Hulu to make videos available on iPad without flash - rumor

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Hulu is rumored to be working on an iPad-friendly version of its site which could be ready by the iPad's March launch date.



According to TechCrunch, popular video site Hulu is already at work developing a way to deliver its content to the iPad platform outside of its normal Flash-based site.



"The TV shows on Hulu would be perfect on the iPad. There is just one hitch: the iPad doesn?t support Flash, and all of Hulu?s videos currently run inside a Flash player," states TechCrunch



"But that could change by the time the iPad launches in March. One rumor I?ve heard from an industry insider is that Hulu is working on an iPad-friendly version of its site that should be ready by the time the iPad hits the market," continues TechCrunch's Erick Schonfeld.



Whether or not the content would be delivered through a redesigned website or through an iPad-dedicated app (as YouTube has done) has not been determined.



The easiest way for Hulu to accomplish its iPad goal would be to use the YouTube iPhone model of opening a separate Quicktime player when a video is selected. To rewrite the Flash site on the other hand, would be difficult, says TechCrunch:



"Hulu?s familiar look and feel is all built into its custom Flash player. It would have to try to reproduce that as much as it can using HTML5, and it might not look as good. More importantly, all the ads that run on Hulu are designed for Flash, especially interactive ads like overlays. The ad code, business logic, and underlying analytics would all have to be rewritten for a Javascript player. Frankly, this is the biggest hurdle."



Apple's early iPad promotional images depicted the device as being able to play Flash content, a feature which was notably absent during Steve Jobs' introduction of the device in January.



While Adobe has pushed for years to have Flash on the iPhone since it launched, Apple has not relented. The company instead has encouraged a move to the HTML5 standard.



For more information on Apple and Flash, read AppleInsider's three-part Flash Wars series.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 189
    The march toward HTML5 continues.



    Content providers are realizing it's time to adjust to the iPad.
  • Reply 2 of 189
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    [CENTER]Monumental 'Rumor'...



    Apple might be better to just make hardware/software capable of supporting industry standards.





    We'll See Soon Enough[/CENTER]
  • Reply 3 of 189
    I read several days ago that it was possible, I suppose after the Hulu Cheese mentioned that it was possible (even though he was mum on the topic if they would produce their own app) that someone would decide this was a rumor that they were moving forward with it.



    Rumor Mill V2
  • Reply 4 of 189
    feynmanfeynman Posts: 1,087member
    Would this mean Hulu to finally be playable on the iPhone? In theory it seems it would but....
  • Reply 5 of 189
    ihxoihxo Posts: 567member
    Apple only need to make a few changes on the Youtube app, then you'll have yourself a Hulu app.
  • Reply 6 of 189
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaHarder View Post


    [CENTER]Monumental 'Rumor'...



    Apple might be better to just make hardware/software capable of supporting industry standards.





    We'll See Soon Enough[/CENTER]



    Apple has a way of defining the industry standards.



    YouTube and Vimeo are already moving to HTML5.



    Hulu would be wise to support the iPad.
  • Reply 7 of 189
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    Apple has a way of defining the industry standards.



    YouTube and Vimeo are already moving to HTML5.



    Hulu would be wise to support the iPad.



    [CENTER]... and they probably will.[/CENTER]
  • Reply 8 of 189
    patspats Posts: 112member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaHarder View Post


    [CENTER]Monumental 'Rumor'...



    Apple might be better to just make hardware/software capable of supporting industry standards.





    We'll See Soon Enough[/CENTER]



    What industry standard do you refer to? Flash is proprietary. It is available on most platforms and used by many but this does not make a standard, but I guess the same thing could be said about Windows or Silverlight. It's amazing, Apple chooses to support their own proprietary standard QuickTime and not Adobe's. Get a clue. Apple is a business and is not going to promote Adobe or Microsoft at the expense of their own business. If it was a standard, like HTML 5 then Apple would probably support it, if it was in their long term interest, but don't think they will promote something that sucks on OS X just because everyone else does.
  • Reply 9 of 189
    Hulu can either get with the program and support ipad/iphone or I'll continue watching Hulu programs on my MBA sans flash and commercials via Vuze!
  • Reply 10 of 189
    Quote:

    ...The ad code, business logic, and underlying analytics would all have to be rewritten for a Javascript player...





