A Bit More Hulu

Last week I mentioned that I was in the Hulu Beta. Since then, I’ve played around with it a bit more. I think I can summarize my thoughts with the word “neat.”

Want to watch House, Firefly or tons of other popular past and present shows? They got ‘em. There are tons of clips from those and other shows as well.

Want a smooth and simple viewing experience? Got that too. From the player it is easy to share, embed (see bottom for my first attempt), review, rate, pop out, go full-screen etc.

Oh yeah, ads. I’ll note that most clips will start with a very short ad — not all, but most. You’ll see a few ads when watching a full length episode as well. Not too terrible though – maybe 15 second ad every 15 minutes or so.

Can you do anything besides watch videos on your PC? Not that I’m seeing. Does it work from my Windows Mobile phone? Nuh-uh. That’s a bit of a bummer… However, I haven’t spent any time looking for mobile flash players either. Perhaps that would help? (I honestly dunno if that’s even possible). Not giving up on that though. From their About page:

[...] Additionally, we want to give you more choices of when and where you can enjoy your favorite programming, while creating innovative experiences that let you watch and participate in online video in new and exciting ways.

That gives me hope for a mobile experience. I’ve already stated that I’d pay for that.

To be sure, a lot of this content can be found at other sites; such as what you might find when going straight to the TV network sites. However, Hulu brings it all to one place, makes it searchable and offers other conveniences (like embeds and reviews). And honestly, their player is probably the best I’ve used so far for quality and smoothness.

If the HD gallery is a sign of things to come, the player is going to get even better. The movie trailers there are incredible quality.

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