iPhone News Updated

Report: “Badass” Hulu App Coming to iPhone

Free mobile video will soon be at iPhone owners’ fingertips

The iPhone is about to get a little cooler. Hot off taking the internet world by storm, internet site Hulu, which offers commercial-supported streaming TV from Fox and NBC, is set to make the jump to mobile devices with a new iPhone app. The new app is set to transform your iPhone into a pocket TV.

The news first leaked to Alley Insider, which spoke with a “plugged-in industry executive” who confirmed the development of the app. The executive said the app will land in only a few months, will support both Wi-Fi and 3G connections and be, in their words, “badass.”

The app is not without its competition — there’s already a CBS TV.com app, a Joost app (MTV, BET, Paramount Pictures, and NASCAR) and an i.TV app. However, with Hulu being the most popular and effective online solution and new reports that it is on the verge of a deal with ABC/Disney, it should take the iPhone world by storm.

Apple and AT&T likely were somewhat reticent to approve the application, which would be in direct competition with Apple’s iTunes video store. However, given the increase in iPhone sales that legitimate mobile TV can bring, their hands were virtually tied. There’s no word yet on whether Hulu will share ad revenue with Apple and/or AT&T, but that seems possible.

The only downside is that you can’t download the TV episodes for later watching when on a subway or airplane. That’s one advantage the iTunes video store still holds.

However, with only 3 percent of phone users watching video on their phones, according to market research firm Comscore, the app is big news to the phone industry. Hulu CEO Jason Kilar had already announced that Hulu would soon be mobile say that the mobile market “ripe for the Hulu experience.” He also said that the experience “may not be identical” on all platforms.

Hopefully, the Hulu team leverages the iPhone’s easy development environment to the fullest, and delivers an app as close to the superb PC-based service as possible.

[Thanks: http://www.dailytech.com]

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