NBC's online video site,
Hulu, has
launched a desktop app that allows Mac users to watch Hulu content without using a web browser, and with full Apple Remote support. After all of the
boxee nastiness, I'm a bit surprised by the development. That doesn't mean this isn't still exciting.
For some background, Hulu has been involved in a back-and-forth battle with the social media center application,
boxee, which allows users to access online content from their Mac or Apple TV and makes big-screen viewing a pleasure. The
last big boxee update changed how boxee serves Hulu content, in an effort to make it more difficult for Hulu to pull the plug.
Hulu's justification (well, one of many justifications) for going after boxee was that the content is designed to be viewed from a web browser and not from the couch. Although the tagline for Hulu Desktop, "
Lean-back viewing for your PC," keeps the sematic difference between a 24" LCD monitor and a 25" LCD TV in check, the execution, especially with extensive remote support, seems to say something else.
I don't know, maybe Hulu really believes that people won't be using this application with their TV-connected Macs or Windows Media PCs, but this app certainly feels like it was meant for big screens.
Regardless of the double-speak, how well does this application actually work? Well, based on my limited testing (I did want to get this post done), it is
awesome. I totally want to figure out if the arbitrary system requirements can be bypassed so this can get running on the Apple TV.
The Interface
The interface is great. Although Hulu Desktop didn't take up the full-screen of my 22" external monitor when it was initially launched, a quick ⌘-F will take you full screen. I should also note that the size of the application window was larger than 1280x800 by default, so mobile users might get the "full screen" upon launch experience.
The Apple remote works flawlessly with the Hulu application. My only problem was with my screensaver -- unlike FrontRow, Hulu doesn't turn the screensaver off when playing back content. I also managed to crash the application, but that's to be expected.
All in all, finding programming to watch is easy and intutiive, not unlike the original Hulu implementation in boxee. Switching from playing a program to searching for others is easy (the Menu button) and fast-forwarding through content is a joy. As a long-time boxee user who
hates trying to fast-forward or rewind Hulu playback (even before they switched serving mechanisms), this is nice. By default, my Internet connection played back everything at High Quality (you can adjust this in the settings), and the quality looked even better than in the browser.
As we've previously pointed out, in many ways, Dashboard Widgets are the precursor to iPhone apps. Need to know when your latest packages will arrive? Yes, there's an app for that. But there's a widget too. Need to figure out how many pesos are in a dollar, or what a Quarter Pounder with Cheese comes out to in the metric system? There's an app, and a widget, for that as well. For this Friday afternoon, here are five useful Widgets to help you make the most of your Mac. And best of all, they're all free.
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