After Hours: Hulu goes offline, Tile’s new Bluetooth trackers, more

Ben Schoon | Oct 8 2019 - 5:30 pm PT

In the lead-up to Google’s big event next week, some of the day’s big stories included a new feature for Google’s smart displays and speakers and Samsung updates, but some other recent stories include Hulu finally adding downloads and more.

About After Hours: In this daily roundup, we cover some of the more minor stories regarding Android and Google from the day with additional commentary. To catch up on everything we publish, check out some of the biggest stories of the day below, and listen to 9to5Google Daily every morning.

Roku debuts another new soundbar that’s very affordable

A few weeks ago, Roku announced a new soundbar that works just like the Android TV-powered JBL Link Bar. That product isn’t super cheap, however, but there’s a new solution coming soon. Roku has partnered with Walmart to deliver a new soundbar and a new subwoofer that cost $129 each and deliver the Roku platform in a soundbar (via TechCrunch).

In related news, Roku is also playing around with some new pop-up ads on TVs that recognize content that is playing and serves up interactive ads. The Verge has more details on that.

Hulu is finally letting you download content for offline viewing

Starting with iOS, Hulu is finally letting users download content for offline viewing. The functionality will eventually roll out to Android and allows those with an ad-free Hulu plan to download (via Engadget) quite a lot of the content on the platform including original shows and films as well as hit shows including This is Us, How I Met Your Mother, Family Guy, and many others.

Tile introduces new Bluetooth trackers that are super-small

If you’ve ever lost the remote, your keys, or anything else super-small, Tile’s new product is for you. The new Tile Sticker is a $20 (sold in 2-pack for $39 or 4-pack for $59) tracker that sticks onto basically anything with a strong adhesive. The product has a three-year battery life and can be detected by your phone within 150 feet.