Hasta La Gadget!

I’ve become an expert of sorts on entertainment. I’ve spent the better part of my life watching televisions, enjoying movies, listening to my favorite artists, and playing video games. To me, having all of that media available to me whenever I want it is a blessing.

Because of that, I spend an awful lot of time evaluating different entertainment opportunities. From Netflix to Hulu Plus to iTunes, I’m always out there examining what’s best and what might need some work.

For a long time, I truly believed that Netflix was the best entertainment option available to me. The platform had all kinds of movies and television shows, and it was cheap. Netflix was, for a while, the best living room entertainment option we had.

But now, I’m starting to move away from that. Netflix’s content library is on the decline, and I’m finding myself watching programming on Hulu Plus and HBO Go far more often. To me, those two services are delivering the very best in living room entertainment.

How, you might ask? Simple: top-notch content.

Let’s start with Hulu Plus. Although the commercials can be annoying, the sheer amount of content on the service is delectable. I can watch some of the latest episodes of television shows I might have missed, as well as check out some older films that, in some cases, really aren’t too bad. Granted, Hulu Plus has its limitations, but for those looking for a solid television alternative to Netflix, it’s quite good.

“How HBO gives away so much content for the price is beyond me”

HBO Go, however, might just be the best addition to the living room experience I’ve seen in years. How HBO is willing to give away so much of its content for only the price of subscribing to its network is beyond me. But I’m more than happy to take advantage.

If you haven’t tried out HBO Go, you should do so sooner rather than later. HBO offers every episode (yes, you read that correctly) of its series both on now and off the air. In addition, it comes with the network’s documentaries, sports coverage, and films.

The issue with HBO Go is its general lack of availability in the living room. Unless you have certain devices or televisions, you’ll more than likely be watching it on a computer. Luckily, my Samsung television recently started supporting HBO Go, so I can watch all of its programming right from the couch. Over time, I expect more vendors to support the application, as well.

So, let’s consider this new scenario: when we want to watch popular, current major network and cable programming, we can opt for Hulu Plus. And in those cases where we want to check out what, I believe, is a grouping of even better shows and entertainment, we can go for HBO Go.

With Hulu Plus and HBO Go in tow, I don’t quite miss Netflix. In fact, I couldn’t care less about it.

HBO Go And Hulu Plus: The Perfect Living Room Marriage? is written by Don Reisinger & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The man in charge of streaming video site Hulu is reportedly the man that Yahoo wants in charge of its products and services. As you may recall, Yahoo is in something of a transition period right now because its previous chief executive lied on his resume and ended up being ousted from the top spot.

After that horrifying PR nightmare, Yahoo’s global media head Ross Levinsohn was appointed the interim CEO. The company is now considering making Levinsohn the permanent CEO, but it also apparently has designs on Kilar. He has been part of Hulu pretty much since the beginning, and has certainly helped to grow it into what could be considered the most significant Netflix alternative.

Prior to joining Hulu, Kilar worked at Amazon for a decade. He moved up the ranks until eventually becoming to senior vice president of Worldwide Application Software. In other words, he knows his stuff. According to reports, though, Levinsohn is the top choice since he is obviously already quite well acquainted with Yahoo. But if he does anything to show he isn’t up to the task, the company will likely approach Kilar.

[via VentureBeat]

Hulu CEO rumored to be on Yahoo’s CEO wish list is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Hulu Japan has mailed in a status update noting that its content library has increased by more than 300 percent since launching last fall, now amounting to over 800 films and around 6,900 TV shows. Newly added to that list is Mad Men and more notably, “select HBO shows” including Entourage and Sex And The City today, followed by Entourage and Band of Brothers later this year. Of course, similar to the situation that sees Showtime favorites like Dexter available on Netflix in Latin America but not here in the States, it doesn’t make it any more likely HBO will suddenly become cord-cutter friendly at home — this is an international deal only. Hulu does have more good news in Japan though, now that it works on more devices with the Wii coming soon and “aggressive expansion” planned for the rest of 2012. While it doesn’t help the list of Hulu Plus-compatible Android phones grow any faster, there is a quick trailer celebrating the new content, viewers on either side of the Pacific can check it out after the break.

Continue reading Hulu Japan lands HBO content, but don’t expect any changes in the US

Hulu Japan lands HBO content, but don’t expect any changes in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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