010 1:01PM]

@Peter Church

I play games from mini clip on my droid and they work really well. I will agree that Flash is pretty stupid for a video container.

[Bakerdk Posted Jun 9th 2010 1:07PM]

Engadget - any word on iPhone support for Hulu? I'm assuming a subscription would allow it to head to the iPhone too, not just the iPad.



.

[Btbessey Posted Jun 9th 2010 1:15PM]

@Derrik
No it's not? I'm fine anyways. North Carolina USA

[Accelerator Posted Jun 9th 2010 1:48PM]

@Peter Church
Sorry if I am wrong , but you seem to me like a fanboy trying to spread misinformation

Flash on windows is ROCK SOLID
I don't remember having ONE crash on firefox and i can litteraly over 20 youtube videos open and play a 720p one without any lag.
Btw ,this is on a w7 laptop with a 2.16ghz c2d and an intergrated intel graphics card + 3gb of ram.

Am i the only one that finds flash stable? It works just as fine on my sister's laptop which is even weaker

Literally the only time flash crashed my browser was when i wrote an actionscript to crash it ( while(1){x++} , it would overload )

[Cru Posted Jun 9th 2010 1:56PM]

@The Albatross
It's not 3d? It's obsolete.

[drange Posted Jun 9th 2010 2:05PM]

@Accelerator
If you can crash it with a script like that, it really is a pile of junk. Infinite loops are one of the most common results of programming errors, and the should never ever crash anything.

Also, I don't think you'll find many people who think flash on windows is unstable or slow, because it isn't. But that doesn't really help anyone on Linux, os x or mobile...

[FORDY Posted Jun 9th 2010 2:07PM]

@The Albatross
Err, will they expand to the UK?

Please?!

I hate VPN...

[Almo Posted Jun 9th 2010 2:55PM]

@FORDY

I wish but unlikely. Netflix never bothered, doubt Hulu will.

[deliteguy Posted Jun 9th 2010 3:40PM]

@Accelerator
Same here, it has never been an issue to me. I would have loved to see hulu on ps3 though... Since I believe they took it out from the browser...

[bravokiloromeo Posted Jun 9th 2010 4:38PM]

The Xbox 360 is about to become the best multimedia console ever.

[Bean Posted Jun 9th 2010 11:53PM]

@The Albatross
Definitely Agree, this is great news. I would most surely keep up with TV (or at least not get more than 5 weeks behind) if I could stream it through my 360 on demand. As long as they keep the new shows free, I'll be happy. If it's that old, I guess I didn't really want to see it anyway.

Also, I'll gladly watch their commercials (which probably only amount to 5-10 minutes per hour of programming) rather than pay a fee, regardless how small.

[osiris2600 Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:26PM]

no ps3 love?

[schmidt1985 Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:30PM]

@osiris2600
NO joke. I would love some PS3 action for hulu. Although there are plenty of other ways to watch hulu on a tv it would just be nice and easy this way.

[BMills Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:40PM]

@osiris2600

Yeah its really sad that this used to work, and then the PS3 browser was kicked out.

[PolarBearTC Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:55PM]

@BMills Not only that, but the OtherOS feature allowed you to use other workarounds even after the PS3 Browser got blocked... I was considering OtherOS for that reason alone... oh well

[NHAnimator Posted Jun 9th 2010 1:13PM]

@osiris2600

Well, they didn't exactly list all of the devices that are included. Nor did they exclude them. So the love may still be there.

[Christopher02 Posted Jun 9th 2010 1:41PM]

@osiris2600
Still using PlayON to stream Hulu to the PS3. It has worked flawlessly for me all this year, and was just a little buggy last year. I can watch all the content on Hulu without a subscription.

[nrb Posted Jun 9th 2010 2:13PM]

OTA broadcasters don't care what brand TV I use.
Cable companies don't care what brand TV I use.
Satellite companies don't' care what brand TV I use.

Hulu creating exclusive agreements with particular manufacturers does not bode well for the acceptance of their technology.

[Temple Posted Jun 9th 2010 3:06PM]

@PolarBearTC

That's BS. You can't run Flash in OtherOS/PS3 Linux because there are no PPC-builds of Flash. The only way of getting Flash to work on PS3 Linux is by using Gnash (OSS Flash alternative), and Gnash doesn't work with Hulu.

PS3 Linux wasn't remotely useful. Good riddance.

You can use Squid to get Hulu working on PS3
http://www.ypass.net/blog/2009/06/got-a-ps3-want-hulu-back-easy-enough/

Or as someone has already mentioned, just use PlayOn (also works for playing Hulu on Wii and 360)

[techlord Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:28PM]

PS3 and Android want it

[jjrudey Posted Jun 9th 2010 1:57PM]

@techlord I know right? the two things I actually have.

[Christopher02 Posted Jun 9th 2010 2:18PM]

@techlord
Do not want more monthly subscriptions... no thanks (Goes back to watch recent Office episodes from Hulu on his PS3)

[taylorsmith246 Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:28PM]

As I sit here with my PS3, weeping tears of envy in HD......

[WYGUY Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:30PM]

Roku please!

[cashmonee Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:31PM]

If this happens, bye bye Dish!!! Between this, MLB.tv and Netflix, there really is not anything Dish, or any TV provider can offer me that I want.

[element4life3 Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:55PM]

@cashmonee Ditto! But what about NFL? I know I need that! Otherwise I could die happy!

[dibs oddjob Posted Jun 9th 2010 1:35PM]

@cashmonee

What about local MLB games?

[cashmonee Posted Jun 9th 2010 1:37PM]

@dibs oddjob Luckily, I am not a fan of my local team. I am a displaced Cubs fan living in CA.

[penetronn Posted Jun 9th 2010 5:46PM]

@cashmonee

That's exactly what I said cash. By the numbers, 92% of the programming we watch in my household is available free ota or online. Offering essentially a time-shifted, place shifted dvr service for a minimal monthly fee sounds better than cable or satellite any day.

[AckbarsFist Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:31PM]

This would be cool, but Hulu needs HD content.

[DepMcL Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:32PM]

Finally! Now only if Comedy Central would come back.. I watch Colbert, Stewart and hoped to have Futurama on Hulu.

[awalk Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:50PM]

@DepMcL

I know! I fully agree. Hulu lost most of the alure with the lose of Comedy Central.

[masterxace Posted Jun 9th 2010 2:47PM]

@awalk I ditched dish for online content for my family. Hulu with play on is great and if you use play on scripts u can get comedy central too. Plus southparkstudios and a boatload of other stuff.

[IamTheFij Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:32PM]

Great! now people don't have to look at ads any more when watching old shows and they can go back to Pirating!

Idiots...

People want what's convenient. If they can't find a quick easy version on hulu of old shows, even with ads, they will pirate them and the network will get no revenue. This is a stupid move.

[Dale P Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:33PM]

I own both, maybe I can watch SNL skits in stereo. WOO!

[coolduder1 Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:33PM]

Cool

[MarqBland Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:34PM]

Better hope that iPad's data plan is from before 6/7!

[PiCASSO Posted Jun 9th 2010 12:53PM]

@MarqBland

Exactly what I was thinking. I don't plan on keeping my $30/unlimited plan next month, and possibly not for a while longer. So when the 2GB cap comes into effect, I can see how through a few Hulu shows it will take before it's reached.

[jsbaugh Posted Jun 9th 2010 1:09PM]

@MarqBland True, but I know I spend probably 90% of my ipad time on a wifi connection. I cant picture people spending ours watching hulu on 3G. I think for most the capped connection isnt that bog of a deal.