We SageTV HTPC users had pretty much given up on the hope of having a good Hulu app inside of SageTV after the Hulu vs. Boxee debacle and hearing from SageTV’s CTO that they had for now abandoned the project. Yes we have the ability to use Hulu on the HD200 extenders in standalone mode, but it was slow and extremely difficulty to navigate.
Hulu + PlayOn + SageTV = Awesome Online TV Access for HTPC
Well, thanks to some genius work by a 3rd party SageTV developer, it looks like SageTV may soon have an excellent (read: fast and easy to navigate) Hulu option right from the existing online videos section (currently has YouTube, Google Video & Many Video Podcasts Available) of SageTV!!! This means navigation will work the exact same for Hulu inside of SageTV. Since PlayOn has added Amazon VOD this news is even more exciting. It’s currently been tested as a “proof of concept” and works – although it’s not available to us yet at least…
Requires PlayOn, but works on Computers AND Extenders!
This solution will require a PlayOn subscription, but it looks like it works very well thanks to a little UPnP action. Better yet, it works for all users of SageTV including those with computers as their HTPC “extenders” as well as those who use the HD200 or HD100 extenders!
Here’s a video clip of the Hulu/SageTV solution in action:
Looks pretty good to me. According to the developer it isn’t quite ready for distribution to end users yet, but I’ll provide more details once it’s a little farther along, but It looks like there will be no additional cost to get this Hulu access except for the PlayOn license. In the meantime you might want to pick up a PlayOn license while their being discounted – here’s the details on the PlayOn Discount:
$10 off PlayOn until the end of September.
Click on Buy Now and enter Coupon Code FALL10OFF. This coupon is valid from now until September 30th, 2009 at 11:59pm. There’s also a free 14-day trial here.
Disclaimer: The Hulu functionality thus far is a proof-of-concept. While I expect it will be available to all SageTV users soon, there is no guarantee until it arrives.
