The iPad has now been revealed, but its place in the grand scheme of things and how Apple intends to make it an indispensable product aren’t that clear. Knowing that some online video services will be coming to the iPad would be a start. Hulu, anyone?
iPad Arrives
Apple has now shown its hand, unveiling the iPad, its new tablet PC, a few days ago. I’ve already looked at what the iPad means for online video, although the jury is still out on whether the device will actually mean anything, certainly in the short-term.
Apple failed to truly capitalize on its media event on Wednesday, with very few content partners, and only YouTube and MLB.tv for online video streaming. But that doesn’t mean more won’t follow, especially by way of apps created to take advantage of the iPad’s bigger screen.
Hulu Talks Mobile Web
spoke to Hulu CEO Jason Kilar at the DLD Conference in Munich. This was before the iPad announcement but at a time when everyone knew it was coming and most knew roughly what to expect.
When asked about the mobile Web and Hulu’s position on it, Kilar said:
“The computer in your pocket is very important. Mobile is a monster – we are very bullish. We will embrace any device. We are very big believers in mobile and we don’t think about (just) one device only.”
At the moment Hulu isn’t on any device other than the PC, but it seems clear from Kilar’s response that this won’t always be the case. While the iPad obviously wasn’t mentioned by name, it must figure in Hulu’s plans along with the iPhone and Android platforms, and probably more besides.
Hulu App?
That opens up the possibility of a Hulu App sometime in the future. Depending on how well the iPad sells, I’d guess it’ll be optimized for the larger screen rather than for the iPhone.
However, there remains one big problem, which is Apple’s resistance to supporting Flash in any way, shape or form. As Hulu uses Flash, it would have to re-encode all of its video streams to be usable on the iPad and iPhone. Which is a big ask at this point in time.
Conclusions
There’s no doubt in my mind that Hulu will make the move to mobile devices in the near future. But the Apple platforms may not be the first priority unless Adobe and Apple can make peace.
I also wouldn’t be surprised it a Hulu app formed part of the pay options the company is looking at currently. In the same way Spotify Mobile is only available to premium users, Hulu Mobile may be one of the draws to paying for Hulu content.
