iPhone Getting Bitbop for $10 a Month. Is Hulu Next?

[Michael Essany]

While little if anything has been said of late about Hulu's prospective arrival on the iPad, speculation has resumed about Hulu coming to the iPhone thanks to a new effort in the works from Fox, one of the driving partnership forces behind Hulu. Announced this week by Fox at the CTIA Wireless show is a new TV-on-phones service dubbed Bitbop.

For now, Bitbop will be available for a $10 monthly subscription and stream content from Fox, NBC Universal, Discovery, and others directly to your mobile device. The content will be available via stream and download. Packaged as an app soon to be available for the iPhone and Android as well as the Blackbery, which has widely been used in promotional material to show off the service, Bitbop is now seen as the obvious precursor to Hulu for mobile devices.

Although some industry analysts see Bitbop as the "precursor" to a much bigger mobile offering, with services like FLO TV still puttering around with any real, tangible explosion in popularity, many are concerned that mobile audiences haven't "ripened" enough to guarantee a sure-thing, slam-dunk success with a service like Hulu for the iPhone. Of course, I don't know who these doubtful individuals are, as most mobile fanatics I'm familiar with are chomping at the bit for services like Bitbop and, ultimately, Hulu optimized for mobile phones.

If you're curious about Bitbop, you'll have to wait until later this year when the service officially becomes available. Granted, by then, we may already be enjoying Hulu for the iPad. But regardless of whether the tablet gets the service first, it's unlikely to diminish the appetite among many iPhone owners for Hulu on their handset.

[Ahmedito]

niice

[lolcats1]

wish it was ad supported, 10$/month adds up

[iphoneguy.]

I'm tired of reading stories about these apps when I have already beat them to the punch

[n00neimp0rtant]

Hulu's nice with it's whole on-demand deal, but I'm quite happy with my Slingbox. I have a FiOS DVR at home so anything I REALLY want to watch, I can set to record on my DVR and watch it whenever. It's not the best quality, but at the same time it's not bad either.

[T40mas]

YA DOWNLOAD iHulu from Rock/Cydia IT ACTUALLY WORKS!!!! free south park family guy and simpsons

[michellec]

ihulu requires a jailbroken iphone,

ours won't.

You just have to be patient a couple months.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdb0eKhmH4Q]YouTube - IphoneCatsAndHulu[/ame]

[moon#pie]

YA DOWNLOAD iHulu from Rock/Cydia IT ACTUALLY WORKS!!!! free south park family guy and simpsons

W00t W00t! Iz gonna downloadz it now!!

NOT!!

hulu has thousands of shows and movies. not three of the stupidest shows on tv.

ihulu requires a jailbroken iphone,

ours won't.

You just have to be patient a couple months.
YouTube - IphoneCatsAndHulu

Heck yeah if it's real!
Nice nails btw

[southfrisco]

$10/mo is high considering the lowest Netflix is what, $8/mo and I get unlimited streaming to TV and old movies and one DVD in the mail at a time...I will wait for a Netflix streaming app myself.

Now if you get all the stations on board and fill it with content and don't remove said content and at least post the newest episodes by 12am the next morning and maybe I'd think about it. If they are going to be selective with the shows and episodes I am not interested. Also if they force me to watch ads in between segments I am really not interested.

@Tiger92, I wouldn't waste my time with iHulu. It is far from the actual Hulu experience.

[pyromcr]

when is the fabled hulu app coming? and why has no one made one for cydia?

[moon#pie]

$10/mo is high considering the lowest Netflix is what, $8/mo and I get unlimited streaming to TV and old movies and one DVD in the mail at a time...I will wait for a Netflix streaming app myself.

Now if you get all the stations on board and fill it with content and don't remove said content and at least post the newest episodes by 12am the next morning and maybe I'd think about it. If they are going to be selective with the shows and episodes I am not interested. Also if they force me to watch ads in between segments I am really not interested.

@Tiger92, I wouldn't waste my time with iHulu. It is far from the actual Hulu experience.

Lol, i know. I was making fun of him. three tv shows is not hulu

[javii]

I just recently bought the slingbox pro-HD. Plus the sling link and slingplayer app. It does add up. But I get everything I get from my DVR. Why pay $10 a month for limited shows when you can watch your dvr content and showtime, hbo, cinemax, etc on the go anytime.

[Mike_7318]

sounds pretty cool, but not worth it

[SquareWheel]

Never used Hulu in my life.

[n00neimp0rtant]

Never used Hulu in my life.

If you've ever watched a TV show in your life, DON'T. You will get addicted.

[severe]

I just recently bought the slingbox pro-HD. Plus the sling link and slingplayer app. It does add up. But I get everything I get from my DVR. Why pay $10 a month for limited shows when you can watch your dvr content and showtime, hbo, cinemax, etc on the go anytime.

Went this route about a year ago and haven't seen anything come close to it. One of my better investment decisions.

However, the HD box may help with desktop and laptop viewing (dependent upon broadband connection), but it isn't necessary for the iPhone app. No difference can be seen.

[johnr9412]

I use a website that's made for iPhone and everything. Only $30 for 5 years and I get unlimited movies, tv shows, and movies in theaters. Kinda against the law is the problem and mods deleted the thread last time I mentioned the name of it. So not much use for hulu

[Fallguy]

$10/mo is high considering the lowest Netflix is what, $8/mo and I get unlimited streaming to TV and old movies and one DVD in the mail at a time...I will wait for a Netflix streaming app myself.

Now if you get all the stations on board and fill it with content and don't remove said content and at least post the newest episodes by 12am the next morning and maybe I'd think about it. If they are going to be selective with the shows and episodes I am not interested. Also if they force me to watch ads in between segments I am really not interested.

@Tiger92, I wouldn't waste my time with iHulu. It is far from the actual Hulu experience.

If your that hard up for TV , just get a slingbox .

[macfan406]

is the $10 gonna be an in app purchase every month? that would benefit people like me who can only subscribe in iTunes

[GellBrake'rrrr]

This could be a nice app option for those who don't already have a slingbox. If it streams rather clearly (especially over 3g), then it might not be a bad choice for $10 a month. See I already had A Slingbox previous to the slingplayer app. Therefor the $30-$40 dollars wasn't such an issue. I really enjoy it!!! Even though it can be a little choppy over 3g, but I'm not sure if it was before the new release that allows it over 3g, I am still using Voipover3g. I'm not sure if the feed is clearer now. But, for those who don't have a Slingbox already, it can be pretty expensive to watch you DVR on your iPhone via this route.