Owners of Google’s $35 Chromecast device may now stream content available on Hulu Plus to their television sets using their computers, iPads and Android tablets and smartphones.
Hulu Plus support for the iPhone is said to be coming soon. Content from YouTube, Netflix and the Google Play Store is already compatible with the Chromecast and the iPhone.
“Our teams in Santa Monica and Beijing, working closely with Google, have developed the Hulu Plus app for Chromecast to be a seamless experience that offers a new and exciting way to engage with the shows you love most,” Karan Nischol, Hulu senior product manager, said in a company blog post.
The Chromecast is a dongle or a stick that can be plugged into a television set’s HDMI port. With the device, an app can turn computers as well as smartphones and tablets running Android and iOS into a remote control. The user gains the ability to watch and listen to content from these smaller devices on the television and manage volume levels.
Google Chrome, an Internet browser, may also be used to make content from any website viewable on the television.
“I already have a device that allows me to watch things like Netflix on my TV, but I could see that using something like Chromecast would be beneficial to people who don’t already have something to stream videos,” said Kaytlin Behag, a junior studying biology. “I like the simplicity to the device and how it is specially designed to do just what it does; make watching Netflix, Hulu or YouTube easier on a TV.”
Chromecast has two main competitors: Roku and Apple TV, which are both boxes that connect to a television and run apps.
Both also have the ability to beam content from smartphones and tablets to televisions, but that feature mainly works with iPhones and iPads on Apple TV. It works with Android and iOS devices on Roku.
One main difference between the $35 Chromecast and its competitors is price. The cheapest Roku retails for $49.99, and the Apple TV sells for $99.
