Boxee Hulu Hack

A magician over on the boxee forums has posted a simple and easy way to get Hulu shows working on Boxee again!

All you need to to is:
   1) Download the file from the post (or click here)
   2) Rename it to hulu.js
   3) Put in the following folder:
           mac: /Applications/Boxee.app/Contents/Resources/Boxee/system/players/flashplayer/hulu.js
              linux: [Boxeepath]/system/players/flashplayer/hulu.js
              windows: c:\program files\boxee\system\players\flashplayer\hulu.js


Its working great on my Windows 7 computer running the latest Boxee beta.

Open letter to Hulu re:Boxee

Dear Hulu,

I have been a loyal Hulu user on my Windows PC running Boxee for 3 months. I love the ad supported model - especially  when "the following program is brought to you on Hulu with limited commercial interruptions" Thanks to Chase slate card (triplets?!) and the campy StateFarm insurance guy who decides he's tired and ready to die. 

That is until today. 

Why would you block Hulu on a windows computer just because I use Boxee as my browser instead of Firefox or Chrome?

Are your advertisers asking you to reduce viewership? 

Do you really think this move on your part makes users want to pay for a Hulu plus subscription?  

I want to watch shows on Hulu with advertising. I want to do it on my Windows computer running Boxee. 

Please tell me this was a mistake and Hulu is going to allow Boxee users to view Hulu content and optionally subscribe to Hulu plus for additional content and fewer ads for those who desire those features. 

For those of us who are willing to watch ads so that you are compensated for the content and advertisers capture our consumer dollars, let us watch Hulu content and your advertisers' content on our computers that run Boxee. 

I'm posting this email on my Blog and will gladly post your reply as well. Http://techhomeblog.blogspot.com

Thank you, 

Craig L. Davis

BoxeeBox will have Netflix!

The good folks at Boxee held quite a launch event tonight in NYC for the new BoxeeBox by D-Link.  Those who pre-ordered from Amazon.com are reporting their devices started arriving this morning.  According to the launch event, it will also be at major U.S. retail stores by Nov 17 (and reports from the great white north say its already on the shelves at Best Buy stores in Canada).

Major announcements at the event:

A very nicely revised user interface which looks great and has an AMAZING new search function to find just about any video, show, or movie "on the interwebs" (to quote Avner Ronon).

Currently only available on the BoxeeBox but coming soon for Windows, Mac, etc.

NetFlix will be on the BoxeeBox by the end of the year and...

in HD!

  Hulu Plus will also be on the BoxeeBox (no date announced)


Other cool content sources on BoxeeBox:

NHL GameCenter Live (Up to 40 out of market games per week)

Vudu's 9,000+ titles in HD (starting at $2.00 for 2 nights)



I kept saying I was waiting until NetFlix is on it, but I may just get one anyway now that its officially announced that NetFlix will be available on the BoxeeBox!  I need a content source on a second TV (we fired DirecTV about 3 months ago and refuse to pay $100 per month for cable or satelitte).  BoxeeBox will work perfectly for the second TV.

I doubt that I'll be ditching the HTPC I'm running Boxee on in the living room, though.  That's working great, and as soon as the 1.0 software is available, it will actually have more than the boxee box (except the cool remote) since the computer version will run NetFlix today.  Plus, its the computer that has all of our DVD's, Music, and Pictures on it anyway so it may as well also be the Boxee computer for the living room while its at it.

Congratulations Avner and team!