It is thought that around 4.5 million new Nintendo Wii’s have been sold recently, and with this in mind Nintendo is adding Hulu Plus support to the device. The new service according to Digital Trends was announced by Nintendo and Hulu, and owners of the device can get the Hulu Plus application from the Wii Shop Channel.

The application is free to download but the service is priced at $7.99 per month for access to complete seasons of TV shows that are still in production. For owners that are not already subscribers can make use of a free two week trial during the first month of the service being available on the console.

It has also been announced that the interface on the console has been enhanced so users can point and click easier with the Wii Remote. This will make browsing through the Hulu content of movies and TV shows a nicer experience.

Users will have to make do with standard definition content though, as unlike the PS3 and Xbox 360 the Nintendo Wii does not support HD. Hulu Plus arrived on the PS3 back in November 2010 with the Xbox 360 getting it the following April. Netflix has already been available on the Wii for almost two years now, and is priced at the same level as Hulu Plus.

There was also the announcement that the Nintendo 3DS will be treated to the Hulu Plus service later in the year, but no actual month was specified. The handheld console already has Netflix support along with Nintendo Video. Will you be using Hulu Plus on your Nintendo Wii?

Reggie Fils-Aime Nintendo USA president, has confirmed that users will be able to get Hulu Plus on their 3DS or Wii console by the end of the year. The service has been available for months now on the PS3 and Xbox 360, and now for $7.99 a month Nintendo users will have access as well.

According to PCMag the 3DS is going to get a major firmware update next month, which will allow users to have 3D video recording. Users will be able to record up to ten minutes of 3D video, and even create their own 3D stop-motion animation videos.

The company will also provide 3D music videos for sale such as Foster the People’s “Don’t Stop.” On the Nintendo eShop is a 3D music video of Michael Jackson’s Thriller that has been covered by characters from Shrek, which can be purchased for $1.99.

Nintendo also announced the availability in Japan of the online community for Mario kart 7. This is set to hit the market on December 4th on the console, and the latest version will allow players to build their own racing competition, and challenge up to 7 other 3DS players online.

Despite a slow start to its shelf life Nintendo has been trying to improve interest in the 3DS, which included a price cut that is to be followed with the release of some big titles in the coming months. Have you got a Nintendo 3DS?

Other handsets that now have Hulu Plus include the HTC EVO 4G, G2, Inspire 4G and also the HTC myTouch 4G. That is just from the HTC range; there is already support for the Motorola with the Droid II, X and the Atrix, as well as the Nexus One and S. Offering this kind of increased support will certainly help against the fight with Netflix, who as we know are still winning the brawl against their rivals.

If you thought that this big push was special, then wait a few months, as PC Mag reports that more is to come. We expect that the Droid Bionic and the Samsung Galaxy S II will have Hulu Plus support straight out the box, which will certainly help to increase its market share. We have to take our hats off to Hulu Plus, as the service was only launched in June 2010 and has made huge gains in a market that was and still is dominated by Netflix.

The Gingerbread 2.3 update is a bit of a touchy subject for owners, as they have seen less important handsets get the update in recent days –well to them – such as the Droid Incredible 2 and the Desire Z. HTC had promised the Android update by Q2, 2011, and we only have a few days left.

Do not think that we are making a guess that Gingerbread will be coming Thunderbolt’s way just by the fact above; no there has been a reply to this by a rep from HTC. Droid-Life says that this was in response to a disgruntled Thunderbolt owner. In the reply it said that the update will be coming shortly, and when it does it will finally fix the current reboot issue.

While this is not an admission of a release date, it is the closest thing we have right now, and at least it is a sign that it is coming. HTC and Verizon must have their reasons for the update delay, but that is of no consequence to the user, they just want a device that will run without any issues – is that really too much to ask?

Ross Miller from This is my next.com has looked at the service to see what it is like. The service although free for its first week, normally costs $7.99 per month. The UI is what you would normally find with an Xbox 360 application. Horizontal panels have a vertical list of categories just above which include movies and TV episodes.

There is a really long list of clips for some shows, and having no search function for them makes it a long task to find certain clips. Shows and movies do have a search function, and there is no option for closed captioning on videos.

On the PlayStation 3 there is multitasking but on this version it is not available, and all the features that are missing from the Xbox version makes the experience somewhat lacking. The service is not perfect and needs some fine tuning, but will allow owners to start thinking of ditching their cable boxes.