    Hmm...switching from one insecure format to another...





    Has that nasty Javascript pop-under bug been fixed yet?







    Wouldn't it be easier for Adobe to write a version of Flash that Apple would accept on the iPad?
  • Reply 11 of 189
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pats View Post


    What industry standard do you refer .... It's amazing, Apple chooses to support their own proprietary standard QuickTime and not Adobe's. Get a clue.



    Get a clue?



    You need to do some reading on the MPEG4 industry standard.



    Just because QuickTime plays MPEG4 doesn't mean Apple owns it.
  • Reply 12 of 189
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTripper View Post


    Hmm...switching from one insecure format to another...



    HTML5 Video, Javascript, or Flash? As far as I know, none of them are insecure. Crash prone and insecure are completely different things. Javascript and Flash are in a sandbox and are not insecure. The only javascript insecurities come from plugins such as Adobe Acrobat that expose new (and insecure) extensions to Javascript. HTML5 Video (H.264) is definitely not insecure.
  • Reply 13 of 189
    ihxoihxo Posts: 567member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaHarder View Post


    [CENTER]Monumental 'Rumor'...



    Apple might be better to just make hardware/software capable of supporting industry standards.





    We'll See Soon Enough[/CENTER]



    Yeah, apple should build support for IE6 (20% MS), IE7 (15%) and IE8 (22% MS) while they are at it, considering their market share, that's considered "industry standard".



    Personally I prefer "Open Standards", but recently only people who are considered "drank that Apple cool-aid" give a shit about that now.



    Oh btw did you see Adobe's demo of Flash on Nexus One? LOL
  • Reply 14 of 189
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    I was saying this since YouTube started testing HTML5. It's the future and it's the beginning of the end for Flash as the default way we watch videos on the internet.



    Unless Hulu decides to go with an app over a web-based system it may look something like this and work just like this.
    http://iphone.akamai.com/ (Note: Demo only works from iPhone)
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTripper View Post


    Hmm...switching from one insecure format to another...



    You really think that Flash isn't supported on slow mobile devices because it's "insecure"? How about because it's a resource hog.
  • Reply 15 of 189
    daharderdaharder Posts: 1,580member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ihxo View Post


    Yeah, apple should build support for IE6 (20% MS), IE7 (15%) and IE8 (22% MS) while they are at it, considering their market share, that's considered "industry standard".



    Personally I prefer "Open Standards", but recently only people who are considered "drank that Apple cool-aid" give a shit about that now.



    Oh btw did you see Adobe's demo of Flash on Nexus One? LOL



    [CENTER]Did I Care? ...NOPE!



    Have A Nice Day[/CENTER]
  • Reply 16 of 189
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    Content providers are realizing it's time to adjust to the iPad.



    The iPad is the Borg?
  • Reply 17 of 189
    should be easy enough to deliver mpeg4 inside a qt container.



    Hulu needs stop start timeline & fullscreen.



    No more need for lower lights, etc.
  • Reply 18 of 189
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DaHarder View Post


    [CENTER]Monumental 'Rumor'...



    Apple might be better to just make hardware/software capable of supporting industry standards.





    We'll See Soon Enough[/CENTER]



    Huh....



    HTML 5.0 = World Wide (pun intended) standard, set by standards body.

    Flash = Adobes proprietary toolset.



    I do believe you are right about Apple supporting 'Industry Standards'....



    Evidently, Flash performance on the OS X platform is so bad, that there are multiple browser plug-ins to help mitigate Flashes short comings. I don't know, I use 'no-script' in Firefox on my Mac, flash doesn't present a problem - I just avoid sites that require it.



    Just because 'everyone' is doing something, doesn't make it right. :-)
  • Reply 19 of 189
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTripper View Post


    Hmm...switching from one insecure format to another...





    Has that nasty Javascript pop-under bug been fixed yet?



    Funny how you're attacked left and right isn't it?

    Flash works fine on my MAcs, always has - what are they talking about?
  • Reply 20 of 189
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    Apple has a way of defining the industry standards.



    YouTube and Vimeo are already moving to HTML5.



    Hulu would be wise to support the iPad.



    Hulu is only a minor percentage of Flash content on the web-what are you talking about?

    I've never used Hulu once yet am constanly observing Flash web content daily on the web. Explain them apples.
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