After years of waiting for Hulu.com to smarten up, it finally looks like we will be getting an embedded Xbox application capable of streaming Hulu to our televisions. With the success of the Netflix streaming applications on the Xbox, Playstation 3, Wii and now the iPad, it was only a matter of time before the big networks caved and allowed their content to be available through on demand. For a little over a year now I have completely dropped my cable television subscription and have barely batted an eye – the only television that I miss includes late night comedy and live sports.
Earlier this year Hulu has been rumored to be moving towards a paid subscription model where the cost would be $9.95 per month for access to more content. Of course, there was no direct word on if this content would be advertisement free, but you can bet your bottom dollar that you will most likely be hearing those thirty second advertisements on your paid account. Personally, I would absolutely pay $9.95 a month for Hulu if it included a streaming disc for my Playstation 3, and the development this week has brought that one step closer to reality.
For those of you that do not remember a couple of months after Netflix announced support for the Xbox 360, last November they went and sent out Playstation 3 Blu-ray streaming discs out to participating instant view subscribers. Just a couple of months ago they begun sending out Wii streaming discs as well. I believe the last piece to an amazing media center experience is Hulu streaming on the Playstation 3, which is capable of DLNA streaming from your Mac, PC or Linux machine. That, included with a hopeful Google TV integration, will make a truly cheap alternative to big cable.