Hulu announced last week the launch of Hulu Plus, a premium version of the popular streaming site that will cost $10 per month.

Buyers of the subscription get expanded content, and the ability to play the shows on their HDTVs, Blu-ray players, Xbox 360 (with Gold subscription), PS3 and iPad and iPhone.

Hulu Plus gives users season passes for most current shows, which is a massive improvement from only being able to watch the trailing five episodes of a given show. You will also be able to watch back seasons of the shows.

After the announcement, a Google search found that Hulu Plus for the PS3 appeared to need a PlayStation Plus subscription, which also costs money.

Today, those fears have been put to rest, with Hulu confirming that a PlayStation Plus subscription is only required, temporarily, while Hulu Plus is still in its "preview phase."

When the service goes off beta, the PS Plus subscription will no longer be needed.

Permalink | Comments

---

HTC has explained this week why the company's phones are seeing a "slow" rollout of the upcoming Android 2.2 firmware update, going as far as to say that the Gingerbread 2.5/3.0 update may be pushed back until 2011.

Says Eric Lin, HTC's global PR and online community manager: "It takes time to port all of our applications over to Froyo and then make sure that it is running well on each of our devices. That's not like a one week kind of project. We need to make sure that our applications are taking advantage of the Froyo features. To make sure that they're all running properly on the OS now that it's a new version. And then to make sure that it's running on our hardware as well as we expect".

Lin did promise that the update would be quicker than past updates, like from 1.6 to 2.1: "I don't think you're going to see that really long six month, seven month lag, like you saw in the updates from 1.6 to 2.1, simply because it's a less severe change. Switching from 2.1 to 2.2, they made a lot of tweaks, but they didn't make any gigantic changes, so it should be a much swifter process."

There are many new features that most users have been expecting and wanting. The main two are the addition of Flash (built-in) and the addition of Wi-Fi tethering. Additionally, Apps2SD, desktop to handset music streaming and a "one-handed camera UI" are part of the update.

On the performance end, a new Dalvik JIT compiler will give 2.2 users a 200-500 percent performance boost over those using 2.1. The HTML-5 supportive browser will give 300 percent performance boosts for JavaScript.

As for Gingerbread? "I don't think so. I don't know what Gingerbread involves, but I would believe that we would be done with our Froyo updates before Christmas. And since Google hasn't made any announcements as to when Gingerbread is going to come out, I'm not going to make that guess, it could be Q1 of next year".

Permalink | Comments

---

If a leaked AT&T retail memo sheet is accurate, then a couple of smartphones with Windows Phone 7 should be hitting the carrier by the end of the summer.

A store signage overhaul usually means it is two months before an actual device launch, so early September is the likely release date.

On the other end of the world, Australian carrier Telstra is expected to launch the devices in October.

The two phones on AT&T are expected to be from LG and Samsung.

Microsoft has a lot riding on the phones, especially after the recent failure of the Kin devices.

Aiming to differentiate itself from the iPhone and Android phones, which use home screens of widgets and icons, Microsoft says it has tried to blend applications together for a more "integrated experience," allowing the OS and applications to "share information with the user in a natural and seamless fashion."

Permalink | Comments

---

According to Gizmodo and other sites, AT&T has begun capping upload speeds on the Apple iPhone 4, containing the speeds to as low as 100kbps in metropolitan areas like New York City.

When the phone launched, users were reporting upload speeds as high as 1500kbps.

A few of the other reported affected areas are: "NYC, Central Jersey, Boston, Orlando, Seattle, South Jersey/Philly, Columbus, Cleveland, West Houston, Phoenix, Northern Colorado, St. Paul/Minesota, Suffolk County/Long Island, Quad Cities, South Jersey, Denver, Detroit Metro, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Fairfax, and Minneapolis."

Users in other regions have reported fast upload speeds, so the situation appears to be isolated to certain places.

AT&T has not responded but most speculate the drop in speeds are related to maintenance to the HSUPA network.

Permalink | Comments

---

Netflix has expanded its Watch Instantly streaming catalog today, striking a major content deal with Relativity Media.

The deal will allow Netflix to compete more directly with premium TV channels such as HBO and Starz, as Relativity Media films will be "licensed directly and exclusively to Netflix for streaming to its subscribers during the "pay TV window."'

Many of the blockbuster films will hit Netflix months after they become available on DVD, just like they hit premium stations.

Netflix says "it will be the first time that studio quality theatrical feature films will be streamed via subscription by Netflix instead of being broadcast by the traditional pay providers, and it opens up a new revenue stream for such movies."

Some of the first movies available under the new deal are "The Fighter," and "Skyline," both of which are set for a 2010 release date in theaters and set for a Netflix streaming launch in early 2011.

Relativity has completely financed or co-financed over 200 features, including new films such as "Robin Hood," "Get Him to the Greek" and "Grown Ups."

Permalink | Comments

---

Citing sources "familiar with the plans," the LATimes is reporting that Sony Pictures Television is set to launch two new movie channels by the end of 2010.

The first channel, dubbed Sony Pictures Movies HD for now, would be the company's first cable channel completely devoted to movies

Says television analyst Derek Baine: "They have been very successful internationally with their channels, but in the U.S. they have not had the leverage of the other media conglomerates, which have a bunch of different cable channels. Perhaps they are doing this because the market to sell movies to broadcast and cable networks has been so bad."

The channel has a tentative launch date of October 1st.

Sony's venture would be very similar to the popular Universal HD and MGM HD channels that are currently available to most cable subscribers.

The second channel would be the widely popular FearNet station, which is a joint venture between Comcast, Sony and Lionsgate. FearNet is currently available as a VOD channel through Comcast, FioS, and Cox and offers a plethora of horror films.

Permalink | Comments

---

Sony Japan has announced the launch of a white slim PlayStation 3 model for the nation, dubbed the "Classic White" colorway.

The console will have a 160GB HDD, but Sony has promised larger capacity models for the future.

"Charcoal Black" was the current only colorway available for the slimmer models. Sony had offered a "Ceramic White" version of the "fat" PS3 in 2008.

Furthermore, Sony has launched a 320GB capacity slim PS3, but only in black.

Additionally, starting tomorrow, the 120GB model will move to "open price," meaning retailers can price it at whatever they want.

The new consoles go on sale on July 29th, priced at the equivalent of $340 for the smaller HDD model and $400 for the larger capacity model.

Permalink | Comments

---

Following in the footsteps of the ridiculous £200,000 Supreme PS3 and the even more ridiculous $3 million iPhone 3GS Supreme, jeweler Stuart Hughes has begun offering a diamond-encrusted Apple iPhone 4 for the reasonable price of $20,000.

Unfortunately, only 50 of the special devices will be made, so you better get your order in quickly.

The smartphones are unlocked, and come with "6.5 carats of VVS quality, F-color diamonds" and a carrying case made of ostrich.

Apple's logo on the back is now a solid platinum and diamond version of itself.

StuartHughes also sells a $20,000 diamond-encrusted iPad, which has 11.43 carats.

Check the whole collection here: http://stuarthughes.com/

Permalink | Comments

---