I downloaded this last night and tried it. The interface is certainly improved (and unsurprisingly "Zuneish" with the Twist UI elements at the top), but the video quality is indeed pretty poor.
I am downright frustrated at Microsoft's insistence on not using pre-established services such as Hulu and the like here. I have no problem with them wrapping up all of the available services into this interface, but PLEASE stop re-inventing the wheel and making us watch the failed attempts. This problem was already solved handily by Hulu; just interface with them for a small fee and call it a day. It would also solve the dearth of content problem that happens when these types of services get launched by Microsoft...
I just don't understand why some people think that Hulu would want to be on Media Center when it doesn't want to be in Boxee? I mean isn't it obvious that Hulu wants web browser viewers and not TV viewers?
I think it far more likely that Hulu would *LOVE* hardware users, if the manufacturers of said hardware signed a contract and paid Hulu for the privilege rather than just leeching their bandwidth and content. I also expect that Hulu's own right to show the content depends on them vigorously protecting it from unauthorized users.
As for why MS might not use Hulu... Go look up Microsoft's track record. Maybe they would licence content but more likely to me is they'd either invent their own thing, pepper links to it throughout Windows 7 and use this dominance to drive out the competition. That or they'd just buy out Hulu outright.
“An engineer explained to us that hundreds of ear impressions were gathered in the name of research, and while each one obviously boasted its own unique shape and size, one single characteristic remained uniform across the board: the entrance into the ear canal is not a perfect circle, it's an oval.”
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I downloaded this last night and tried it. The interface is certainly improved (and unsurprisingly "Zuneish" with the Twist UI elements at the top), but the video quality is indeed pretty poor.
I am downright frustrated at Microsoft's insistence on not using pre-established services such as Hulu and the like here. I have no problem with them wrapping up all of the available services into this interface, but PLEASE stop re-inventing the wheel and making us watch the failed attempts. This problem was already solved handily by Hulu; just interface with them for a small fee and call it a day. It would also solve the dearth of content problem that happens when these types of services get launched by Microsoft...
I just don't understand why some people think that Hulu would want to be on Media Center when it doesn't want to be in Boxee? I mean isn't it obvious that Hulu wants web browser viewers and not TV viewers?
Because they didn't think their argument (ie, complaint)that far out.
I think it far more likely that Hulu would *LOVE* hardware users, if the manufacturers of said hardware signed a contract and paid Hulu for the privilege rather than just leeching their bandwidth and content. I also expect that Hulu's own right to show the content depends on them vigorously protecting it from unauthorized users.
As for why MS might not use Hulu... Go look up Microsoft's track record. Maybe they would licence content but more likely to me is they'd either invent their own thing, pepper links to it throughout Windows 7 and use this dominance to drive out the competition. That or they'd just buy out Hulu outright.