When Android 2.2 was launched
on Thursday, one of the most prominent features of the operating
system was the support for Adobe Flash 10.1. While Adobe Flash can be
used for things like animations and advertisements on websites, many
people foamed at the mouth in anticipation of watching Hulu videos on
mobile devices running Android 2.2.
However, those hopes were quickly dashed. Ginny Miles of PC
World reported
last week:
Missing from all of this Flash
action, of course, is Hulu. I was really disappointed when I
tried-and ultimately failed-to watch an episode of "30 Rock"
on the Nexus One. According to Adobe, Hulu does not own distribution
rights for their content on mobile devices and therefore cannot
stream video to smartphones.
Well, where there's a will, there's a way. There now is a
confirmed way of enabling Hulu on Android 2.2 devices -- for now,
that appears to apply
to only Nexus One users at the moment as they are the only ones
with access to the Android 2.2.
Absolutely
Android describes a method of using the “about:debug”
command in the default web browser and setting the UAString
to “desktop”. This fools Hulu into thinking that it is running on
a fully fledged notebook or desktop and not an "illegal"
mobile device.
Another site, Android
Forums, describes a similar method to enable Hulu on Android
2.2 with the Dolphin HD web browser. User NSAmouroux describes the
Hulu experience on the Nexus One:
I'm watching some subbed anime
episodes (Bleach) via the Viz Anime site which uses Hulu and it's
playing FLAWLESSLY! Took a minute or two to load the content on my
home Wifi (comcast cable) but it's playing with no slowdown /
stuttering and the audio / subtitles are perfect!
So for you Nexus One users out there, give this method a try and
report your results in the comments section. Be sure to try out as
much Hulu content as you can and report your experiences with load
times, playback performance, battery life, and heat problems (if any)
that may occur.
