hulu

Report: Hulu courting a 'range' of potential suitors

Hulu is planning to hold discussions with a "range" of potential buyers, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Citing anonymous sources, the Journal reported today that Hulu will be meeting with potential suitors "in the coming weeks." However, forces at play within the company might make a sale difficult, the Journal's sources said.

According to the sources, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar is currently having trouble getting his company's owners--ABC, Fox, and NBC Universal--to offer more content to the site. The owners reportedly believe that they can make more money on their content by partnering … Read more

Hulu Plus app launches for Android

Hulu Plus has made its long-awaited debut on Android.

Launching in Google's Android Market yesterday, the new Hulu Plus app allows Android users who subscribe to the $7.99-per-month service to stream TV shows and movies directly to their mobile devices.

For now, the app supports just six Android phones--the Nexus One, Nexus S, HTC Inspire 4G, Motorola Droid II, Motorola Droid X, and the Motorola Atrix. But Hulu is promising support for more Android phones as the year progresses.

New subscribers to Hulu Plus can try the service free for one month before deciding whether to kick in … Read more

This Day in Tech: Apple patents touch screens; Hulu acquisition rumors

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Wednesday, June 22.

Ford, Nuance: Voice recognition will identify intent The Sync system could ultimately interpret what drivers are looking to do by understanding the meaning of words and phrases they say and then coaching them to correctly complete tasks. More

Apple scores broad patent on touch screens Patent describes how a touch screen is used to interact with contents on a display. And given Apple's recent history with patent lawsuits, it could prove to be another tool in … Read more

Is Hulu news being leaked to jack up sale price?

Hulu has hired investment banks to oversee a sale of the streaming-video service, according to The Los Angeles Times.

The news comes a day after someone leaked word that Hulu had received a buyout offer. Later, it was reported that Yahoo was the company that had expressed interest. And now comes another report from Variety that Hulu has renewed its content licensing deal with Fox Broadcasting. Fox is owned by News Corp., which also owns a share of Hulu, along with Disney and NBC Universal.

All these stories hitting at one time (head scratch), what are the odds?

Well, the … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1495: Lytro: the "magic camera" that's blown our minds (Podcast)

On today's show, we fall in love with Lytro, the game-changing photo technology that we can't wait to get our hands on. Get in line, geeks. Also, will Yahoo buy Hulu? And can we call it Ya-Hulu if they do-do? Plus, Apple scores the broadest patent ever, which makes us wonder if the patent office is even trying anymore, and Shazam is coming to your TV.

Reports: Hulu mulls sale after receiving buyout offer

Hulu apparently has a suitor and the video portal is considering whether to sell, according to reports from CNBC and The Wall Street Journal.

CNBC added that whoever the prospective buyer is, it isn't Google.

The LA Times, meanwhile, says that Yahoo has approached Hulu about a possible acquisition. It also reports that Hulu's board of directors has not met to consider any offers.

Originally founded by News Corp. and NBC Universal, Hulu later saw Disney become a partner. The service streams TV shows and movies over the Internet.

Hulu was an instant hit when it launched in … Read more

Squrl for iPad acts like a DVR for Web video

It seems like every day there's a new app and/or service to help put all your digital detritus in one interface. Squrl does it for Web video, and while it's not new, its free iOS app just got an update to improve the iPad experience. But even if you don't have an iPad (or iPhone), the browser version of it works well, too.

The site and the app are fairly easy to use. You just sign up for a free account (name and e-mail address) and head to a supported provider (pictured above). Find something you want to watch later and you can either e-mail it to your queue using a provided @squrl.it address, tweet it @squrlit, or drag and drop a one-click button onto your browser; app users get a little acorn icon to click.

There's a social aspect to the service, too. Sure, you can use Twitter and Facebook to share videos, but there's also the Squrl community. Users, called curators, can build video galleries and collections and then share them with others and you can see what others are collecting and watching and view their profiles. … Read more

Netflix's rough weekend: Sign of things to come

Netflix has had a rough few days with a Web site outage and a contract dispute that led it to pull Sony movies from its streaming service. These two issues independently aren't a big deal, but they do highlight how Netflix is under more scrutiny as it grows.

On Friday, Netflix noted in a blog that it had to pull Sony movies through its Starz streaming service. Starz reportedly can't stream Sony films beyond a certain subscriber mark. Netflix's big coup as a young company was landing Starz as a partner because the move bolstered its streaming … Read more

Get a refurbished Sony Blu-ray player for $49.99

Need an inexpensive set-top box that can sling Netflix movies and TV shows, play tunes from Pandora and Slacker, and stream the latest YouTube videos? The Sony BDP-S270 can do all that for just $49.99 (after applying coupon code OUTLETBDPS270 at checkout).

Oh, it's also a Blu-ray player.

Funny how priorities change, right? Think about it: if I showed you a Roku box for $50, you'd probably snap it up. Well, the BDP-S270 streams a lot of the same services (Amazon Video on Demand, Hulu Plus, Vudu). And unlike a Roku box, it can play those quaint … Read more

Cloudy, with a chance of video

With Apple's iCloud coming next week, hot on the heels of Amazon and Google's cloud services for music, it seems like the years-old dream of cloud media streaming is coming to greater fruition than ever before. That's promising news to me, a person who cut the cord on his cable TV over a year and a half ago. I live off the Internet and my various devices--my laptop, game consoles, iPhone, and iPad--to get my media, be it TV shows, movies, music or books.

So far, it looks like 2011 will be more the year of Cloud Music than that of Cloud Video. And that's a shame, because I'm getting fed up with my half-baked digital-video life.

I've spent the last week with a product called Pogoplug Video, which attempts to do what no one's currently offering yet: the ability to stream multiformat video files easily across multiple platforms, be they gaming console, computer, or phone/tablet, even across the Internet or 3G.

I held high hopes for the Pogoplug Video. The $199 device is much like the Pogoplug Pro we reviewed last year, equipped with a more powerful processor. And, it does what it promises, to a point: video files stored on hard drives or USB sticks plugged into the Pogoplug do indeed technically play back on iPhones, iPads, laptops, or even via DLNA on an Xbox 360 or PS3.… Read more