Is Hulu Coming to the iPad?
Om Malik thinks so. I’m not so sure.
Om talked to Hulu CEO, Jason Kilar at the DLD conference in Munich this week and talked specifically about the iPad plans for the popular destination site for Heritage Media video.
Of course, Jason, who graduated from the Jeff Bezos School of Management, and like his former boss plays his cards close to the vest, didn’t reveal anything specific.
When I asked Kilar if he was going to make a special version of a Hulu app for the iPad, Kilar said: “We are very big believers in mobile and we don’t think about (just) one device only.” My translation: Expect Hulu to be on multiple platforms such as the iPhone and Android. I would expect the Android version to show up first because it supports Flash, while Apple’s iPhone OS platform doesn’t. If Hulu has to support iPhone OS, it would needto re-encode its videos in order to make them work.
It certainly make sense, but when Kilar says “multiple platforms,” that could very easily mean Android, Windows Mobile, and Palm Pre. Hulu, for better or for worse, is married to the Adobe suite of platforms. Apple, for whatever reason, hate’s Adobe’s guts.
Then there’s the whole issue of aspect ratio – the vast majority of Hulu content is 16:9, and the Apple iPad is designed for 4:3 aspect ratio.
I think that the Apple fans can continue to hope and pray to almighty Jobs for true choice in online video consumption, but when it comes to Hulu, I think those prayers will remain unanswered.
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