Skip to Content

Submit your nominations for the Luxist Awards' Best in Decor
AOL Tech

hulu-desktop posts

Filed under: Internet, Video

How to add Hulu Desktop icon to Windows Media Center

Hulu MCE
Hulu Desktop is a pretty nifty application that lets you find and watch Hulu video content on a home theater PC using a media center remote control without a keyboard. But if you already have a home theater PC connected to your TV, you may want to integrate Hulu Desktop with your other media center software. Here's a little trick that will add a Hulu icon to Windows Vista Media Center that makes it easy to launch Hulu Desktop. When you close the application, you'll also be returned to Windows Media Center.

Basically what you need to do is download and install Chad Dyess' modified Media Center Launcher Configuration Utility. This tool lets you add a shortcut for practically any program to Windows Media Center. Next, you'll want to make sure Hulu Desktop is installed. Finally, run the configuration utility and point it to the HuluDesktop.exe file.

That's pretty much all there is to it. You can also create a graphic for the program icon if you want and select which section of Windows Media Center the shortcut will appear in. You can find a more detailed set of instructions at tech-recipes.

Filed under: Video, Windows, Macintosh, Beta, Web

Hulu launches desktop app for watching web video

Hulu Desktop
Online video site Hulu has launched a desktop application for Windows and OS X that allows you to find and watch Hulu videos without firing up a web browser.

Hulu has been fighting a battle with media center application Boxee for months. Boxee is a desktop application that lets people interact with media on their hard drives or the web using a big screen interface that makes a good case for sticking your computer next to your TV. But Hulu's content partners like Fox and NBC make a lot more money when you watch TV shows through old fashioned TV broadcasts instead of on the internet, so I wasn't surprised to see Hulu disable Boxee support. But I was rather surprised to see Hulu launch its own desktop client today.

Hulu Desktop beta is designed to let you navigate Hulu from your couch, and it works either with a mouse and keyboard or a Windows Media Center or Apple remote control. You can use the desktop client to search for videos or browse through media by category. Videos can be viewed in full screen mode, and when you use the navigation tools to find additional programming the video will continue playing in a small window.

If you link Hulu Desktop to your Hulu account you can access your personal information including your Hulu queue from the desktop client.

Hulu Desktop is one of the first tools launched as part of a new Hulu Labs, a new experimental section of Hulu. Other Labs tools include the ability to browser for programs by original air date, video recommendations based on your viewing history, and video panel widgets.

Update: Oh yeah, before you ask... Hulu Desktop won't work outside of the US any better than the web version of Hulu does.

Featured Time Waster

Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

View more Time Wasters

Featured Galleries

Defective by Design, London: Protest Pictures
Microsoft Security Essentials
Chromium Pre-Alpha on CrunchBang Linux
Safari 4 Beta
10 Firefox themes that don't suck
IE8 RC1
Download Squad at the Crunchies After-Party
Download Squad at the Crunchies
WordPress 2.7
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals
Windows 7 Hands On
Comodo Internet Security
Android First-look: Amazon.com MP3 Store
Android First-look: Twitroid
Google Reader Android
Android Hands-On
Twine 1.0
Photoshop Express Beta
Mozilla Birthday Cake
Palm stuff
Adobe Lightroom 1.1

 


Follow us on Twitter!

Flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

More Tech Coverage

AOL Radio