While Android TV has seen a ton of new apps and growth as a platform overall, it’s still often neglected. Today, Hulu is finally getting around to updating its Android TV app with the new interface and Live TV capabilities that launched on other platforms nearly two years ago.
Hulu is one of the biggest streaming platforms out there today, but it lacks the 4K content that its competitors in Netflix and Prime Video have in huge quantity. This week, Hulu quietly revealed that 4K streaming is back after it was previously removed, and it works on Chromecast and Apple TV.
Spotify and Hulu teamed up last year to offer a discounted bundle to students, and they have now done it again for the rest of us – though with some caveats …
Sprint announced today a partnership with Hulu to give customers unlimited access to Hulu’s Limited Commercial plan. This plan allows for both new and existing customers to stream all the movies and television shows straight to their mobile devices.
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Android TV is a great platform, but it’s overlooked by many. Hulu’s Android TV app has always felt neglected to me, but it’s slowly getting better. Most recently, Hulu’s Android TV app has picked up the ability to work with Google Assistant for finding shows and movies.
Hulu is making its streaming live TV and on demand content available to users via its website today. Although the update brings the functionality to users now, the company notes the new feature will be an optional beta…
As much as I love Android TV, I’ll also be the first to admit that its apps don’t get the attention they deserve. One major culprit of that is Hulu, but today the streaming provider is taking a step in the right direction by updating its UI at little bit.
Most of us watch TV in one form or another, but many people have been cutting the cord and diving headfirst into streaming services. Recently, YouTube and Hulu have debuted their own plans for streaming live TV channels, and starting today, one of the biggest names in television is starting to track those services.
Last week Hulu signed A+E Networks for its upcoming live TV service that will be launching this spring and today it has updated its website promoting the upcoming service with new information and a promotional video. Notably, it shares a glimpse at a brand new UI and some of the upcoming features of the sub $40/month service.
Hulu has started the official roll out of profiles to their 12 million subscribers. Profiles will allow multiple viewers sharing a single Hulu account to create a personalized experience for each. The move to personalized profiles comes after their decision to move away from free TV episode offerings and focus on a subscription centric model.
Daydream VR is finally here and for those who pre-ordered the Pixel early, promo codes for a free headset should be in their inboxes. Once you get a headset, the first thing you’ll want is some content to go along with it. There are plenty of apps already available with Daydream support, but now Hulu has updated its Android app with support.
After over 9 years, Hulu is making a major change to its services by shutting down free TV episodes and moving to subscription services only (via Variety). Current subscribers won’t be affected and prices won’t be changing as the same $7.99 and $11.99 plans will be available, however all free content will be moving over to “Yahoo View.”
Time Warner has confirmed that it is buying a 10% stake in online TV service Hulu, after lengthy talks with the loss-making service, reports Variety. It has been reported that the stake is costing the company around $580M, valuing Hulu at $5.8B.
Google is pushing ahead with its plans to launch a paid YouTube service by the end of this year. So far, it’s signed up YouTube partners accounting for more than 90% of it views, but major TV networks are still holding out. Fox, NBC and CBS (among others) are still holding back according to Bloomberg’s sources.
Without support from TV networks, YouTube will have to attract paying subscribers with its own original content, or try and attract payers with nothing more than its home-grown stars and music videos. But that doesn’t mean the company is down-beat. There are many more options on its plate.
The subscription-based video on demand market could see a significant shake-up this year as it was reported that YouTube has started to negotiate licensing deals for its own service to compete with services like Netflix and Hulu.
Variety quoted an unnamed YouTube partner as saying that the company not only wanted to discuss a licensing deal, but was extremely aggressive in its approach.
An exec at one YouTube partner says reps from the vidsite reached out late last year about an SVOD licensing deal. But the offer came with a warning: If the partner didn’t agree to the terms of the subscription service, it would be excluded from any future ad revenue — a tactic YouTube has used in dealing with independent music companies that refused to get onboard with Music Key.
This is the same approach YouTube was said to have taken to persuade independent music labels to sign-up for the company’s subscription music service …
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A post on the official Android Google+ page today announced that Google and Hulu have partnered up “in the spirit of the season” to provide free streaming access to the current seasons of popular TV shows for customers in the US.
The free Hulu app typically requires a Hulu Plus account ($7.99/month) to stream anything on a mobile device. The Google+ post didn’t specify how long this offer will last, or if older episodes will also be included in the deal, but wording seems to indicate that it’s only available during the holiday season.
You can grab the Hulu app for free from Google Play.