Pete Haas from GamingBlend is reporting the service will start tomorrow and will cost $7.99 per month and has a low amount of advertising. The service will allow users to stream content from ABC, Comedy Central, FOX, NBC, and MTV amongst others through the Xbox 360.

There is also a choice of hundreds of classic movies from the Criterion Collection. It also supports Kinect motion sensing technology so users can play, pause, rewind, and fast forward videos using voice or gestures. Users are also offered Hulu Plus recommendations via the Kinect hub, based on past viewing.

From tomorrow until May 6 the service will be offered free to Xbox Live Free and Gold members, which is thanks to sponsor Jack Link’s Beef Jerky. There will also be Hulu Plus sweepstakes where owners who download the Hulu Plus app, can win various prizes including a vacation to the Beaches Resort.

Will you be using the Hulu Plus service?

According to a recent article by Eric M. Zeman over at phonescoop.com, the announcement, that Hulu is currently preparing an app for Google’s Android platform, was made during Samsung’s keynote address at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

As Rob Wong notes on the blog.hulu.com website, it’s been Hulu’s goal to add more platforms and devices to the subscription service ever since it first launched. The company’s aim is to offer customers as many ways as they can to stream the shows they want, whenever they want.

This is why the company is working on bringing the Hulu Plus subscription service to a select amount of Android smartphones (running on Android 2.2 OS). Although Hulu’s CEO Jason Kilar said that the service would be arriving in the coming months, he didn’t give a specific date.

What do you think of Hulu Plus being made available on Android devices? Will you download the app?

According to Mark Fajardo over at justpushstart.com, Microsoft said that the Kinect-compatible services will be arriving on Xbox Live sometime in the spring. Once updated, players will be able to browse through libraries and play movies just with a wave of their hand.

As Declan McCullagh from cnet.com notes, users can navigate through the Hulu Plus and Netflix interfaces either by hand gestures, or spoken commands. Speaking at the CES 2011 event, Microsoft’s Ron Forbes said people will be able to watch movies, controller-free in their living rooms.

Hulu Plus and Netflix won’t be the only services compatible with the Kinect device either, as Forbes also announced that Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace – similar to the music offerings from companies such as Amazon.com and Apple – will also offer navigation via the Kinect.

Are you looking forward to the update? Will you be using the Netflix or Hulu Plus services through your Kinect device?

It was speculated back in October that there would indeed be a price cut from Hulu, when Peter Kafka said the ABC/NBC/FOX-owned service would drop its price to $4.95, which almost seemed to good to be true.

Unfortunatly, the price did not dip that low but Hulu are giving some nice gestures along with this price drop. If you have already subscribed to the service at its previous preview price, Hulu say that they will cover the cost with a refund of the difference in your next billing cycle.

If you have not yet subscribed, but are thinking about doing so, you can take advantage of the one week free trial that they are offering too.

Oh, and one more upbeat byte of information; Roku’s hardware is now supported with Hulu Plus which means that this is currently one of, if not the best service of its kind out there at the moment.

The full press release can be read by visiting the source below.

Will you be subscribing to Hulu Plus with the price cut? What about the Roku hardware, are you glad that it is now implemented?

Source: Engadget

The update has only just started to be rolled out so you may have not received it yet, but you can always go to the settings screen to check and then download the update now. One of the biggest changes is the new ability to re-order channels. Unwatched options can moved to the side, and ones you want to watch can be bunched in a nice row. An option to layout the Channel Store in a grid style layout is also available.

Other changes include a seasonal home screen banner, time settings option, home screen clock, and new icons for the Channel Store and Settings. The Hulu Plus has not arrived yet but is surely only a matter of time. The re-ordering of the home screen layout now requires the Instant Replay Roku Remote which costs $15.

Source: TFTS.

Tim Conneally of betanews is reporting the idea for Hulu Plus is to allow people to pay for access to services from Hulu on hardware other than their computers. They also get access to content not available free on the standard website. This content was found in a study in August by One Touch Intelligence, to be roughly 12 percent more than that which could be accessed free.

The author of the article has been testing a preview version of Hulu Plus on PS3, and said the experience has been mostly favorable. But there have been issues with the PlayStation 3 controller, resulting in an “awkward and highly error prone remote control”.

Alternatives include PlayOn Media Server which even with its most expensive charge amounts to just $3.34 per month. But this is tied to a connected media server client running on a PC, and with Hulu Plus you can access it away from your home. It is this capability to be able to stream from other sources that might see more people turning to Hulu Plus.