YouTube style star Michelle Phan, whose videos have 3.6M views
Top YouTube video creators are being offered bonuses in return for multi-year exclusivity deals in which they guarantee to post content on YouTube first, reports the WSJ.
Facebook Inc. and video startup Vessel, among others, have tried to lure YouTube creators to their services in recent months, according to people familiar with the discussions.
In response, Google is offering some of its top video makers bonuses to sign multiyear deals in which they agree to post content exclusively on YouTube for a time before putting it on a rival service.
YouTube is reportedly particularly concerned about subscription video startup Vessel, founded by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar …
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When the Chromecast originally launched more than a year ago, early buyers were offered three free months of Netflix as a bonus. That offer quickly ran out, but various other deals have popped up since. Now, Google is giving anyone who buys a Chromecast from October 1st through the end of the year two free months of Hulu Plus.
Hulu Plus currently runs $7.99, meaning that you’re getting a $16 value with your Chromecast purchase. While Hulu may not have quite the selection of Netflix, that’s still a great offer when the Chromecast only costs $35 to begin with.
The offer will be redeemable through chromecast.com/offers during the set-up process for new Hulu Plus and Chromecast users beginning October 1st. Keep an eye on 9to5toys.com for the latest Chromecast deals, as well.
YouTube announced this evening in a blog post that, once again, it plans to start funding original content. Two years ago, YouTube announced plans to spend more than $100 million to get content creators to create YouTube channels on which to share videos. With that plan, they focused on bringing in outside entertainers. With this new push, however, YouTube says it will focus on helping the self-funded and self-published stars on the site grow.
Happy birthday, Chromecast! That’s what Google is saying today as it announced the HDMI media streaming stick has been used to cast content 400 million times in the 12 months since it launched. The Chromecast, of course, allows you to stream content from services like Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora to your HDTV from your Android or iOS as well as your computer via the Chrome browser.
We’ve added hundreds of your favorite apps, including WatchESPN, Pandora, Hulu Plus, HBO GO and PBS Kids; announced new features like mirroring your Android device to the TV and expanded to 30,000 stores across 20 countries.
That’s certainly a lot of casting from the $35 accessory, and Google is giving all Chromecast users 90 days of its Google Play Music All Access service for free to celebrate. The offer to redeem 3 months of free access to the $9.99/month music subscription service will run from today, July 24th, through September 30th, for all existing Chromecast customers not already subscribed to All Access.
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If you’re not familiar with Popcorn Time, it’s an app that allows you to stream movie and TV show torrents without any of the hassles usually associated with torrents – what you get is an interface which looks just like Netflix or Hulu. Thanks to a popular forked version, you’ll soon be able to watch that content on your TV when Chromecast support is added …
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Google is about to launch a new Android TV platform at its upcoming Google I/O conference in June, according to a new report from GigaOM. The report claims the new platform will be a revamped vision of what Google already has with its Google TV platform and will focus mainly on online content and Android gaming rather than integrating with existing pay TV services:
Android TV won’t be another device, but rather a platform that manufacturers of TVs and set-top boxes can use to bring streaming services to the television. In that way, it is similar to Google TV, the platform the company unveiled at its 2010 Google I/O conference. But while Google TV was focused on marrying existing pay TV services with apps, Android TV will at least initially be all about online media services and Android-based video games.
Google has apparently been making deals with partners in the lead up to launching the new platform, some of which are said to include Netflix and Hulu Plus as well as hardware partners that will build and sell the Android TV devices. The report also shared some details on the Android TV UI:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhKZ0fQhbeg]
Amazon recently surprised us with its Fire TV set-top box, offering a native solution for customers to stream movies, music, and even play games. Fire TV will only set you back $99, and in my opinion, it’s just what Amazon needed. Instead of relying on third-party streaming solutions, Amazon now has the power to take its media services in a new direction. Take a look at our overview video above to see Fire TV in action.
For years now companies have been claiming to that they make the perfect set-top box, with Amazon being the most recent to do so with its FireTV. Notably missing from this arm’s race, however, has been Google. The company was one of the first to offer a set-top box OS with Google TV, but the idea quickly failed and was never widely adopted. Over the past year, reports have started to emerge claiming that Google is plaining a reentrance into the set-top box market with an Android-powered set-top box. The Verge has now published an extensive report on Android TV, with screenshots of the actual interface and much more.
The report, which cites internal Google documents, claims that the idea is far along in development with major app providers already building for the platform as we speak. While Google TV was also based off of Android, this new revision is entirely rebuilt and is something very different. “Android TV is an entertainment interface, not a computing platform,” writes Google. “It’s all about finding and enjoying content with the least amount of friction.” It will be “cinematic, fun, fluid, and fast.”
